Breaking Through Bias: Communication Techniques for Women to Succeed at Work

by Andrea S. Kramer, ALTON HARRIS

More than fifty years after the beginning of the Women's Movement and forty years after passage of Title IX, women are still not "making it" in traditionally male careers. Women start their careers on parity with men but generally end them far earlier, having achieved less status, lower compensation, and less satisfaction than men. Breaking Through Bias explains that it is the stereotypes about women, men, work, leadership, and family that hold women back, and it presents an integrated set of communication techniques that women can use to avoid the discriminatory consequences of these stereotypes. Women define career success in a wide variety of ways. But whatever a woman's personal definition, if she is in a traditionally male-dominated career--virtually all high status, highly compensated fields--her career is at risk because of pervasive gender stereotypes. This highly practical book makes clear that women don't need to change who they are to succeed in their chosen careers, and they certainly don't need to act more like men. Women do, however, need to be attuned to the negative gender stereotypes that surround them; they need to anticipate the biases these stereotypes foster, and they need to manage the impressions they make to avoid or overcome these biases. Based on the authors' personal experiences as business leaders and practicing attorneys, involvement in compensation and hiring decisions, extensive mentoring activities, and numerous scientific and academic studies, Breaking Through Bias presents unique, practical, and effective advice about how women can at last break through gender bias in the workplace and win at the career advancement game.

Genres: Nonfiction, Business, Self Help, Feminism, Adult, Leadership, Womens Studies

256 pages, Hardcover

First published May 17, 2016

Reviews

[Kate · Rating 3 out of 5]

So when I read feminist theory I am so onboard with what we want the future to look like and get all caught up in how things should be....then I get angry because there's no advice about how to survive in the now. THIS book is what you read for how to survive and succeed NOW because, as the authors point out in the conclusion, it will take a long time for the workplace to catch up. Perhaps too long. At first I was a little pissy about all the "Goldilocks dilemmas" they describe and how women need to come off as just the right mix of warm, communal, ambitious, and competitive (I mean, seriously...it's a LOT of work to present yourself as a woman in the workplace and this book gets down to tiny details of how to speak, move, and dress so that you won't get interrupted in a meeting or passed over for a promotion). But ultimately the tips they present are helpful and empowering--learning how to say no to projects/tasks that don't move your career forward; giving yourself permission to ask for promotions; how to take back the floor in a meeting; how to organize and prioritize your work-life balance. Definitely taking away some food for thought here.

[Vicki · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book has not been released yet, but is set to be released on May 17, 2016. But, I have read the excerpt on Amazon.com. It captured my attention immediately! Further, I have already pre-ordered my copy! My reason and intent in promoting this book is because it will help female professionals, or those in college with the goal of entering the professional world, and especially male dominated fields, advance in their careers like no other book can! The author's are Andrea S. Kramer and Alton B. Harris, wife and husband, who have collaberated on this book tirelessly to help women everywhere become equals in their chosen professional careers! I highly recommend that you visit Amazon.com, read the excerpt and pre-order your copy today! You will also learn who these author's are - amazingly hard- working professionals who, though they are extremely busy in their respective careers, have worked so hard to get this book out to us! You can pre-order the hardcopy for just over $27.00 or the Kindle version for just $11.99! Either way, the cost is very reasonable. I also suggest that you take some time to visit their website at: www.andieandal.com and sign up for their newsletter. There are also blogs on their website to join in on discussing your experiences, your thoughts on the excerpt you have read, etc. I highly recommend this book to any female professional, but also to men. I believe that men would be happy to have their "significant other" succeed in the professional world also! I, personally, cannot wait to get my hands on this "One of a Kind" book and read it in its entirety! I personally believe it will become a "New York Times" bestseller!
Thank You Andie and Al for your hard yet, tireless work and all it must take to write an exceptional book that I cannot wait to read in its entirety!
Vicki Banks

[Sue · Rating 1 out of 5]

Scouring the library networks for "Breaking Through Bias: Communication Techniques for Men to Succeed at Work."

Not really. That book does not exist. The self-help genre banks off persuading an aggrieved population it must make changes to fit into an unjust society. Does the genre reach to the unjust to provide a step-by-step approach to equality "success" with just practices? I haven't found it.

