Multiple studies have shown that during in-person meetings, men are more likely to interrupt women, subvert or take credit for their ideas, talk longer and at louder volumes, and be argumentative or critical. By contrast, women are more likely to apologize for speaking up or having opinions, tend to be self-deprecating, and make brief contributions to group discussion.

“Women often feel that they don’t want to take up more space than necessary, so they’ll often be more succinct,” Deborah Tannen, a professor of linguistics at Georgetown University, explains in an April 2020 article in The New York Times. Women’s linguistic behavior tends to be based on a desire to be seen as likable, whereas men are more driven to sound authoritative, according to Tannen.

Furthermore, researchers have repeatedly found that perceptions of men and women in group discussions reflect and reinforce these types of learned linguistic behaviors. In surveys, performance reviews, and student grades, women rank lower for speaking more often and are perceived as less likable when they try to be assertive in meetings. Men, on the other hand, rank higher and are seen as more competent or as having leadership qualities. Experiments have shown that women’s suggestions in workplace meetings are more likely to be ignored or not believed, even when — as in McDonnell’s case — the woman speaking has more expertise on the subject at hand than male colleagues.

In virtual spaces, “these imbalances are amplified,” Tannen told the Times.