Gender and Verbal Communication in Professional Settings

Abstract

Women in professional settings often practice affiliative/depowering communication strategies, whereas men tend to practice instrumental/empowering communication strategies. These differing strategies are evident in conversational objectives, tag questions and hedges, and verbal turn taking. Lack of opportunity, tokenism, and gender role spillover contribute to differences in both communication acts and communication expectations. Conclusions from empirical research suggest that women can choose and may even be encouraged to practice empowering strategies with the public, subordinates, and supervisors; however, they are forced into using affiliative strategies when interacting with colleagues.