Members in the Media
From: The Washington Post

Who Won’t Shut Up In Meetings? Men Say it’s Women. It’s Not.

APS Member/Author: Adam Grant

The Japanese Olympic Committee was discussing steps for bringing more women onto boards in sports. The male leader of the Tokyo Olympics organizing committee voiced a grave concern: “When you increase the number of female executive members, if their speaking time isn’t restricted to a certain extent, they have difficulty finishing, which is annoying.” The man was Yoshiro Mori, a former prime minister of Japan. He resigned from the Tokyo committee last Friday over the remarks, which he’d made at a virtual meeting Feb. 3.

When people make claims about behavior in groups, my job as an organizational psychologist is to look at the evidence. The pattern is clear and consistent: It’s usually men who won’t shut up. Especially powerful men.

In a study of U.S. senators, those who had more leadership roles, seniority, committee assignments, influence, legislative activity and earmarks in spending bills took up more time on the Senate floor — but only if they were men.

Read the whole story (subscription may be required): The Washington Post

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