ABSTRACT
Many men perceive women as lacking the requisite boldness and rugged individualism to function well as senior managers. They perceive women to be “intuitive rather than analytical” and “too emotional.” Men base these assertions on what they have observed in their own lives and careers: women speak and act differently than men. Linguists, lead by Professor Robin Lakoff at the University of California Berkeley, and Professor Deborah Tannen at Georgetown University, have agreed that it is true. In our society, women speak “in a different register,” but the baggage that men allege to come with those female behaviors is non-existent, as Lakoff and Tannen demonstrate. Nevertheless, male managers’ perceptions prevent women from migrating upwards into the pool from which boards of directors and search consultants chose CEOs and other senior corporate managers.
