The study doesn't say did they controlled for a clothing of a participant. Different genders tend to prefer different styles of clothing, it could have an impact on an ability to withstand uncomfortable temperature. So it is unclear are the differences found are caused by biological differences or by clothing (i.e. cultural ones).
I'd be careful generalizing this beyond Germany; DE is a weird place to do studies about AC because it's so much less common there than it is in e.g. the USA.
However, anecdotally, it's not just women. It's basically everyone except for obese men.
Tough issue, especially since we don't allow partial nudity in work environments and it's much easier to put on a sweater than it is to lose weight (or, in some cases, muscle).
Yeah it's to do with heat retention and surface to volume ratio. Bigger things have a lower surface to volume ratio so lose heat more slowly. I wonder if the particular study controlled for weight/height.
Higher temperatures resulted in increased productivity among women and decreased productivity among men.
It seams that the optimal solution would be sex segregation - different offices for women and men.