They Don't Get It, Do They?: Communication in the Workplace - Closing the Gap Between Women and Men

by Kathleen Kelley Reardon

Two decades after the publication of  They Don't Get It, Do They? , much less has changed for women seeking equal opportunity and pay at work than they ever expected. In this book, Kathleen Kelley Reardon Ph.D., the author of  The Secret Handshake ,  It's All Politics  and  Comebacks at Work,  turns her extraordinary observational skills toward obstacles to women's advancement. Author of such  Harvard Business Review  articles as "The Memo Every Woman Keeps in Her Desk" and "Courage as a Skill," Reardon fills her book with scores of real-life examples.  They Don't Get It, Do They?  shows how to identify, understand and overcome the hidden subtexts of business conversations. Men and women speak different languages at work but different shouldn't mean better or worse, Reardon argues. Yet history shows that those distinctions are made every day in organizations around the world, where women continue to be poorly represented at the top and significantly underpaid in most fields and at nearly every level. Through hundreds of interviews and her own extensive experience in business, Reardon has produced an insightful examination of the gender communication rift. She explores how differing perceptions -- as well as realistic concerns that men have of women taking their jobs -- perpetuate a chasm between the sexes. Following Reardon's empowering advice, women can learn to develop a language that bridges the divide without requiring that they mimic men or sacrifice the benefits of their personal styles. Communication, it turns out, is the hard stuff of business and Kathleen Kelley Reardon's books are at the forefront of exploring the complexities so many of us don't notice. This is your chance to learn why we're all at least 75% responsible for the way we're treated at work and what that means for women in terms of turning things around for the better.

200 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 1995

Reviews

[Julia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Slightly dated but the advice is good, particularly where the author points out how to turn around conversations.