Benefits May 22, 2001

Women Executives Seen, But Not Heard: Report

May 22, 2001 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - A new national study finds that while a majority (82%) of women executives find their listening skills to be a practical asset, over half (55%) say that soliciting the opinions of others makes them appear indecisive.

Reported by

Nevin E. Adams

The study by The Leader’s Edge Research found that the longer women had been in the workforce, the more likely they were to believe that women are viewed as indecisive.

Nearly two-thirds (65%) say that women don’t get credit when offering the same good idea as men, while an identical percentage say that women have trouble being heard in a meeting dominated by their male counterparts.

Too Strong?

More than half (51%) the women surveyed say they have been told their communication style is too aggressive for a woman. While this tends to increase with seniority, it was also cited by 40% of women with less than 15 years of experience.

While nearly two-thirds (61%) of those surveyed took individual credit for their achievements, rather than attributing it to teamwork, 63% said men are better than women at promoting their own successes at work.

Nearly half (49%) say it’s not necessary for a woman to act more like a man in the workplace to be perceived as a strong leader.