Gender differences in workplace communication

3. My leadership style can be characterized as collaborative and compromising rather than competing and controlling. (agree/disagree)

As for males, 80 per cent of the respondents agree with the statement whereas 20 per cent disagree.

As far as females are concerned, we obtained similar results.

4. I compliment my coworkers on the work they do and how they are exceptional at it. (never, sometimes, frequently, always)

Male participants: 67 per cent compliment their coworkers sometimes. 27 per cent of men do it frequently while only 6 per cent always compliment their colleagues.

Female respondents: 33 per cent compliment their coworkers sometimes. 27 per cent of women do it frequently while 40 per cent always compliment their colleagues.

5. You need to negotiate a higher salary. What would you say to your boss? What reasons would you give? (1-3 sentences)

As for males, we received the following responses:

1) 'I would not ask for a higher salary'.

2) 'I am a good employee, and my experience allows me to demand more'.

3) 'I deserve a better salary'.

4) 'I would like to negotiate a higher salary'.

5) 'I am a professional and dutiful employee'.

6) 'I am good at my job and always strive for excellence'.

7) 'If that is at all possible, I would like to get a raise'.

8) 'I want to earn as much as other employees'.

9) 'I think I deserve a higher salary due to my commitment to the company'.

10) 'I would report on how much I have done for the company'.

11) 'Due to my [specific experience] I would be looking for a salary closer to [desired salary]'.

12) 'I am highly professional and have a lot of working experience'.

13) 'I am working hard and feel like I m not compensated accordingly'.

14) 'I have valuable skills'.

15) 'I always outperform'.

As for females, the answers were the following:

1) 'I really need a raise. Will you please raise my salary? I have a big family, and I have to pay loans'.

2) 'I have a lot of working experience'.

3) 'I find it hard to negotiate my salary. I would say that I have family needs (small child, etc)'.

4) 'I do not think it is appropriate to ask for a higher salary'.

5) 'I need extra money for my career development (courses, seminars)'.

6) 'I would talk about my personal achievements. I would speak in a confident and clear manner'.

7) 'I often outperform. Could you please consider giving me a pay rise?'

8) 'I have got potential'.

9) 'I work really hard'.

10) 'I am a valuable asset'.

11) 'I have advantages over other employees'.

12) 'I have valuable skills and can contribute'.

13) 'Due to my knowledge, I deserve a higher salary'.

14) 'I feel I am entitled to ask for more money'.

15) 'I would not be assertive enough to ask for a higher salary'.

6. Your colleague tries to pass on their work to you. You have to refuse since you have your own work. So you say: (1-3 sentences)

Male respondents:

1) 'I am sorry I can't take your work. I have mine'.

2) 'I wish I could but I have work to do'.

3) 'I cannot take your work, do it yourself'.

4) ' I would love to help, but I currently find myself snowed under with my own work, and thus am unfortunately unable to offer my assistance at this time. I do hope you are able find help elsewhere'.

5) 'This is not my job. I don't get paid for it'.

6) ' I am busy now. Ask someone else'.

7) 'I am busy now'.

8) 'I have my own work to do'.

9) 'Sorry, but not now, I need to finish my work'.

10) 'I am not available now, if it is urgent then ask someone else'.

11) 'Sorry, I cannot help. I am busy with my work'.

12) 'Not now'.

13) 'I am busy'.

14) 'I would give a passive-aggressive response'.

15) 'Why would you give your work, your responsibility to another person? Would you do the same for me?'

Female respondents:

1) 'Sorry, I have my own work'.

2) 'Sorry, I have too much work to do'.

3) 'Sorry, I cannot help you. I have too many tasks to do'.

4) 'Sorry, but right now I am busy with my own work'.

5) 'Unfortunately, I cannot help you. I have plenty of work to do'.

6) 'I do not get paid for someone else's job, thank you for understanding'.

7) 'Sorry, but my hands are full already'.

8) 'This is outside my area of expertise'.

9) 'If I had the time and opportunity, I would help you'.

10) 'Unfortunately, I have a lot of workload, I cannot help you'.

11) 'I am always ready to discuss any difficulties and ideas. However, my workload does not allow me to completely take on this work'.

12) 'I am content with the amount of my work. I do not want to take on any more work, as this can lower the quality of my performance'.

13) 'Unfortunately, I cannot help you now, because I have my own responsibilities'.

14) 'I am really sorry, but I have a lot of work as well'.

15) 'I am sorry but unfortunately I cannot help you right now. What makes it difficult for you to finish your task?'

