Women, Not Just Men, Impede Women in the Workplace

If you look closely, you’ll see a definitive sign that women and men communicate differently. 

“Watch two men walking and talking, and they’ll be side by side, facing away from one another,” says gender communication expert Audrey Nelson, Ph.D.  “But notice the difference if one of them is a woman.  She’ll keep turning into her partner, trying to catch eye contact.”

Nelson, the author of You Don’t Say: Navigating Nonverbal Communication Between the Sexes, was on hand for the Zonta Foothills Club of Boulder County’s fourth annual Authors’ Luncheon.  Along with writing about challenges that men and women have in communication, Nelson trains corporate executives on how to avoid miscommunication and gender discrimination violations in the workplace.  Gender discrimination continues to be a factor in pay inequality, keeping women locked into making only about 73 cents to the dollar paid to men. 

While gender discrimination from men is still prevalent, Nelson sees another disturbing trend:

“Sadly, women are their own worse enemies in the workplace,” Nelson advised the group of over two hundred professional women, their spouses and guests.  “One of the greatest challenges women have in the workplace doesn’t come from men, but rather from women who have made it up the ladder, but don’t mentor other women to follow.”

Zonta Foothills Club of Boulder County is a volunteer association of professional women with a mission: to advance the status of women, including women in the workplace.  Zonta women take Ms. Nelson’s advice to heart. One of the group’s recent hands-on service projects was the Women in the Workforce employment fair, where volunteers and community sponsors assisted women entering the workforce with advice including resume building, dressing for the office (on a budget), networking for job leads and interviewing skills to attain the goal of self-support. 

Zonta Foothills Club of Boulder County was recently voted “Best Nonprofit” by the Best of Boulder.

Watch for Audrey Nelson’s newest book, Code Switching: How to Talk So Men Will Listen to be released this summer.

Save the date!  Zonta’s next Authors’ Luncheon is March 13, 2010 at the Omni Resort in Broomfield, Colorado.  Boulder County’s art community is legendary, and Zonta will have top-tier authors and community leaders on hand to entertain and inspire!  For more, see Authors’ Luncheon.

The Zonta Foothills Club of Boulder County is a volunteer organization of professional women dedicated to the advancement of women both locally, and internationally.  Members perform local service projects and raise funds to meet the needs of women in the areas of health, employment, violence prevention and education.