Should Women Speak Up More At Work?

Should women speak up more at work?

Yes, said Dr Baxter after sitting in on several board meetings. She researched women’s style of talking. It turns out it’s not doing us any favours. Women need to speak up more, said Dr Judith Baxter, an expert in linguistics at the University of Aston. 

Dr Baxter undertook a survey in seven major companies, including two in the FTSE-100, as part of an Economic and Social Research Council research project entitled:

‘Leadership Talk and Gender in Senior Management Business Meetings in the UK’.

One of her key points was that women are under-represented in leadership roles because, simply put, men and women talk differently.

Or less simply put:

One key area we examine is why female leaders continue to be significantly under-represented in the workplace. A 2009 survey commissioned by the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) shows that only 12% of FTSE 100 directors in the UK are women (Sealy, Doldor and  Vinnicombe, 2009).

While there are many reasons why this occurs – legal, economic and sociological – we contend that one possible reason for the lack of female leaders in the business world is socio-linguistic. That is, women may simply have a harder job than men to be effective through their talk: to be listened to, included in key decisions, taken seriously, and to influence the views of others effectively.

Dr Judith Baxter

Women Are Too Self Deprecating

The research actually found that women were FOUR times more likely than men to be self deprecating. Women use humour and speak indirectly or apologetically when tackling difficult subjects with board members. Dr Baxter’s conclusion was that they do this to avoid conflict. Baxter said she had heard one woman director, who had spoken only twice in a meeting, say:

“Sorry, sorry, I’m talking too much, I’m talking too much.“

Women Second Guess

Dr Baxter believes women use such language because they’re often heavily outnumbered on boards and so use a linguistic ‘second guessing’. I’ve written about this use of apologetic language before in Career Tips for Women but I am surprised to find it prevalent among women in senior posts.

Examples include “Sorry to cut across you like that but…” and “I’m probably speaking out of turn, but…” This s snot really surprising given that previous research shows that both men and women think women talk the most in meetings. However when researchers have observed that actually men edge the women out.

Women Talk Differently

This type of language Dr Baxter calls double voice discourse or DVD. It’s the language she observed women using when facing criticism or handling conflict. She acknowledges that there are times when this could be appropriate, or used as a manipulative tool, but notes that this type of language use makes senior women appear weak and defensive.  They appear not to be in control and thus less authoritative.

Men were more comfortable with handling conflict, were more direct and didn’t take it personally; not so we women! Women in the survey avoided being confrontational and used a range of strategies to preserve their alliances.

Women Use The Wrong Strategy

There were few differences in the actual language used, she noted, and Dr Baxter did not attribute this strategy to innate altruism in women, on the contrary- “They are doing it to achieve their own agenda“. It’s not a particularly successful strategy, yet it’s one we women use when outnumbered by men.

So do we need to need to toughen up, to learn to speak our minds clearly and without fear? Being direct is the language men understand and if we want to get ahead we need to at least understand the language of male and plan our strategy accordingly.

Update: Dr Judith Baxter sadly died in 2018. I was lucky enough to speak with her about her research and interview her. You can read the full interview here.