Although much progress has been made so that women can exercise their right to vote, study, work, decide when and whether to have children, gender inequality persists. And even today there are several situations that demonstrate how women still do not enjoy a comfortable position to express themselves.
According to a new study, the effect can be observed in events that require greater participation, whether public speaking at a conference; whether expressing doubts in a question circle or even expressing disagreement. Taking as a basis the interactions carried out in seminars, in the university environment, some nuances of this were revealed.
Published in the magazine Plos ONE in 2018, the study indicated that women were less likely to ask a question, even when the proportion of men and women remained balanced in the audience. After all, what could limit female participation?
Reasons for lower female participation
In addition to a survey that collected participation responses and questions from the public, 247 other seminars held in 10 countries were evaluated. When considering what motivated the questions among participants, men and women sometimes emphasized similar reasons. For 92% of men and 93% of women the doubt was motivated by interest in the topic; 67% of men and 64% of women expressed a desire for clarification.
But how about asking why an error was detected? This reason was indicated by 33% of men and 16% of women, and it is on this that we already have an alarm. When considering the frequency with which they ask questions, the female audience has the lowest percentage.
Using a comprehensive dataset, it was possible to develop a model capable of estimating female participation in different scenarios. For example, the model predicted that there was a 33% chance that a question would be asked by a woman in a seminar. And when a man asked first, this chance was reduced to 27%.
On the other hand, if the length of the questioning session increased, the likelihood of a woman asking a question also increased. Looking at the observational data, it was also found that men were 2.5 times more likely to ask a question than women.
Nuances that impact everyday life
Internal factors were seen as an obstacle to interaction for the majority of interviewees: the worry of having understood something wrong appeared among the most reported reasons. For men, however, lack of time was the main reason for not asking a question.
There are many factors that can make people feel less comfortable when communicating in public — but, among women, there are still very specific reasons that impact in many different ways: the lack of female role models in prominent positions, lower visibility and lack of incentives.
Addressing these reasons, the study also highlights that, although not everyone is aware of this disparity, and even women themselves do not always have a clear idea of ​​how internal factors influence their behaviors, it is essential to promote greater female participation visibility in different spaces.
Likewise, changes in the organizational culture of environments, both in universities; Both in companies, these play a decisive role in offering a more inclusive space. But since there is no ready recipe to change this scenario, it is necessary to listen to more women and invest in new approaches.
Source: Terra
Ben Stock is a lifestyle journalist and author at Gossipify. He writes about topics such as health, wellness, travel, food and home decor. He provides practical advice and inspiration to improve well-being, keeps readers up to date with latest lifestyle news and trends, known for his engaging writing style, in-depth analysis and unique perspectives.
