More women want to telecommute than men, yet fewer may be able. In an exploratory study of nearly 600 city employees in San Diego, researchers from UC Davis and Hebrew University in Israel found that telecommuting appealed strongly to both sexes for different reasons. Women who wanted to telecommute at least some of the time (92 percent compared to 83 percent of the men), were motivated by family, personal benefits and stress reduction -- whether or not they had children. "Wanting to telecommute is one thing; actually being able to do it is another," points out lead author Patricia Mokhtarian, associate professor of civil and environmental engineering at UC Davis. In the study, women reported the top obstacles to telecommuting were unwilling supervisors, risk aversion and concern about lack of visibility to management. Besides the gender differences, the study also looked at occupational differences. Getting more work done was the biggest telecommuting motivation cited by professionals and managers. The biggest benefits from telecommuting for clerical workers related to family, personal and office stress reduction.