Term Paper on "Work What Are Some of the Differences"

Term Paper 4 pages (1224 words) Sources: 3

[EXCERPT] . . . .

Work

What are some of the differences between men and women in conversation, and how is this significant in the workplace?

An employee hears that a critical order may arrive late. "I'm sorry," she says, when reporting this fact to her manager. The delay is not her fault, she is merely the bearer of bad news, but the manager assumes that the woman's apology means that she is at least partly to blame for the unfortunate occurrence. According to Talking from 9 to 5 by Deborah Tannen, this apologetic approach is a typical 'female' style of expressing one's concern or sympathy. The employee may merely wish to convey that she is empathetically sorry that things are not going as well as planned, even though she has nothing to do with the matter, but the male manager interprets this gentle verbal touch as a sign of weakness. In contrast, a male employee might make a joke about the incompetence of the supplier, which conveys the same information but does not put himself at fault.

Men approach often conversation from the point-of-view of words a power game, as a way of showing one-upmanship. In the traditionally competitive dog-eat-dog sphere of the American workplace, this has put the male style of self-expression at a distinct advantage over the female style. 'I have information and you do not, therefore I am superior on the hierarchy,' suggests the male use of information at a meeting, or even citing obscure sports scores that the conversational party is not aware of, which similarly uses verbal dominance and factual superiority as kind of a friendly power play.

Instead of conveying information or power, Women more frequently use conversation as a means of relating, like saying 'I'm sorry' to indicate that the speaker 'feels your pain,' or by saying 'I really like those shoes, where did you get them,' to show a mutual interest and approval, as well as a general curiosity as to where the shoes were purchased. The information is less important than the exchange of dialogue itself. Tannen calls this the difference between classically male report talk, instead of the emphasis on rapport talk amongst women. Women acknowledge mutual or individual weaknesses to build community. Problem solving is not always the issue. This is not to say that such conversational styles between women cannot be used in a way to show dominance in a power relationship. But women, between themselves, might use a kind of one downmanship, to either reinforce social bonds, or as a kind implicit superiority 'oh, these old shoes' in a way that is much less direct than male styles of displaying conversational power.

Because men take these female, self-depreciating comments at face value, these types of conversational styles may undercut women's ability to advance themselves in the workplace, and even female ways of expressing dominance may not be read as such by males who are currently in power and make decisions about promotions and pay. Does this mean that women should try to imitate male conversational role models, and swagger about citing Derek Jeter's latest statistics? Not so fast. Even women, who love sports, have classically male styles of expressing themselves (by design and observation or because of their character) often find that their behavior is read as too aggressive and confrontational. A male style of expression in a female body does not meet with approval and advancement.

The answer is not that men and women imitate one another, but that both men and women at work engage in a more self-critical, heightened awareness of their gender's assumptions, styles of conversational relation, and that they become more tolerant of different ways of expressing ideas.… READ MORE

How to Reference "Work What Are Some of the Differences" Term Paper in a Bibliography

Related Term Papers:

Public Administration Differences Between Public and Private Sector Essay

Public Administration

What are some of the differences between public and private sector personnel administration?

The biggest differences between public and private sector personnel administration include: how employees are recruited… read more

Essay 2 pages (569 words) Sources: 1 Topic: Career / Labor / Human Resources

---

Creswell (2013), Chapter Term Paper

From the information provided, the researchers aimed to determine how the patients perceived the disease, and how they managed to cope with the disease. Simple, it aimed to establish how… read more

Term Paper 7 pages (2015 words) Sources: 1 Topic: Anthropology / Culture

---

Social Work What Does the 'Partisan Mind Term Paper

Social Work

What does the 'Partisan Mind' suggest about social work practice, social workers, and the Code of Ethics?

The occupation of social work evolved through the endeavors to address… read more

Term Paper 8 pages (2274 words) Sources: 8 Topic: Ethics / Morality

---

Disability What Are Some Cultural Perceptions Essay

Disability

What are some cultural perceptions that promote adjustment to disability? What are some perceptions that prohibit adjustment to disability? What perceptions seem most remarkable to you?

The social model… read more

Essay 3 pages (1152 words) Sources: 2 Topic: Disease / Virus / Disorder / Injury

---

Preventing Crime: What Works Research Proposal

Preventing Crime: What Works, What Doesn't, What's Promising" by Lawrence W. Sherman, Denise C. Gottfredson, Doris L. MacKenzie, John Eck, Peter Reuter, and Shawn D. Bushway

According to Sherman, one… read more

Research Proposal 10 pages (3144 words) Sources: 0 Topic: Crime / Police / Criminal Justice

---

View 100+ more related papers  >>