Dear MEL Topic Readers,
Why are women less likely to ask questions in public?
Do you often ask a question at a Q&A session of any event or
occasion? It requires some courage to ask a question in public. You may wonder
if your question is inadequate or if the answer has already been mentioned
during the presentation or conference. Also, you may worry if there are more
qualified or deserving attendees to ask a question than you, a senior and authoritative-looking
person. Whatever the reason might be, more men seem to ask questions than women
beyond the men-women ratio of the attendees at academic events, and the same
seems to be the case in other kinds of events. It was also found that if the
first question is asked by a man, women tend to hesitate to follow (probably
for gender-neutral topics). So, it might
be suggested to pick or appoint a woman questioner to start a Q&A session. Also,
using an online chat board for a Q&A session or during the event may lower
the barrier for women or anyone to ask questions. Indeed, an active Q&A
session surely reflects the interest and satisfaction of the audience.
Enjoy reading the article and think about what makes the audience ask questions.
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