7. You are in charge and need your subordinate to carry out an assignment. How would you phrase your request? (1-3 sentences)

As for male participants, we received the following responses:

1) 'Can I take some of your time? I think you might learn something interesting doing this assignment'.

2) 'Hey can you do that?'

3) 'You have to do this task'.

4) 'Dear [name], I would like you to carry out this task. Please don't hesitate to email me if you run into any issues'.

5) 'If I am in charge, then I will not ask. As a leader, I will assign a task'.

6) 'I need you to do this'.

7) 'I will ask you to complete the following task'.

8) 'This work needs to be done'.

9) 'You have to do this and that'.

10) 'You need to do this task. Should you have any questions, ask me'.

11) 'Will you do this task, please?'

12) 'I ask you do to this work'.

13) 'Carry out this task, please'.

14) 'Will you do this for me?'

15) 'Some work needs to be done'.

As for women, we got the following answers:

1) 'Please deal with this matter'.

2) 'Will you please do this?'

3) 'Could you please take on this task? I think you are excellent best at it'.

4) 'Could you please fulfill this task?'

5) 'I would like to entrust this task to you'.

6) 'This work needs to be done'.

7) 'Your task is the following…If you have any questions, contact me'.

8) 'In my opinion, you will successfully cope with this task. Are you ready to take on it? If you have any questions, you can contact me for help'.

9) 'Go ahead'.

10) 'Will you be able to do this task?'

11) 'May I ask you do to that?'

12) 'I am sure you are brilliant at this work'.

13) 'You have to complete the following task. I am sure that it is you who will cope with it best. Let me know if you can do it'.

14) 'Please carry out this assignment'.

15) 'Hey I am sorry to bother you but could you please do this for me? Thank you'.

8. You know that your coworker is acting unethically. What would you do? (Multiple choice).

As for male participants, 67 per cent would talk to them in private to discuss the problem. 20 per cent of men would ignore it while 13 per cent would report it to the boss.

As for women, the responses we obtained were exactly the same.

9. You are in charge and notice a conflict situation between your employees. How would you deal with the matter? (1-3 sentences)

Male participants:

1) 'I would try to understand each side and convince both of them to compromise'.

2) 'I would listen to the parties to the conflict and talk to the culprit of the conflict individually'.

3) 'I would identify the area of conflict, talk to the parties involved, identify points of agreement and disagreement, and develop a plan to resolve the conflict'.

4) 'That is not my problem. I would not mind if they eat each other. The main thing is to fulfill the task no matter what'.

5) 'I would organize a meeting between the people arguing, let them speak freely separately'.

6) 'I would talk to both of them simultaneously'.

7) 'I'll try to figure it out and find out the root of the conflict. I would ask them not to conflict anymore'.

8) 'I would ask them about the root of the conflict and if I could do anything about it. I would ask them: what do you suggest doing to resolve the problematic situation?'

9) 'I would talk to each of them to find out their points of disagreement'.

10) 'I would ask them about the conflict, and help to solve it'.

11) 'I would ignore it'.

12) 'I would allow the employees to resolve the conflict on their own. Later, I would find out if this did'.

13) 'I would try to emphasize strengths of each employee and split the task between them'.

14) 'I would try to understand the point of view of each party and talk to each of them'.

15) 'I would ignore it'.

Female respondents:

1) 'I would talk to both parties of the conflict in private. I would take measures based on what I heard from both sides'.

2) 'I would calmly discuss the problem, listen to the opinions of both parties'.

3) 'I would talk to each party individually'.

4) 'I would talk to each of them separately, and then I would arrange a meeting to solve the problem'.

5) 'It depends on the conflict situation. If the conflict is insignificant, I would let the subordinates deal with it themselves. If the conflict is very problematic and brings inconvenience to me and the team, I would talk to them individually and jointly'.

6) 'I would moderate the discussion'.

7) 'I would invite each of them to speak separately. Then I would organize a second meeting with both parties of the conflict'.

8) 'I would speak individually with each party without showing that I know about the conflict. I would try to bring the person to the right train of thoughts that could help to solve the problem'.

9) 'I would try to initiate an open dialogue and find the solution'.

10) 'We would discuss the problem together'.

11) 'I would discuss the issue with the parties, make a decision collectively'.

12) 'I would initiate a conversation, ask them to discuss the problem openly. I would have a private conversation with each party to understand the arguments of both sides. After that I would hold a joint discussion to find a compromise'.

13) 'I would talk to each side individually, then to both of them together to resolve the conflict'.

