I work in architecture - and although the professional side of our industry is making progress, the sad fact remains that the construction industry remains blighted by a number of the -isms, sexism is rife, as is ageism. Class wars are also still evident. Shame really.

In the the building sector here too,
in France I saw a lot of sexism when working in infrastructure (Comments like : "you got birds in your office, we should get some of them too" and and some slightly more crude)
the UK, for what I have seen, is a less gender-biased. Even on site I have never heard anyone being anything else than friendly or slightly overcautious, but that could be due to having a consultant on site regardless.
My pet peave however is the women only lectures given at work such as "how to manage family and work life". Why those are women only, I have no idea.

In a situation like that they should have gone with you. Unless the difference was minimal, but promoting someone to a post that they are not qualified for is not good for everyone. If the differences are minimal ie both have similar qualifications and experience then positive discrimination could be applicable.

Can't say I've ever heard anything other than casual, tongue-in-cheek sexism at work really. Oh, there's a few bits, but then I work in a housing company, where mentally disabled / drugged-up tenants will treat whoever goes to visit them different depending on gender.

There's probably a fair amount of discrimination going on that I'm not aware of... I know I know my SysAdmin, but I've a nagging thought that I got my current job though being the token cripple! (Need to get registered as disabled properly... Doesn't actually make life much easier, but it means I can park wherever I want! )