“On television, experts explain the world week after week. Only a third of the guests are women. Why is that?” headlines DER SPIEGEL.
Moreover, men fulfill different roles than the few women who are invited: men are the experts. Women are primarily affected: they report on the stress of juggling childcare and home office.
This sends a clear message, says Elizabeth Prommer (PhD), Professor and Media Researcher at the University of Rostock. “We cultivate the image of an expert who has to be male. The absence of women, in turn, suggests that we trust them less, that they cannot be #experts.”
The BBC shows that it can be different. They started the “50:50” project: women should play a larger role in front of and behind the radio microphones and TV cameras – corresponding to their share of the population.
On Twitter, men also trumpet their expertise. Women post “humorous cartoons of tied-up children.” Prommer is convinced that the different self-presentation will leave its mark. “This will have an impact on careers; in two years, the effects will be evident.”
On which topic can you already position yourself or would you like to position yourself as an expert?
Posted by Natascha Hoffner, Founder & CEO of herCAREER, WiWo columnist, LinkedIn TOP Voice 2020, W&V 2019 – 100 Köpfe
published on LinkedIn on 11.06.2020