"Managing the impressions you make to advance your career does not require you to accept gender stereotypes, but it does require you to accept reality. Stereotypes about leadership, power, and potential are pervasive facts of life in most career contexts. Therefore, if you are striving for career success, you are playing a competitive game in which these stereotypes provide many of the most important rules."

Kramer and Harris make few to no demands on those who "succeed," using the techniques in this book or not, to make a society more just.

Also: the authors' work experience, as shared in the book, is entirely in law firms, which look little to nothing like the working world of most of us.

Done with my swim through the muck of career self-help.

[Mskychick · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm torn in how to rate this book. A lot of it doesn't directly apply to me because the style of job I have. This might be more valuable to me if I were a management kind of person.
Also, most of this book makes me say, "fuck men, and fuck society." It's hard to get excited about a boom that just pisses me off
Nevertheless, I would probably return to this book to reference it of my job changed to be more applicable to the tips given here.

[Claire · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read for work. This book has some good advice, but occasionally it's given in a patronizing manner, or with the assumption that it's "easy" to take their advice and all your problems will be solved (unlikely, unfortunately).

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

I would give this more than a three, but less than four stars. It really made me think and react which I hope it does for anyone who takes it on and puts the time into searching yourself and your own beliefs and biases. I liked the stories and perspectives. There were some good nuggets and interesting facts that support what they are saying. What is hard is the pull between how we’re expected to act as women and who we are. There is this difficult balancing act and I felt that tension within myself as I read it. It’s as real a tension and pull between expectations in the workplace which helps me understand why so often women find themselves in a place where they’ve lost themselves and don’t know who they are anymore. I’ve been there too. We bend and change to our husbands, our bosses, our co-workers, and teams to be liked and respected. To lead and be lead. It can be a heavy load and it doesn’t surprise me that so many women leave the workplace or create their own.

[Kristin Kuykendall · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book offers some good reminders about the challenges women still face in their professional lives and the best way to overcome these challenges. I wouldn’t say I learned anything new however it was a great refresher and provided informative “real-world” stories from females and males in leadership roles and how they viewed body language, speaking tones, etc of females wanting promotions or interviewing for jobs.

[Jessica Muhlenkamp · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think I would have enjoyed this book a lot better if I hadn't already been reading a similar book of a parallel topic. The ideas in the first 1/2 of the book weren't original or groundbreaking but I found the helpful hints and communication techniques outline in the 2nd half to be much more concrete than other similar books. Reading the audiobook I found it very annoying that a different reader was used for different viewpoints so be aware of that if you're a listener reader.

[Sel · Rating 5 out of 5]

I appreciated the organized, research-based approach to understanding gender bias from both men and women. This book provided practical and real-world scenarios and suggested solutions that enable the reader to feel empowered and not alone. The authors help the reader to identify actual gender bias scenarios, and toxic work environments that one may think are normal. It was eye-opening. A must-read for anyone struggling to answer the question "Is it me?"

[Deborah · Rating 3 out of 5]

A wife/husband team present examples of women rising above sexism in the workplace and ways the reader can manage within the organizations they work in. While I did not finish this book, I appreciated the list of things to look for in a place of work that do not treat men and women as equals (I.e. coddling women).

[Lisa Snyder · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the second time I’ve read this book and I enjoyed it both times. This goes through some tricks in communication and why women should use them. I know we all feel like we shouldn’t have to change but the fact is that especially in technology we need to change our communication style to the existing audience. This book is detailed explanations of those.

[Amanda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book that provides exactly what I wanted. Does not tell you to try harder or be like a man but points out ways to beat sexism in all forms (patronizing and fragile masculinity). Gives useful recommendations and frames why behaving in certain ways will allow your traits to rise above sexist distractions.

[Meghan Shatto · Rating 4 out of 5]

Book was a solid reminder that getting angry at sexist practices at work and following a “sour grapes” argument will not help my career advancement. The reminder to lead with humor and solid reminder on keeping your voice and you place at work we’re great. The ending about your partner, marriage, and kids kinda threw me off, hence the 4 stars.

[Marissa Hare · Rating 5 out of 5]

Unlike Lean In where Sanberg glosses over the real issues and fails to address solutions that work for most people, Andie and Al deliver a breadth of knowledge and solutions for how to level the play field on the corporate world.

