According to a recent study by the University of Delaware suggests that women receive less credit for speaking up in the workplace than their male counterparts. In addition, when it comes to envisioning a pioneer, they were probably going to anticipate that that pioneer will take care of business as a matter of course.
Kyle Emich, from the University of Delaware, said, “In sum, we find that when men speak up with ideas on how to change their team for the better they gain the respect of their teammates—since speaking up indicates knowledge of the task at hand and concern for the well-being of the team.”
“Alternatively, when women speak up with ideas on how to change the team for the better, they are not given any more respect than women who do not speak up at all, and thus are not seen as viable leadership options.”
On average in 10-people teams, men who spoke up more than two-thirds of their teammates were voted to be the No. 2 candidate to take on team leadership.
Emich said, “Women who speak up the same amount are voted to be the No. 8 candidate. This effect size is bigger than any I have seen since I began studying teams in 2009.”
“We find that men are given more credit than women even when saying the exact same thing.”
Anindita Rao, a senior manager at an MNC said, “This reminds us about Miranda from the movie Sex and the City. Miranda, a successful lawyer, had to leave her job because her boss never gave a chance to speak up and took credit for her work. There was a scene where her boss raised his hand during an important board meeting indicating Miranda to shut up!”
“It’s easy being a woman but it’s difficult being a strong woman at a workplace. A lot of times I am not taken seriously and my ideas about bringing about change in the team to improve performance often fall upon deaf ears.”