She released her informal study on her blog, and the most disappointing finding was how often women get interrupted. Of 314 total interruptions, 238 – 76% – were of women. 70% of men’s interruptions were of women, and 87% (!) of women’s interruptions were of women. In other words, something is stopping people from interrupting men, while they – both genders – feel comfortable interrupting women. Her study also confirmed that men do slightly more interrupting – 212 out of 314 interruptions (68%), when the room was usually 60% men. Obviously this isn’t a formal study, but it confirms a lot of our fears about gender in the workplace. Although all interruptions aren’t bad, an interruption does silence someone and give someone else the floor. And per her observations, women are getting silenced more and taking the floor less. It seems that one place to start empowering women is the conference room.