14) 'I would talk to each of the employees'.

15) 'I would set up a session where the employees could talk to each other and express their concerns. I would moderate the discussion and eventually they would talk through their emotions and find a compromise'.

2.3 Analysis of the results obtained

The findings of the empirical experiments are believed to imply certain outcomes. Therefore, the following conclusions can be drawn:

1. When it comes to career aspirations and personal promotion, it turns out that female employees are more comfortable articulating their ambitions and career goals in the workplace than their male counterparts. As for male respondents, we may conclude that a greater proportion of men tend to avoid discussing these topics at work or feel less confident about their career achievements.

Thus, several possible explanations can be provided. First of all, it is crucial to emphasize that today due economic and societal developments women are becoming more ambitious, proactive and assertive. Another important factor that needs to be stressed is that due to special programs the workplace environments have become more inclusive. This inclusion contributes to building trust between corporate leaders and employees. It is quite clear that this tendency can be explained by the enhancement of gender diversity in modern day organizations. The assumption can be put forward that the results obtained demonstrate that the negative impact of gender stereotypes and bias has been curbed.

2. As far as participation in discussions is concerned, particular tendencies may be observed as well. It is noteworthy that the majority of male respondents have more of a neutral stance on the question of group discussion. Talking about female participants, one may observe two extremes. One proportion of women claim that they feel completely confident expressing their opinions at conferences. At the same time, another proportion of female respondents points that they are apprehensive of being vocal and experience psychological discomfort when at meeting.

These results suggest that there is stark difference in the way male and female employees perceive taking at conferences. First of all, women appear to participate less in discussions for the reason that they belong to a minority group. Another point to highlight here is that women are not willing to come across as bossy. As a result, they consciously avoid being too present at meetings. In other words, female employees, in general, share the view that group meetings remain a male dominated space.

3. The third question touched upon leadership styles and strategies. According to the statistical data, an equal number of male and female respondents stated that they prefer collaborative and compromising techniques.

Nowadays there has been a shift in the vision of corporate leaders. Workplace communication is becoming less hierarchical and more and more flexible. It follows that collaboration and compromise may offer significant benefits to creating flourishing workplace atmosphere. Both male and female leaders may opt for these two strategies, because negotiation can contribute to creativity and innovative thinking. Collaboration and compromise entail partnership and horizontal communication, which, overall, boosts the efficiency of each and every employee and team. Another proportion of men and women may prefer competition and control for the reason that controlling leadership implies limited change. Consequently, that creates a sense of stability. Moreover, control and competence serve to minimize potential risks.

4. Talking about career compliments, the statistics reveal that women compliment their colleagues on the tasks they fulfill far more often than male employees do. The vast majority of men give compliments to their coworkers only seldom, whereas the majority of women do it on a permanent basis.

This finding of the survey may indicate that females prove to be more polite and emotionally expressive in general. It also demonstrates that women are more inclined to show solidarity and maintain connections. Furthermore, female coworkers are more willing to give appreciation and praise than their male colleagues. The results also illustrate that women are comfortable making other people feel good about themselves. What is more, the findings clearly show that men prefer to act more reserved and less expressively towards their coworkers.

5. When it comes to upward communication (negotiating a higher salary), male respondents tend to emphasize their personal achievements and their contribution to the organization. Male employees stress the fact that, in their opinion, they are entitled to a pay rise. They also tend to use more assertive and confident language when talking to someone in charge. As for female participants, they formulate their requests using extremely polite expressions ('please') and grammatical structures ('could', 'would'). Some of the respondents touched upon their difficult economic situation (family needs, loans). Certain proportion of respondents is convinced that it is not appropriate to ask for a pay rise at all.

Hence, this leads us to the conclusion that female employees are not as assured about their professional merits and self-worth as males. The major outcome seems to be the following: there is a tremendous confidence gap I the workplace between male and female employees. Men, in contrast to women, do not experience doubts concerning their level of knowledge and expertise.

6. As for phrasing refusals, a clear pattern of communication can be noticed. The vast majority of females formulate their responses to show how sorry they are. They use words 'sorry' and 'unfortunately' to show their compassion. Female respondents claim that they are ready to sort out difficulties their coworker may encounter. Responses of male respondents, on the other hand, seem to be rather aggressive and tough. Their answers include utterances such as 'I am busy', 'not now', 'I can't'.

