“I’m Speaking”: Gender Differences in Digital Workplace Communication

In April 2020, mere months into the first wave of the coronavirus pandemic, The New York Times chronicled women’s experiences of struggling to make themselves heard in virtual meetings, citing frequent interruptions from male colleagues, minimal nonverbal cueing, and outright dismissal of their contributions.² For many women, these patterns mirror what goes on during in-person gatherings.³ In fact, research has indicated that women correctly assume they will receive negative backlash from taking up too much airtime when speaking, a concern that is not shared by their male colleagues.⁴ The persistence of workplace bias and discrimination on the basis of gender is nothing new: women across a wide range of industries can attest to the endurance of these obstacles. But do gender differences in communication styles compound women’s experiences of being ignored?

The short answer is: yes. There are a number of variations in the ways that men and women tend to express themselves. From a young age, females are more likely to draw on relational language that brings people together and downplays their own status within a group. By contrast, boys are expected to use language to establish and reinforce their superiority amongst their peers, and to emphasize their strengths and achievements.⁵ Linguist Deborah Tannen (1995) notes that these differences continue from sandbox to boardroom, where men are often more comfortable taking credit and occupying the spotlight than their equally-qualified female coworkers. As a result, women can struggle to make their ideas heard in both educational and professional settings.