Women in the workplace

In 2020, women represented only 43 of the 538 named executive officers among Canada’s 100 largest publicly traded corporations (8%), down from 53 (10%) in 2019.

“Women in Management” Catalyst. 2020

"Intentional invisibility." In a study of a professional development program at a large non-profit, women avoided conflict with colleagues, softened their assertiveness with niceness, and “got stuff done” by quietly moving things forward without drawing attention to themselves. The consequence of this approach was that they often ended up feeling well-liked but underappreciated.

“Why Women Stay Out of the Spotlight at Work” 2018.

According to an analysis of thousands of 360-degree reviews, women outscored men on 17 of the 19 capabilities that differentiate excellent leaders from average or poor ones.

Zenger, J and Folkman, J. “Research: Women are better leaders during a crisis” Harvard Business Review. 2019

In 2019, women represented 47.4% of the Canadian workforce.

“Women in the Workforce” Catalyst.

In 2019, women represented 35.5% of managers in Canada. Women accounted for 31.5% of senior managers.

“Women in Management” Catalyst.

At S&P 500 companies, women make up 45% of the workforce but only 25% of senior-level executives and only 5% of the CEOs.

“Women CEOs of the S&P 500,” Catalyst. 2015.
Smith, J. Book Title: Including subtitle. 20XX. 65.

Communication

Research studying why men routinely interrupt women goes back as early as 1975, with a study conducted by Don Zimmerman and Candace West at UC Santa Barbara, where they found that out of 31 observed mixed-sex conversations, men were responsible for 47 of the 48 interruptions that took place.

Lang, C. “'Mr. Vice President, I'm Speaking.' What Research Says About Men Interrupting Women—And How to Stop It” Time Magazine. 2020.

A 2014 study from George Washington University found that men were 33% more likely to interrupt while speaking with a woman, as opposed to another man. And more recently, a 2017 report from Northwestern Pritzker School of Law showed that male Supreme Court Justices interrupt female Justices approximately 3 times as often as they interrupt other male Justices. All three studies note that these interruptions can be traced to possible unconscious bias, which affects who we think is powerful or high-status enough to not be interrupted.

Lang, C. “'Mr. Vice President, I'm Speaking.' What Research Says About Men Interrupting Women—And How to Stop It” Time Magazine. 2020.

Speaking Out: Messages women receive

• Be honest, but don’t make people uncomfortable.

• Sound confident but not self-righteous.

• Say what’s on your mind, but don’t hurt anyone’s feelings.

• Be straightforward but not offensive.

• Sound informed but don’t be a know-it-all.

• Have the courage to disagree, but don’t say anything unpopular or controversial.

• Don’t get too emotional, but don’t be a robot

• You don’t have to quote facts and figures, but don’t be wrong.
  Brene Brown

According to research by linguist William Labov, women lead 90% of linguistic change.

Labov, W. “The intersection of sex and social class in the course of linguistic change. Language Variation and Change” 1990. 205-254.