5 stars

One of the best books I’ve read in 2022! I learned so much about unconscious biases, how they harm marginalized groups, & how we can each help to change things. Additionally, I feel validated, seen, & empowered! I highly recommend this book to everyone!

[What I liked:]

•I learned so much from this well researched book! While I was already well aware of how sexism disadvantages women in academia & the tech industry in my own country, I knew less about sexism & the feminist movements in other countries, & how unconscious biases (including internalized sexism!) affects so many different areas of our lives! The chapter on how reading habits, book sales, critical reviews of published writing, & genre perception are all significantly shaped & impacted by sexism was extremely surprising & intriguing for me!

•The book is well written & engaging. There are discussions of academic studies, interviews with women in authority positions in various fields, stories from the lives of the writer & her acquaintances, & more, used to illustrate points. While jam packed with interesting & relevant facts that taught me so much, I never felt bored or overwhelmed by data.

•I appreciate that the writer acknowledges intersectionality, & how women of color, disabled women, non-binary people, & trans women uniquely face additional discrimination that compounds the effects of misogyny/sexism. While this isn’t the focus of the book, there is a very interesting & informative chapter on these issues.

•The book ends with several suggestions of how anyone of any gender can take simple yet concrete steps to start addressing their own unconscious biases (as well as those of others) to help change society for the better. I loved this part!

[What I didn’t like as much:]

•I pretty much liked everything!

CW: sexism, homophobia, racism

[I received an ARC ebook copy from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. Thank you for the book!]

An interesting approach on gender bias and its unconscious characteristics, usually driving men and women into thinking less of the latter in the working environment without noticing it due to the structural aspects of this kind of prejudice and sexism.
The book is very clear on its purpose and uses various examples and points of view to show the structure of gender bias, still so massively normalized, that some parts surprise even those of us who study and debate those points frequently.
An important read, as much as a necessary one.

I have read a few books about gender bias and how it affects us structurally and on a day-to-day basis. I’m obviously familiar with the literature on IAT as a tool to measure attitudes. I’ve even written about the gendered nature of who is considered a genius.

However, this book astounded me. There is so much we often do not know about these topics, no matter how closely, through lived experience or through quantitative/experimental data. I really appreciated the depth and width of the reporting done here, both thematically and scientifically. The case studies, experiments, and even anecdotal data presented and rich and insightful.

I especially appreciated the interviews of trans people who affirmed their gender through appearance, who then told us how others around them changed their behaviors to reflect this. This, I thought, was very telling about how it’s the way others perceive you and not an actual change in your expertise (if anything you are more of an expert now because you may have done more!).

It is also infuriating to be presented with facts in such an emotive way, especially when it shows the myriad ways we are ignored, abused, or dismissed. Therefore, I really appreciated the last chapter, where the author discusses how we can at least begin to acknowledge the gender gap in who is considered an authority so we can begin our journey of change.

This is a brilliant book, so well researched and excellently read. I would definitely recommend it to others.

Book Review 📚 The Authority Gap: Why women are still taken less seriously than men, and what we can do about it 📚 by Mary Ann Sieghart📚

This is one of the best books I’ve read in a long time! Sieghart weaves extensive scientific studies together with personal interviews of powerful women from around the world in this accessible and engaging book. The data and experiences presented are both shocking and in presented are both shocking and unsurprising to those of us who move through the world as women and face the constant battle to be taken seriously.

I listened to the 🎧 audiobook, narrated by the author and it with excellent! The narration was smooth and engaging, and the audiobook makes this book even more accessible.

“Every woman has a story of being underestimated, ignored, challenged, or patronized in the workplace. Maybe she tried to speak up in a meeting, only to be talked over by male colleagues. Or a client addressed her male subordinate instead of her. Despite the progress we’ve made toward equality, we still fail, more often than we might realize, to take women as seriously as men.

“In The Authority Gap, journalist Mary Ann Sieghart examines the wide-ranging implications of this critical gender bias. She explores its intersections with race and class biases and the measures we can take to bridge the gap. With precision and insight, she marshals a wealth of data from a variety of disciplines―including psychology, sociology, politics, and business―and interviews pioneering women like Booker Prize winner Bernardine Evaristo and Janet Yellen. The Authority Gap offers a “a credible roadmap that is capable of taking women from the margins to the center” (Mary McAleese, former president of Ireland).”

Thank you @netgalley and @w.w.norton for the opportunity to listen to and review this book.

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#womenwhoread #bookstoread #netgalley #audiobook #audiobookreview #theauthoritygap #maryannsieghart #feminism #girlboss #patriarchy #smashthepatriarchy #womeninstem #equality #feministbooks #journalism

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for sending me an advanced audio copy of this title in exchange for an honest review.

The authority gap is an in-depth exploration of the lack of authority women have in places of power, but also in their regular day-to-day lives. Numerous studies have shown that women are just as capable as men, and in some ways are even more capable than men. And yet, women continue to be passed over for promotions, not selected for positions, and ridiculed for their looks and fashion rather than their policies.

I can't tell you the last time I've been this angry. It was so hard to listen to because it was so enraging. So much of the research is just absolutely shocking. I did have to stop listening a few times and take a break because it was so painful to hear.

This is going to be an auto-recommendation for me from now on. I think every person I know could benefit from reading this book. I am immediately recommending it to my supervisor and will also be purchasing my own copy for my personal library.

The narration was very well done and I would listen to more by this narrator any time.

I received a copy of the audiobook for Mary Ann Sieghart's book The Authourity Gap, Why Women Are Still Take Less Seriously Than Men and What We Can Do About It. I didn't need to hear more to know I wanted to read this book right away. Even before I started, I began cataloguing some of the most common ways the authority gap exists in my life at work.

I work in an environment that is largely dominated by men (~80/20) and I am always on the lookout for ways to empower myself, the women I work with and to support the women coming up behind us in their own success. It was clear to me very early on that The Authority Gap will be one of the tools I come back to again and again. I recommend this book to any woman struggling to make her authority a reality.

Thank you to NetGalley and RB Media for the chance to listen to this in advance of its release date.

In “Authority Gap”, written and narrated by Mary Ann Sieghart, the author explores attitudes towards women in the public space and challenges the reader to recognize and act on inappropriate attitudes.

Two of my favourite sections of the book were:

* competence vs confidence -how these 2 concepts are often mixed up, as well as how to recognize and differentiate them;

women vs women - more than often, women are not each other’s supporters; knowing how to recognize and navigate in such contexts can make a difference on the long term;

Special thanks to NetGalley, RB Media and the author for giving me the opportunity to review the ARC in audiobook format and to you, my reader, for taking the time to read this honest personal book review.

If you are interested in other of my book reviews, make sure to follow me on GoodReads!

#LifeLongLearning #TheAuthorityGap #NetGalley

I am a huge fan of this topic and I think this author handled it fantastically. There is a lot of statistics and true science supporting the authors claims. It feels similar to Invisible Women: Data Bias in a World Designed for Men, but instead of showing all the ways that data and science doesn't account for the female half of the population, this book lays its focus at the idea that the gap between gender regarding authority is still weighted heavily in bias instead of academic data or scientific testing.

The book can feel frustrating and overwhelming, but author Mary Ann Sieghart does a masterful job of occasionally giving emotional breaks with her data and stories to provide relief to the heavy topic. Definitely worth the read.