Of course guys think their companies are doing fine on gender diversity

When it comes to gender-based discrimination and equal opportunities at work, men see their companies through rose-colored glasses.

This year's Women in the Workplace report found that men think things at their own employers are a lot better than they actually are.

"Men are more likely to think the workplace is equitable; women see a workplace that is less fair and offers less support. Men think their companies are doing a pretty good job supporting diversity; women see more room for improvement," noted the report, which is released annually by McKinsey & Company now in partnership with Sheryl Sandberg's LeanIn.org. "Given the persistent lag in women’s advancement, women have the more accurate view."

Fifty-nine percent of men think that gender diversity is a top priority for their employer, compared to only 45 percent of women. Similarly, 63 percent of men said their company was "doing what it takes to improve gender diversity," while only 49 percent of women said the same.

One of the report's most sharp divides was on the question of discrimination and sexual harassment. Fifty-five percent of men said that disrespectful behavior toward women was "often or always addressed quickly" in their workplaces. Perhaps unsurprisingly, only 34 percent of women said they agreed—a 21-percent gap.

When their companies had one woman in a leadership role for every nine men, almost 50 percent of men thought women were well represented. A third of women said the same.

"When so many people see a leadership team that’s only 10% women—who, let’s remember, are half the population—and think, 'That’s good enough,' it’s a sign that we’re too comfortable with the status quo," Sandberg wrote with co-writer Rachel Thomas in a Wall Street Journal piece accompanying the release of the report.

On a personal level, men were also more likely to see opportunities for themselves. Forty-seven percent of men said they thought the best opportunities at their companies went to the most deserving employees, compared to 39 percent of women. Forty-eight percent of men said that promotions in their workplaces were based on fair and objective criteria, while 40 percent of women said the same.

But the data show their perceptions might be skewed. McKinsey and Lean In found that one in five C-suite leaders is a woman and one in 30 C-suite leaders is a woman of color.