[Chris Haigh · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is for women, men, and in general anyone who wants to be a corporate leader. Are women viewed and treated differently in the corporate world? You bet. Can all of us do something to give women an equal stance? This book gives you hundreds of ways.

[Alisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a practical look at how a woman can mitigate the gender bias she faces at work. It doesn't sugarcoat anything, but is still sensitive enough to not read as rude or ignorant. Plenty of statistics and advice for men.

[Leslie Graff · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a very helpful read. I picked it up not really thinking I'd get a lot out of it, but I appreciated the authors' pragmatic approach about when to push for changes and when to act in certain ways to achieve your personal goals.

This would be a good book to have in my personal collection.

[Christa · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book had great perspectives as a part of informing women how to influence the perceptions others hold of them. However, I would caution that it should be viewed as 1 resource of many, especially around feedback.

[Kris · Rating 5 out of 5]

I hadn't read the subtitle and wasn't expecting this book to be focused on gender. It was excellent! It also made me feel very lucky to work where I work, where it seems fewer of these challenges exist to advancement.

[Victoria · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great read for women. This book provides suggestions on navigating through gender bias in the workplace

[Janet Tulley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great tips for women and great awareness raising for men! However, there was nothing Earth shattering in their suggestions.

[Eniko Rozsa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Must read for women. Don't think that the advise it gives is always implementable or even works for everyone. However, if the only thing it does is raise self-awareness, it already helped.

[Deborah · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must-read for ambitious, professional women - and men in senior leadership roles.

[노은경 · Rating 4 out of 5]

실용적인 어드바이스!

[Elisabeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not super groundbreaking, but has some useful strategies and insights

[Andréa]

Note: I accessed a digital review copy of this book through Edelweiss.

[Nada | ندى · Rating 5 out of 5]

I learned a lot, it was very informative.

[Lisa M. · Rating 5 out of 5]

In reading the excerpt from this book, I was instantly captivated! The combination of being an executive in a highly male-dominated field along with being a believer in the internal locus of control has led me to read just about every best seller and attend as many conferences as I could fit into my schedule to chase the elusive answer that so many female professionals seek: How can I be both authentic AND influential in the face of the silent bias that is evident even by the most well-intended individuals.

Determined to effect change, I implemented what I internalized through my voracious readings and attended seminars. With the utmost respect for the writings and their authors, I intuitively knew there was a missing ingredient in the recipes for which I studied. Quite honestly, had I not recognized the missing component, I may have realized Seligman's theory of learned helplessness - "not trying to get out of a negative situation because the past has taught one that they are helpless."

THIS is the differentiator that has me so excited to read this book - so much so that I preordered it: Andie and Al's focus doesn't appear to be on this unrealistic notion that systemically we can rid the professional world of gender bias ... biases that some people honestly don't even know they have.
Instead, their approach is to bring to the reader personal experiences from that of both a man and a woman. And the best part, not just any man and any woman. A husband and wife in high-level leadership and mentorship positions who, undoubtedly, have worked through this issue again and again over the decades.

I've had the corner office, I encrypted the code for my confidence, and I've leaned in to the point of needing chiropractic treatment.

What I haven't done is read a book co-authored by a man and a woman from both sides of the issue who, after having decades to draw from, reverse engineer the "model" and extract from that analysis specific yet simplistic methodologies to do the only thing any of us can do ... control our controllables.

Looking forward to the book's release!
I signed up for their newsletter in 5 seconds on their website.
http://andieandal.com/

[Eileen Sullivan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found this is book in the "new" nonfiction section of our library. It was an excellent resource with practical advice for women. The authors affirm the fact that there is discrimination and gender bias issues for women.The focus of the book, though, is actually on communication strategies to help women lead effectively without buying into gender stereotypes. There were several key take aways for me with respect to verbal and non-verbal communication. I particularly enjoyed the mini case studies/stories as part of each chapter. One of the my favorite chapters was "Chapter 9 - Advocating for Yourself" and I plan in using some of the strategies and sharing these with others.

[Mary Wiseman · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've heard Andrea speak in person and will read anything and everything she writes. She has selflessly devoted her life to educating and empowering others to achieve their true potential. It's a book written for both men and women, to enlighten and strengthen their organizations, business relationships and careers.