Conclusion!

This is a topic that can be SO simple and yet people make it complex... We forget that we are all ONE and no matter what gender that is, we all have our strengths and weaknesses. Its our responsibility to empower one another and show off those great traits.
In the end, women and men are different. We all communicate differently; we all have grown up in different areas, cultural aspects, and environments. It kind of goes down to nurture versus nature (which is a topic NOT for this blog). But its very important that we realize the strength we have on each other in the workplace.

Shunning the topic and acting as if your fine with the inequality in your job/organization, is NOT okay. Speak out, read blogs!!!!!! I have learned an abundance amount of strategies and stories that I could of never thought to think of before.

One last tip from me personally:
As a female, its hard not to be bias, but if I myself feel this gender talk & tension in the workplace, then I am 100% I am not the only one. If you are willing to change and communicate better as a team, it will benefit you completely. Do no look at someone as their gender, because work ethic is what matters. The amount of success and ambition in females can surprise you. Subconsciously stereotyping hurts as much as consciously. There is no battle of the sexes here, there should be no sexual harassments at work, or slimy jokes. We are women who want to be taken seriously and show our ambition.

LET US AND JOIN US.
I hope you enjoyed the blog postings and maybe learned different pockets of this intense topic :)

Five Great Ways to Talk about Gender Equality in the Workplace

After searching and reading a bunch of others opinions on the matter of gender equality, it becomes a more different situation when it comes to INSIDE the workplace. Outside of the workplace, there can be a controversial debate for awhile, but inside the workplace there can always be ways that we can settle the differences if we are willing.

After finding this article by Rita, I had read through 5 interesting and simple ways that we as individuals can go on to TALK about gender equality in the workplace. These 5 ways may not work at every workplace and/or every country or city, but it is a start for wherever you are located to take charge!

We have:

1) Run Sensitization Programs: These programs, as Rita says, are about putting leaders, managers, supervisors, and males into this program to learn how to communicate better without stereotype and knowing there is a diverse about of people in the organization.

2) Give Incentives: This will give females the chance to do things that only males can do. Meaning they can give the full presentation, take initiative, go globally to conferences and/or be the leader of a team.

3) Create Women-Only Networks: This means giving the chance for single mothers, or caregivers, or anything that women need to be a network and space for them.

4) Shun Stereotypes:  THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT. I don't have to tell you how many times a stereotype is put into place at a workplace. This goes for both men and women. As a woman myself, I feel it in my own job and even after talking to my female friends or family, I begin to understand that this is a spreading pattern over different organizations. This is something that we should NOT get over and just deal with. Shunning stereotypes is one essential step to talking about gender equality.

5) Create Role Models: This is another important conversation in an organization. Creating the perfect role model can be difficult but when you find a person with the characteristics of a diverse human with little bias can go a long way on the whole squad and team!!!! Finding a woman that empowers others can change quite a bit, it can be even intimidating so finding the right balance is necessary.

Bhattacharyya, Rica. "Five Ways to Talk Gender Equality at the Workplace." The Economic Times. N.p., n.d. Web. 4 Feb. 2015. 

Strategies for Bridging the Communication Gap Between Genders

In my previous post, I had talked about an article by Edward Leigh. I just wanted to go back to his article briefly because he had some interesting and specific points on some strategies that both genders have in communicating in the workplace and the differences between the two. He lists about 5 different specific ways:

1) Information Issues - This boils down to the whole situation where men look at asking questions as a weakness, while females are willingly asking whats necessary. This can mean different things for different people. For me personally, I would say that as a female, we might as questions because its our way of understanding and gathering all the right information. As a man, if they are in fact shadowed away by the weakness of gathering information by asking a question, then they are questioned by females and vice versa. This is a serious bridge that needs to be broken down. Sharing is caring!!

2) Managing Metaphors - Here he describes the difference between male and female analogies which then can form miscommunication. Men like to compare things with sports, or cars, or their personal hobbies, while females are more likely to compare with decoration, or houses, or their own hobbies (different from men of course). This can simply be settled with "using gender-neutral images (weather, nature, or movies, etc)" as Edward Leigh would put it.

3) Power Struggles - Here, women and men can really learn from each other. While men are stereotyped to look at being the highest rank in the organization and being assertive, females are looking for the best relationship to have with someone (business, not personal love life).
*Keep in mind PLEASE, that this does not all necessarily have to be true. I know plenty of women that take charge and are assertive at their workplace. This is merely what Edward Leigh has picked up on and this article can have an important intake for every different organization, depending who you are!!*

4) Getting to the Point - Being a woman, you enjoy connecting with people and building trustworthy relationships. Men tend to be blunt and get to the point without explaining and/or getting deeper into the topic. Both these can be a benefit if intertwined together properly!

5) Facts and Feelings - One thing I like that Edward Leigh said in this section was that "every type of communication had both an intellectual and an emotional element". This goes to show that both genders have their own flaw and benefit at the same time. When a person, doesn't matter female or male, can generate the two elements together in a conversation, it can work to their benefit and then facts and feelings can be put aside. Awesome!

After going over these strategies (of many I hope), you begin to notice that a balance of all these 5 can separate the talks between gender roles and tension and make an ideal workplace. Yay!



Leigh, Edward. "The Center for Healthcare Communication | Men & Women Communicating in the Workplace." The Center for Healthcare Communication | Home. N.p., n.d. Web. 2 Feb. 2015.

How Do Men & Women Communicate in the Workplace?

In an article written by Edward Leigh, he introduces the ways that people tend to stereotype males and females at their communication skills in the workplace. See, although we are different as human beings, there is a fine line between making the mistake off inequality in a workplace. It's important to emphasize the different style of communication and different styles of work ethic that both men and women bring to the table.

There is a popular book that goes by the name Brain Sex, which Anne Moir and the co-author of the novel David Jessel wrote, and they state that, "Male and female brains are structured and process information differently". In the article, Edward Leigh, brings this up as well, and makes it clear that from the time of birth, there is a significant difference in the way males and females take in information as well as communicate it back. This goes to show that even throughout your life, one can just grow up thinking differently and may assume that it's safe to be a woman who can't reassure or talk like a man.

Moral of the story, is that as the human race in a workplace, we must STOP the judgment calls, the stereotypes, trying to convert skills and attributes and instead EMBRACE that if you are a women with strong communication skills, one should applaud the other and take charge. We should be able to blend all these skills and work as a team in the workplace!

I got too excited there, but as a female.. trying not to be bias, it is important that we try to encourage one another regardless of our sex and that will turn into a successful organization.


Leigh, Edward. "The Center for Healthcare Communication | Men & Women Communicating in the Workplace." The Center for Healthcare Communication | Home. N.p., n.d. Web. 2 Feb. 2015.

Introduction to Gender Talk & Tension in the Workplace

HELLO!

This will be my first blog ever created to talk about something besides my interests and myself. I will be writing and blogging about how men and women have different roles and are portrayed as different figures in the business world workplace. This blog is to bring some awareness to individuals who have a hard time understanding that stereotypes and judgments that are still occurring in the workplace. This issue is usually swept under the rug at majority of workplaces but in my blog postings, I will not only write but prove about how even the difference in communication between the two genders is still going on to date.

Keep in mind; this will be somewhat my opinions as well as proof and different insights from others around the globe. I will make some key points about issues, then I will make some key points about improving these issues, thus fixing the problem for different people.

I hope to see you back here reading it all. Lets keep gender talk and tension in the workplace to a minimum and get educated! See you soon!