Re: Research

[Michelle Nolan <nolanmj -at- HOTMAIL -dot- COM>]

Angella:

Interesting research topic.  I can't say I thought about this before
from a gender perspective.

In general, I'd say that people who are difficult to deal with in person
often also come through as difficult in e-mail.  The advantage is that
you do not have to deal with that person face to face.  For example, if
an employee has a difficult boss, he/she may feel more comfortable
asking for a day off through e-mail rather than asking.

From my perspective, often times I prefer e-mail because it provides a
paper trail.  I can print out what is "discussed".  That can mean that
there are fewer misunderstandings.

Michelle Nolan
Lead Technical Writer
The Nolan Technology Group, Inc.
(703) 768-3497

>Hello all, I am a graduate student in technical writing, at New Mexico
>State University and I have been viewing this list for about 4 months
now.
>I subscribed to the list so that I could get an idea of what goes on in
>the undefinable world of technical writing.  Currently I am doing
research
>on the significance e-mail may have on gender discourse.  I am
proposing
>that email users use a gender neutral discourse which will promote a
more
>egalitarian work-place. I am sure all of you have knowledge of the
typical
>difficulties that men and women often face when communicating at work.
>(Men misunderstand women's intentions when they hedge or use tag
phrases.
>Women misunderstand when men use overly critical or overly oppositional
>speech.) Those are generalizations but are some of the things I am
>investigating.  Since you all are frequent email users I was wondering
if
>any of you had any insight on how email may or may not make you feel
more
>comfortable when communicating with the other gender.  Is it something
you
>consciously consider?  Have you come across more or less
misunderstandings
>through email use?  Do you feel comfortable with the informality and
the
>anonymity that email affords? I do hope that this an appropriate
>conversation for the list.  If any of you have thoughts on this topic I
>would really appreciate the feed back! Thanks for your time.
>Angella Beshara


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