1. BRIDGING THE GAP ADDRESSING GENDER INEQUALITIES IN THE WORKPLACE
COMMUNICATION THEORY THINK TANK PROJECT

2. PROJECT OUTLINE MEET THE TEAM INTRODUCTION
The group that is responsible for this Think Tank Project.
INTRODUCTION
How does gender inequality affect women in the workplace, and why is this an important issue?

3. THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVE
PROBLEM DEVELOPMENT
How did gender inequality become a problem? Where is the issue currently?
THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVE
What do current theories say regarding gender inequality? How can we use them as a framework for new ideas?
BRIDGE THE GAP THEORY
We discuss our theory, solutions, implementation, and limitations that could help solve gender inequality.
REFERENCES
All the sources that got us here.

4. ERIN ROBINSON LIZ RASMUSSEN JESSIE ORGAMBIDE DAVE ROBERTS
Erin recently graduated from Gonzaga University and currently for KREM 2 News in Spokane, WA where she is a digital media producer.
ERIN ROBINSON
Liz Rasmussen is a 25 year old, Museum Assistant at the Kittitas County Historical Museum in Ellensburg, WA. Liz would like to work in the administrative field of a nonprofit as an event and/or volunteer coordinator.
LIZ RASMUSSEN
Jessie recently graduated from Arizona State University with a degree in technical communication. She currently works for a large non-profit medical foundation in Sacramento, CA.
JESSIE ORGAMBIDE
Dave Roberts lives near Seattle, WA with his wife and two daughters where he is a Youth Director and the Director of Communications for John Knox Presbyterian Church.
DAVE ROBERTS

5. INTRODUCTION

6. OVERVIEW
Gender inequality in the workplace is an issue that our society has been facing since women entered the workforce. The way our society communicates is a major factor that has unintentionally helped create this problem, and subsequently the field of communication can help challenge current structures of power and dominance. Through new ways of communication, new structures, beliefs and practices that are fair to everyone, regardless of gender, can be created to work towards eliminating gender inequality in the workplace.

7. PROBLEM DEVELOPMENT EQUAL EMPLOYMENT:
Civil Rights Acts of 1964, 1968: Protect women’s rights in workplace, forbade discrimination based on sex in hiring, promoting and firing.
WAGE GAP:
Equal Pay Act of 1963: no pay disparity between men and women in the same workplace performing equal work.
Pay gap has narrowed since 1960s due to women’s achievements in education and workforce (Hill, 2011).
Women working full-time in U.S. paid 80% of what men were paid in 2015 (“Women in the Workplace”, 2016).
Women will not reach full pay equity with men until 2059 (Hill, 2011).

8. PROBLEM DEVELOPMENT WOMEN’S LEADERSHIP IN THE WORKPLACE:
Men and women say they want to be promoted in equal numbers, women are less likely to make it to the next tier (“Women in the Workplace,” 2015).
For every 100 women promoted, 130 men are promoted (“Women in the Workplace,” 2016).
Women face more setbacks when looking to grow in their careers (“Women in the Workplace,” 2016).
Women negotiate as much as men, but face more pushback (“Women in the Workplace,” 2016).
Women who push for promotion are 30% more likely to be seen as bossy or too aggressive (“Women in the Workplace,” 2016).
Women have less access to senior leaders for feedback than men (“Women in the Workplace,” 2016).

9. THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVES
The following theoretical perspectives give us insight into what has been done with the issue of gender inequality

10. GENDERLECT
THEORY

11. GENDERLECT THEORY KEY IDEAS:
Genderlect is a term used to suggest that masculine and feminine styles of discourse are best viewed as two distinct cultural dialects (Tanner, 1990)
Communication between men and women is cross-cultural dialects
Since each gender has their own communication style, “miscommunication occurs all the time between women and men” (GriffIn, 2012, p.435) since neither gender realizes they are participating in cross-cultural communication
Women seek connection through communication while men are concerned with status (GriffIn, 2012)
WAGE GAP:
Equal Pay Act of 1963: no pay disparity between men and women in the same workplace performing equal work.
Pay gap has narrowed since 1960s due to women’s achievements in education and workforce (Hill, 2011).
Women working full-time in U.S. paid 80% of what men were paid in 2015 (“Women in the Workplace”, 2016).
Women will not reach full pay equity with men until 2059 (Hill, 2011).