According to these results, we can make certain conclusions. It is safe to assume that female workers are inclined to show a greater degree of compassion and sensitivity to the needs of others. They feel sorry in case they have to decline someone's request. On the contrary, we argue that men tend to demonstrate a higher level of aggression when formulating refusals. Overall, women appear to behave gently towards their colleagues while men perceive their counterparts as competitors.

7. As far as vertical hierarchical communication is concerned, one may observe a distinct tendency. When assigning a task to their subordinates, female respondents demonstrate a higher degree of politeness and respectfulness. They use the following phrases: 'please', 'could you please', 'may I ask'. Women also specifically emphasize that they entrust the task to the employee, because they think that this coworker is exceptional at it. As for male participants, they show that they prefer more direct and controlling patterns of communication. Men commonly used such phrases as 'you have to do this', 'you need to do this', 'can you do this'. Both genders stress that employees can ask for their help if needed.

Based on these responses, we may put forward the argument that, as leaders, women tend to act as coaches or mentors for their employees. They display a great level of tactfulness towards subordinates. Men, however, employ rather contrasting tactics. They tend to believe that, being a boss, they simply make an order to carry out certain tasks. Male bosses tend to claim their authority and concentrate on tasks. Female leaders are focused on democratic approach and interpersonal connections.

8. When it comes to conflict management and ethics, the majority of both male and female respondents choose to solve problems arisen in private. Another significant proportion of males and females prefer to ignore problematic situations.

According to the statistics obtained, both men and women can opt for person-oriented approach in order to prevent a conflict situation. The results might also mean that both men and are interested in maintaining good relationships with their counterparts. For this purpose, another potential solution is simply to ignore someone's unethical behavior.

9. Talking about conflict resolution methods, it is worth mentioning that, unexpectedly, both male and female respondents put emphasis on the fact that they would get involved in solving a problematic situation. Both men and women point out that they would act as mediators and talk through the root of the problem with their employees individually or jointly. A small proportion of male and female respondents, however, prefer to ignore the conflict, or allow employees to handle it by themselves. The responses we obtained from males and females were quite similar, on the whole.

Thus, we can deduce that, when it comes to conflict resolution strategies, both male and female leaders are able to act as peacemakers. More than that, both men and women acknowledge the role mediation and negotiation play in successful organization's work. The majority of male and female employers are prepared to mitigate the adverse effects of workplace disputes. Presumably, mediation is preferred since it helps to build a positive and cooperative workplace environment.



Conclusion

Overall, in the first chapter of this thesis we gave an insight into the sociological notion of gender, and described the ongoing debate on whether gender differences in communication have biological or social roots. We compared and contrasted communication patterns of males and females, and outlined peculiarities of gendered workplace communication. Differences in leadership styles of male and females employees were explored. We elaborated on the implications gender differences have on communication flow in the corporate environment.

In the second chapter we tested the hypothesis that there are significant differences in male and female speech. The hypothesis was partially proven right. In certain cases, no distinct gender differences were found. The results of the experiment were explained in detail. We described the structure and methods of the survey of respondents, and analyzed the statistics. Based on the data, we made certain assumptions about the factors that could determine such results. The outcomes of the research study may potentially be implemented into follow-up studies on the problem of gendered workplace communication.



References

1. Ahmad, K. (2014). Gender Differences and Work-Related Communication in the UAE: A Qualitative Study. International Journal Of Business And Management, 9(3). doi: 10.5539/ijbm.v9n3p185

2. Andrews, S. (2013). Gender Communication in the Workplace.

3. Are Women More Emotionally Intelligent Than Men?. (2020). Retrieved from https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-brain-and-emotional-intelligence/201104/are-women-more-emotionally-intelligent-men

4. Baumann, M. (1976). Two features of "women's speech?."

5. Belephant, T. (2017). Communication Styles: Increasing Awareness Between Genders in the Workforce.

6. Bentsen, S. (2020). Global English Business Communication: Testing its production, reception and associations in China, Russia and Denmark., 8.

7. Cameron, D. (2008). The myth of Mars and Venus. Oxford University Press.

8. Conway, J., Bourque, S., & Scott, J. (1987). Introduction: The Concept of Gender. Learning About Women: Gender, Politics, And Power, 116(4), 21-30.

