Why Women Stay Quiet at Work

[Triana]

15. Many of them are utterly confident in their knowledge of...

...well - everything. I hear them all the time confidently saying: "Oh yea, that will work. I KNOW it can."

Often, it turns out -- it CAN'T and it doesn't. It's usually something technical. Often, it's something a female was assigned to "make" work. The male insists it can and that it's been done before (by one of his male colleagues)! Sometimes (too often) - it turns out it has NOT been done (after checking around) and can't work that way.

And - if the female can't figure it out (either) - SHE is stupid!

Male assuredness sometimes astounds me - what they THINK they know or CLAIM they know - about technology, women (and their minds and bodies), people of color. You name it.

In technical fields, men mentor and help each other. If a rare woman enters into the environment - she's on her own. Sending an email to a technical mailing list often results in one of two things: no response at all, or deliberate misinformation or only partial information, or some snarky response that indirectly alludes to her inferior intellect. I've HEARD men say: "she should fucking know her shit if she wants to be here and if she doesn't *I'M* not going to help her!" If it were a male colleague, he'd be provided whatever information he needed and welcomed into the fold. Subtle collusion against women - particularly in technical fields - of the nature I've described herein - is very common.

In meetings, women are less likely to boast that they know about something and huck it up with counterparts. They'll keep their mouth shut until they're relatively certain they have something of value to add and relatively certain that any info they provide is more than likely correct. BEFORE speaking. They're a little different that way.