Women Are Not Being Heard. Why Not? Well, therein lies a question. There is a trope that women talk too much yet the research doesn’t back up this claim. Even women when asked think they talk too much at work. There is also research to show that men don’t hear women’s voices. Is this the responsibility of women to solve? Well, clearly not, but we do have a vested interest when it comes to planning and managing our own careers.
The world of work has been designed to suit the needs of men, of course, because they were the only ones there. It is so ingrained that we often don’t spot how difficult that can make life for women who want to progress. Progressive businesses are addressing this because organisations with a good gender balance actually make more money, and are better businesses all round. Younger men really enjoy working in organisations that have introduced gender equal measures, too.
It’s a win win so why aren’t more businesses doing it? Why is it still estimated that it will take us 99.5 years to close the overall global gender gap, (see World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Report 2020)? Is there an emoticon for ‘woman banging her head on a brick wall’ – I’m happy to be a model.
What Can Women Do About Gender Inequality at Work?
So, as women what can we do?
Well, my first bit of advice is get yourself familiar with what is going on your organisation. It’s not easy because transparency is not widespread. Then get yourself allies. Then get some training… Oh I could go on and if you browse through my blog posts there is masses on these very subjects. I always try to give you some practical tips to try. (Sign up for my monthly newsletter, see opposite,it’s full of tips.) Bemoaning the status quo will only get us so far.
Practical Tip for Career Women – Speak Up
Note to self, check out how many references are made to ‘Career Men’? I’m only using it because it’s a well known Google search term.
It doesn’t matter how good you are at you job; if no one knows about you you increase the likelihood of staying in the same role for a long time. And the world needs more amazing women out there. You have to get out there and sing your song! I have a series of tips to help and here’s one. You can find many more along with some helpful exercises in my downloadable Speak Up course.
Harvey Coleman
You probably know the oft quoted stats from Harvey Coleman on how people get on at work:
10% is quality of work you do (that explains a lot, doesn’t it?)
30% is the image you present to the world (A minefield for women. I do touch on this in the audio of Speak Up – reluctantly)
60% is putting yourself out there. (I paraphrase.)
‘Putting yourself out there’ requires a bit of courage but can pay huge dividends, (check out this post on networking). Very few silent women become well known (at least, not in a good way). As women we are fighting centuries of socialisation of being seen and not heard, and fallacies like *women talk too much. Women are effectively silenced by these tropes. As the amazing Mary Beard once said:
We have not yet learned to hear the authority in women’s voices.
Professor Mary Beard, Cambridge University
This ‘not hearing women well’ is not confined only to our male colleagues. We all have to unlearn years of social conditioning.
*We don’t talk most, by the way. The research does not support this, as you’ll find out on a Speak Up course.
Speaking Up Tip – Resolve to Actually Speak
Resolve to say something in every meeting you attend. If you’re nervous say it as soon as you can. Do your research which will increase your confidence in what you want to say, and then say it at the earliest possible opportunity. When we wait too long to speak the pressure builds up and we sometimes squeak out our contribution sounding odd even to ourselves. Or worse, our nerves make us sound aggressive as we blurt what we want to say as soon as we can. We’ve all done that one, I suspect.
There’s another good reason for speaking out early on. Men do not always hear women’s voices in the same way that they hear male voices. Get them used to hearing your voice early on in a meeting.
Advice for Chairs of Meeting
If you’re chairing a meeting you can do your bit to make sure women’s voices are heard. Research in the world of academia has shown that if a man speaks first in a seminar or lecture fewer women make contributions.
However, if the chair chooses to asks a woman a question first, or selects them if they raise their hands, there is a much greater likelihood that more women will speak. Hearing a woman’s voice early on encourages others to speak up.
Speak Up
I wrote Speak Up specifically to examine the research into gender differences in how we communicate and how we are heard. Even I was surprised at some of the findings. The anecdotal evidence about men interrupting women is actually true, at least when researchers observed work meetings. However, the course is not about dissing men (we love them), but more about understanding some of the research and exploring ways how as women we can mitigate the effects of this on our careers. Obviously it’s not about aping male behaviours…
We can deliver SpeakUp in house to organisations. Individuals can also get the download instantly for just £29.99. Check it out here in the shop. You can also hear my dulcet tones explaining it.
RenewYou, My Tried and Tested Career Booster!
RenewYou has helped thousands of women make positive and lasting change in their lives. I deliver it one-to-one as part of a bespoke coaching package for women looking to move into leadership, to progress their career, or who wish to be the absolute best version of themselves.
Posted on February 3rd, 2022 by Jane