12. GENDERLECT THEORY KEY TERMS:
Report Talk - seeks to command attention; commonly used by men (Griffin, 2012)
Rapport Talk - establishes connections with others (Griffin, 2012)
Listening (GriffIn, 2012)
Women hold eye contact, offer head nods, and react with responses that indicate listening
Men's version of active listening simply means “I agree with you” and they avoid being put in submissive roles or let down stance
Conflict (GriffIn, 2012)
Women see conflict a threat to connection and should be avoided at all costs
Men are more comfortable with conflict and are less likely to hold themselves in check when confronted with conflict

13. MUTED GROUP THEORY

14. MUTED GROUP THEORY KEY IDEAS:
Language is literally a man made construction - Chris Kramarae (Griffin, 2012)
Language “aids in defining, depreciating and excluding women” (Harding, 1997, p.384)
This idea places women in the muted group category
Muted Groups - low power groups who must change their language when communicating publicly, thus, letting their ideas are often over looked; e.g. women (Griffin, 2012, p.461)
Women are classified as a muted group “women’s words are discounted in our society; women’s thoughts are devalued” (Griffin, 2012, p.460).
“Men have structured a value system and a language that reflects that value system” (Kramarae, 1981, p.12).

15. MUTED GROUP THEORY KEY IDEAS (CON’T):
Women “must transform their own models in terms of the received male system of expression” (Kramarae, 1981, p.3)
Women are forced to choose their words carefully because in most cultures, women’s talk is subject to male control and censorship, and the American workplace is no different (Griffin, 2012).
In order to even make an attempt to be heard, a constant effort to the translation process is necessary from women (Griffin, 2012).
The power discrepancies between the sexes ensures that women will view the world, both work and general, different from men (Griffin, 2012).
Muted Group theory is a theory that can help explain women’s sense of confusion and lack of power (Griffin, 2012).

16. BRIDGING THE GAP

17. BRIDGING THE GAP KEY THOUGHTS:
Many human service professionals are frustrated by the suggestion that their practices and policies reinforce inequities that exist in the larger society (Allison & Hibbler, 2004). However, they do not seem to realize that the oppression exists “not because of a tyrannical power coerces them, but because of the everyday practices of well intentioned liberal society” (Young, 1990, p. 41). These issues “are embedded in unquestioned norms, habits, and symbols, in the assumptions underlying institutional rules and the collective consequences of following those rules” (Young, 1990, p. 41). Often these are hidden but powerful systems that have been set in place by those in positions of power that are created through public interaction and systems of language, symbols, and communication within social institutions (Allison & Hibbler, 2004).

18. BRIDGING THE GAP KEY THOUGHTS:
Communication practices in the workplace need to be more equitable. Men, who currently operate within the dominant structure of power and language need to see and value the contributions of women. Women need to become un-muted and have their voices and ideas heard. We need to bridge the gap of what currently is, to what should be and what would benefit all in the workplace.

19. BRIDGING THE GAP PRACTICES: Diversity Communication Training
Enforcing a diversity communication training course is one step for organizations to change communication practices in the workplace
Men and women need to understand how each gender communicates, which means both sexes adapting to each other
This will allow for society to slowly begin to bridge the misinterpretation in communication between men and women.
By changing the workplace communication styles, women will be able to be promoted with more ease into higher power positions, as well as be taken serious in these positions.
Having more women in management will allow for “female managers [to] have more power, status and social support (Kanter, 1977a, 1977b) and, as a result, will be more effective in gaining access to new positions and in converting temporary arrangements into permanent jobs” (Cohen & Broschak, 2013, p. 517).

20. REFERENCES
Allison, M. T., & Hibbler, D. K. (2004). Organizational barriers to inclusion: Perspectives from the recreation professional. Leisure Sciences, 26(3),
Cohen, L. E., & Broschak, J. P. (2013). Whose jobs are these? The impact of the proportion of female managers on the number of new management jobs filled by women versus men. Administrative Science Quarterly, 58(4),
Griffin, E. (2012). A First Look at Communication Theory (8th ed.). McGrawll Hill.
Harding, S. (1997). Comment on Heckman's "truth and method: Feminist standpoint theory revisited": Whose standpoint needs the regimes of truth and reality? Signs, 22(2),
Hill, C. (2011). “The Simple Truth about the Gender Pay Gap” - aauw.org (K. Miller & K. Benson,
Eds.). Retrieved December 13, 2016, from
Kramarae, C. (1981). Women and men speaking: Frameworks for analysis.
Landsbaum, C. (2016). Obama's Female Staffers Came Up With a Genuis Strategy to make Sure Their Voices Were Heard. doi:New York Magazine

21. REFERENCES
Pendry, L. F., Driscoll, D. M., & Field, S. C. T. (2007). Diversity Training: Putting theory into practice Wiley-Blackwell.
Tannen, D. (1990). You just don't understand: Women and men in conversation (1st ed.. ed.). New York: New York: Morrow.
The Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission | National
Archives. (n.d.). Retrieved December 13, 2016, from
U.S. Senate. (1963). Equal pay act of 1963.[Cong. Doc.]. Washington: U.S. Govt.
Women in the Workplace 2015 (Rep.). (2015). Retrieved December 13, 2016.
Women in the Workplace 2016 (Rep.). (2016). Retrieved December 13, 2016.
Wood, J. T. (1995). Feminist scholarship and the study of relationships. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 12(1),
Young, I. (1990). Justice and the politics of difference. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University
Press.