7. Managers Tell Women in Tech They Are “Abrasive” and Need to “Step Back” to “Let Others Shine”

Kieran Synder heard about women in the technology industry were being judged more harshly than the men and she wanted to know how "often this perception of female abrasiveness undermines women's careers." She asked both men and women to share their performance views (without telling them what it was for) and analyzing them to see if the content differed based on the employee's gender. Turns out that it did. From the 114 reviews from men and the 107 from women, Synder was able to conclude that women were much more likely to receive criticism. 58.9% of the reviews from the men contained critical feedback as opposed to the 87.9% of the women. Synder also classified the type of criticism that the employee received and she registered that most of the criticism the men received were constructive. Women also received constructive criticism, but they were frequently told to step back and be quieter.This kind of feedback, about watching your tone, stepping back and being judgemental; shows up twice in 83 critical reviews received by men. But it shows up in 71 of the 94 critical reviews received by women. The author also talks about another research in which a researcher gave subject two job applications that were basically the same, except one was for 'John' and the other was for 'Jennifer.' They found out that 'John' was offered an average of $4,000 more a year than 'Jennifer' for the same job. The author ends by talking about more benefits that men receive in the business world just for being men and advises managers to be wise in their choices.
The author of this article, Amanda Marcotte, wanted to point out the differences between men and women in a work environment and the advantages that men have. She was able to prove that point excellently. Not only did she explain the research done by Kieran Synder, she also added her own examples and the work of other researches. She also added various numbers and statistics from reliable sources. This all made the article a whole lot more legitimate. Marcotte also had a slightly ironic tone at times to show the ridiculousness of the situation. She also used a more complex vocabulary and longer sentences intended for an older audience.