Male executives are too afraid to help their female colleagues in case they are accused of sexual harassment, a new book claims.

In the book, Sex And The Office, US-based research scholar Kim Elsesser says women are missing out because their more senior male colleagues are reluctant to befriend or mentor them in case their actions are misinterpreted.

She says this 'sex partition' prevents women from reaching top corporate positions, with male bosses fearful of even holding a one-on-one meeting with a woman in a more junior roles in case they 'slip up'.

Male executives are too afraid to help their female colleagues in case they are accused of sexual harassment, US-based research scholar Kim Elsesser (left) claims in her new book Sex And The Office (right)

'They’re afraid that an offhand remark will be misinterpreted as sexual harassment or that their friendliness will be mistaken for romantic interest,' her book's description states.

Dr Elsesser, who lectures at University of California, Los Angeles, says as a result, women are missing out on networking opportunities enjoyed by their male peers.

The academic, who has also worked as a quantitative equities trader at Morgan Stanley, says attempts to increase awareness of sexual harassment over the last 20 years have left male workers fearing they could be accused of harassing female colleagues, so instead only befriend other men in the workplace.

Her book comes at a time when there is growing controversy surrounding what is perceived as sexual harassment.

Last month, barrister Charlotte Proudman, 27, made headlines when she accused a male solicitor who described her photograph on networking site LinkedIn as 'stunning' of sexism.

Miss Proudman claimed married Alexander Carter-Silk, 57, had 'objectified her' with a message he sent her, in which he wrote: 'I appreciate that this is probably horrendously politically incorrect but that is a stunning picture!!! You definitely win the prize for the best LinkedIn picture I have ever seen.'

She responded: 'Alex, I find your message offensive. I am on Linked-in [sic] for business purposes, not to be approached about my physical appearance or to be objectified by sexist men.'

Last month, Charlotte Proudman, 27, (left) made headlines when she accused solicitor Alexander Carter-Silk, 57, (right) of sexism when he described her photograph on networking site LinkedIn as 'stunning'.

She then posted his comments – and her outraged response – on Twitter, telling Mr Carter-Silk that focusing on women's looks 'silences women's professional attributes as their physical appearance becomes the subject'.

In her book, Dr Elsesser says a fear of being accused of harassment or discrimination has deterred men from helping female co-workers in a professional capacity.

She gives an example of a male entry-level employee who discovers a common interest in running with a male senior manager, and as such forms a bond which leads to the manager sharing advice that helps the male worker get ahead in the company.

However, according to Dr Elsesser, a female entry-level employee would be less likely to discover the shared interest and less likely to meet up outside of work to talk about it, and as such would miss out on this informal mentoring relationship.

'In order to avoid any suggestion of workplace romance or sexual harassment, opposite-sex co-workers are shying away from non-essential interactions, creating a barrier between men and women at work,' she writes.

She added: 'These barriers between sexes that get in the way of developing cross-sex friendships make up what I call the sex partition.'

Dr Elesser says training on sexual harassment awareness should also look at what is not sexual harassment, and that firms can break down the 'sex partition' by bringing both sexes together.