Managing Diversity Paper #3

The Power of Talk: Who Gets Heard and Why Deborah Tannen’s article essentially points out that men and women have different ways of communicating. Women’s conversational style is more towards developing rapport, providing support, or nurturing in such a way to show how they are attune to communication. This style is conducive towards promoting intimacy and the importance of relationships. On the other hand, men’s conversational style is more assertive, more indicative of independence and the maintenance of hierarchical relationships. This style is important in establishing and communicating the status of a person engaged in communication. Tannen’s views regarding these differences are shared by others. In “Bridging the Gender Gap,” Glaser points out that it is not the fact that men and women play by different rules, but that the problem lies in now knowing what the rules are (n.d.). Tannen noted in her article that differences in communication style for men and women are product of their socialization during childhood experiences. Glaser adds that in the workplace, men do not exclude women intentionally, but that it is men’s assertiveness that may make this perception. Men do not wait to be invited; they simply join in. Moreover, she also states that women have a tendency to be apologetic and to attach qualifiers to their conversation. For example, women would add, “This may be a stupid question…”, “I think this may be the right track…” or “You probably figured this out already, but…” (Glaser, n.d.). Still others such as Braedyn-Svecz are quick to add that in addition of communication differences in childhood, male and female brains structured to process information differently. In her article “Gender Communication: The Impact Gender has on Effective Communication,” Braedyn-Svecz says that while men