Shut it!

[Gob]

Sure to confound those who deny the existence of gender inequality in the workplace, a study has found that women who want to get ahead prosper when they keep their mouths shut while their male counterparts are more successful the louder they become.

Researchers at the Yale School of Management say that women who talk “too much” in an office environment are perceived to be less competent than those who speak up infrequently - with the former considered to be “domineering and presumptuous” by their female co-workers, and even more so by men.

Conversely, males are perceived to project a sense of power and authority when voicing their opinions and are likely to be handed more responsibility as a result.

“People today still have strong gender stereotypes - or beliefs about what men and women are like and should be like,” said study author and organisational behaviour expert, Professor Victoria Brescoll. “For example, people tend to believe that women are less domineering than men and, also, that women should be that way. So when we encounter a woman - even a very powerful one - dominating a meeting at work by talking a lot, we see her as presumptuous and then tend to dislike her and give her less power and status.”

Published in Administrative Science Quarterly, the report was based on the feedback of 156 participants who were asked to read stories about fictional CEOs, with each secretly classified as either a talkative man, quiet man, talkative woman or quiet woman. They were then instructed to rate how competent they found each leader on a seven-point scale, with researchers measuring how talkative each character is by how many times they voiced a strong opinion in the article. Talkative men were given a competency rating of 5.64, whereas quiet men were given 5.11. Quiet women scored 5.62 and opinionated women scored the lowest of all at 4.83.

In a comparative study, respondents were asked their opinions about US Senators when they addressed an audience. Researchers noted a strong link between notions of power and capability when male senators spoke for long periods, but not so for females. They concluded that, between the two studies, female CEOs are considered less suitable for leadership roles compared to men when both genders voice opinions equally.

According to Professor Brescoll, these views can have a negative impact that extends beyond the individual to affect the companies themselves.

“Individual women are harmed by these beliefs because they can lead to gender discrimination,” she said. “And organisations are harmed because if people are biased against women, they might be less likely to get promoted and then organisations might not have the best, qualified people at the top.”

Carina Gardland, a gender and cultural studies lecturer at Sydney University, chalks up institutionalised discrimination to historical representation.

Great chance to repost this;

[dgs49]

I think "discrimination" is an unavoidable fact, but it may not be harmful.

Women generally have different professional and managerial styles than men. A woman manager or project manager can accomplish as much as a man, but a "hard-ass" style that works for a man may be totally rejected in a woman.

I have seen a few women trying mightily to succeed with a style that they believed was hard-charging and dynamic, but they were simply percieved as assholes who were trying to compensate for a lack of competence with bluster.

I think the days when an outstanding woman was suppressed or ignored because she happened to be a woman are pretty much behind us. Businesses can't afford to ignore internal talent.

[Andrew D]

Where do these people work? None of that corresponds to my experience. I have had women as my superiors in employment in jobs ranging from carousel operator to law-firm attorney.

So when we encounter a woman - even a very powerful one - dominating a meeting at work by talking a lot, we see her as presumptuous and then tend to dislike her and give her less power and status.

That does not match the world in which I have lived my life.

[MajGenl.Meade]

Yeah me too Andrew. I found working for women to be pleasant - their contributions in meetings were usually concise and informed. It was the guys who were chatter-boxes and off-base.

The only exception I think would be women with shrieky voices - piercing laughs - drives me crazy. I'd rather have some guy toughing me over than some shrill grating voice going on and on. Reminds me of my first marriage

Meade