Communication and Gender

Communication and Gender

Damien Hawkins

BUS600: Management Communication with Technology Tools

Professor Benjamin Zuckerman

February 22, 2010

 Communication and Gender

Men and women exhibit different styles of communication, whether it is in the workplace

or general communication. All communication is cultural -- it influences the ways we have

learned to speak and give non-verbal messages. We do not always communicate the same from

day to day, since factors like context, individual personality, and mood interact with the variety

of cultural influences we have internalized that influence our choices.

As far as modern day technology of cross cultural communication is concerned, a study

was conducted on the gender effects on people's communicative, interactive, affective, and

process patterns using computer-mediated communication (CMC). According to the author, Li

Qing, “the results show that first, on average; females had a significantly higher frequency of

collaborative instances using CMC than males (mean ES=-.09). That is, females' communication

tends to be more collaboratively oriented. Second, males, compared to females, posted messages

more frequently and or accessed longer to the Internet (mean ES = +.08). Third, males enjoyed

CMC more than their female counterparts (mean ES = +.24). However, homogeneity statistics

indicate that the findings on these three outcomes were significantly heterogeneous.”

Men and women do indeed communicate differently in the workplace and in some cases this

can cause a huge problem. Recently, research was completed at Adams State that provided

information about the climate of sexual harassment on the campus. In the article, “GENDER

COMMUNICATION TOPIC OF NOV. 11 ADAMS STATE FACULTY LECTURE”,

according to the assistant professor of psychology Dr. Brent King, “the results show that men

and women approach interactions with each other with very different viewpoints on what

behaviors are acceptable and what behaviors are over the line." Many of the signals that men
and women exhibit can be misleading to one another, therefore, men and women alike need to be

extremely cautious when making attempts to communicate in their workplace.

Despite their differences, men and women can learn a lot from each other. Author Dave

Zielinski writes, “While men and women share many traits that help them excel as presenters,

each gender has areas of natural advantage. Lists of gender-specific strengths, predilections and

tendencies that the opposite sex might do well to consider adopting for its own repertoire are

presented.

Listed under what men could learn from women are:

1. Temper the talking head.

2. Use inclusive language.

Listed under what women can learn from men are:

1. Quash the qualifiers.

2. Go by the numbers

3. Don't personalize things.

From another aspect, however, there is no secret that men and women are indeed

different. This difference can be defined as diversity, and diversity can be healthy in a workplace

environment. Various opinions between men and women in the workplace can be a great way of

accomplishing their goals. Agreeing to disagree has always been a helpful tactic when

attempting to achieve a goal.

 REFERENCES

GENDER COMMUNICATION TOPIC OF NOV. 11 ADAMS STATE FACULTY

LECTURE. (2009, October 31). US Fed News Service, Including US State News. Retrieved February 22,

2010, from Research Library. (Document ID: 1890770101).

Qing Li. (2006). Computer-Mediated Communication: A Meta-Analysis of Male and Female Attitudes

and Behaviors. International Journal on ELearning, 5(4), 525-570. Retrieved February 22, 2010, from

Research Library. (Document ID: 1146680761).

Dave Zielinski. (2004, May). LearNiNg from each other. Presentations, 18(5), 28. Retrieved February

22, 2010, from Research Library. (Document ID: 639535921).

Karamjit S. Gill. (2002). Knowledge Networking in Cross-Cultural Settings. AI & Society, 16(3), 252-277.

Retrieved February 22, 2010, from Research Library. (Document ID: 686887051).

William Todd-Mancillas. (2000). Constructing Co-Cultural Theory / Communication and Identity Across

Cultures. Communication Theory, 10(4), 475-480. Retrieved February 22, 2010, from Research Library.

(Document ID: 63344201).

David Carlone, & Bryan Taylor. (1998). Organizational communication and cultural studies: Communication

Theory, 8(3), 337-367. Retrieved February 22, 2010, from Research Library. (Document ID: 32744545).