December 5, 2003
A: FROM MENTOR LORI KANE IN MA
I'm not sure about your questions concerning women and men changing their
minds. I haven't noticed that either gender does this more than the other.
I do think women tend to be more detail-oriented and methodical than men.
I believe women also tend to be less egotistical and are better listeners.
The pay averages are improving, but women are still behind men in this
area. Part of this is caused by unfair stereotypes. I also think women are
less inclined to counter-offer when seeking employment or ask for a raise
once hired. Men also tend to be better at "tooting their horn" and I think
that definitely makes a difference. Furthermore, people like to promote
people that are like themselves. Since managers are still mostly white
men, they tend to promote other white men which makes it slightly more
difficult for women to get promoted.
I also notice that men tend to be much more assertive in meetings. Women
tend to precede their ideas with disclaimers such as "I'm not an expert in
this area, but I think ..." or "I don't know if this is a good idea or
not, but ..." where men tend to just say what they think (no matter what
their level of expertise).