9. Definition of RESILIENCE. (2020). Retrieved from https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/resilience

10. Gender Differences in Social Interaction | Introduction to Sociology. (2020). Retrieved from https://courses.lumenlearning.com/cochise-sociology-os/chapter/gender-differences-in-social-interaction/

11. Haas, A. (1979). Male and female spoken language differences: Stereotypes and evidence. Psychological Bulletin, 86(3), 616-626. doi: 10.1037/0033-2909.86.3.616

12. Hirschman, L. (1994). Female-male differences in conversational interaction. Language In Society, 23(3), 427-442. doi: 10.1017/s0047404500018054

13. Jespersen, O. (1949). Language. New York.

14. Jong, E. (1977). How to save your own life. New York: Jeremy P. Tarcher.

15. Key, M. (1996). Male/female language. Lanham, Md.: Scarecrow Press.

16. Komarovsky, M. (1946). Cultural Contradictions and Sex Roles. American Journal Of Sociology, 52(3), 184-189. doi: 10.1086/219982

17. Kramer, C. (1974). Women's speech: Separate but unequal?. Quarterly Journal Of Speech, 60(1), 14-24. doi: 10.1080/00335637409383203

18. Kravchenko, O.A. (2019). Cultural determinants of gender roles [Unpublished manuscript]. National Research University Higher School of Economics.

19. Lakoff, R., & Bucholtz, M. (2004). Language and Woman's Place. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

20. Leightner, A., & Leightner, A. (2020). Gender Communication Differences: What Can We Learn? - Rochester Rising. Retrieved 10 May 2020, from http://rochesterrising.org/main/gender-communic.-differences-what-can-we-learn

21. Lindsey, L. (2013). Gender roles (pp. 1-21). London: Pearson.

22. Macionis, J. (2017). Sociology (16th ed., p. 347). Harlow: Pearson Education Limited.

23. Mamadou, S. (2019). Are Women better Leaders than Men? Gender Differences in Management Styles. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MANAGEMENT SCIENCE AND BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION, 5(3), 7-9. doi: 10.18775/ijmsba.1849-5664-5419.2014.53.1001

24. Merchant, K. (2012). How Men And Women Differ: Gender Differences in Communication Styles, Influence Tactics, and Leadership Styles.

25. Meyerowitz, J. (2008). A History of “Gender”. The American Historical Review, 113(5), 1346-1356. doi: 10.1086/ahr.113.5.1346

26. Mohindra, P. (2012). Gender Communication: A Comparative Analysis of Communicational Approaches of Men and Women at Workplaces. IOSR Journal Of Humanities And Social Science, 2(1), 18-27. doi: 10.9790/0837-0211827

27. Neculaesei, A. (2015). Culture and gender role differences. Cross-Cultural Management Journal, 17(1).

28. Newman, M., Groom, C., Handelman, L., & Pennebaker, J. (2008). Gender Differences in Language Use: An Analysis of 14,000 Text Samples. Discourse Processes, 45(3), 211-236. doi: 10.1080/01638530802073712

29. Parsons, T. (1955). The American Family: Its Relations to Personality and to the Social Structure. In T. Parsons & R. Bales, Family: socialization and interaction processes. New York: Free Press.

30. Pennebaker, J., & Mehl, M. (2002). Psychological Aspects of Natural Language Use: Our Words, Our Selves. Annual Review Of Psychology, 54(1), 547-577. doi: 10.1146/annurev.psych.54.101601.145041

31. Ridgeway, C. (2008). Framed Before We Know It. Gender & Society, 23(2), 145-160. doi: 10.1177/0891243208330313

32. Savio, D. (2014). Gender Differences in Emotional Intelligence. Journal Of School Social Work.

33. Smeltzer, L., & Werbel, J. (1986). Gender Differences in Managerial Communication: Fact or Folk-linguistics?. Journal Of Business Communication, 23(2), 41-50. doi: 10.1177/002194368602300205

34. Tannen, D. (2001). Talking from 9 to 5. New York: Harper.

35. Tannen, D. (2010). He Said, She Said. Retrieved from https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/he-said-she-said/

36. Tannen, D. (2013). You just don't understand.

37. Xia, X. (2013). Gender Differences in Using Language. Theory And Practice In Language Studies, 3(8). doi: 10.4304/tpls.3.8.1485-1489

38. West, C., & Fenstermaker, S. (1995). Doing Difference. Gender & Society, 9(1), 8-37. doi: 10.1177/089124395009001002

39. What Emotional Intelligence Is and Is Not. (2020). Retrieved from https://www.psychologytoday.com/intl/blog/the-personality-analyst/200909/what-emotional-intelligence-is-and-is-not

40. Zdravomyslova, E., & Temkina, A. (2015). 12 lekt?s?ii po gendernoi sot?s?iologii.

Размещено на Allbest.ru

...