{"id":1071,"date":"2026-02-26T21:46:45","date_gmt":"2026-02-26T21:46:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/iris.siue.edu\/rhetoric\/?p=1071"},"modified":"2026-03-07T17:50:58","modified_gmt":"2026-03-07T17:50:58","slug":"overlooked-in-plain-sight","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/iris.siue.edu\/rhetoric\/overlooked-in-plain-sight\/","title":{"rendered":"Overlooked in Plain Sight"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Gender bias in the workplace is often discussed through policies and statistics, but many of its most common forms occur in everyday interactions that can easily go unnoticed. While these moments may seem small, their repeated impact can influence workplace culture, confidence, and perceptions of fairness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many women working in male-dominated environments report experiences of being overlooked, redirected, or assumed less knowledgeable \u2014 even when they hold equal or greater expertise. These interactions are frequently dismissed as isolated incidents rather than recognized as patterns.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To better understand how common these experiences are, I surveyed individuals about moments when they witnessed or experienced a situation where a woman was overlooked in favor of a male colleague. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Question 1a <\/strong>asked whether the individual witnessed or experienced a situation where a woman employee was overlooked for a male employee.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Individuals were prompted to answer with yes or no.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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87.5% of surveyed individuals answered with “yes”.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Question 1b<\/strong> asked what role the individual was in when the situation occurred.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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50% of surveyed individuals answered with “I was the woman being overlooked”.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Question 2a<\/strong> asked how often the individual witnessed these types of situations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Individuals were prompted to answer with once, a few times, often, or very often.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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34.5% of surveyed individuals answered with “Often” or “Very Often”.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Question 2b<\/strong> asked where the incidents occurred.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Individuals were prompted to answer with retail, restaurant, trade\/technical work, school, or never.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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50% of surveyed individuals answered with “Retail”.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Question 3<\/strong> asked what the customer did in the situation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Individuals were prompted to answer with ignored the woman, questioned the woman’s knowledge, or double-checked with a man.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Individuals answering with “Questioned the woman’s knowledge” and “Double-checked with a man” shows that women aren’t only being ignored they are being dismissed.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Question 4 <\/strong>asked if anyone stepped in to correct the situation and if so what happened.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For questions 4-7 individuals were prompted to answer with a short answer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Responses:<\/p>\n\n\n\n