The Authority Gap: Why women are still taken less seriously than men, and what we can do about it Paperback – 3 Mar. 2022

If females appreciate the backing this book gives to what they often knew already, there was more novelty for this male reader. I was left not only seething but cringing.There is far too much presented to be brushed aside, and this is achieved in two complementary ways. The first is frequent (but light-touch) citation to academic research. The second is first-hand testimony from dozens of women, some very famous, mostly from interviews specifically for the book. This makes for reading that is lively and vivid at every stage, while also being closely argued and laced with references than can be followed up -- academic, journalistic, etc.In a crowded field, the most shocking chapter is the penultimate, which samples the violent sexual threats directed at those who 'dare to have an opinion and a vagina.' Even if such stuff is the work of troubled souls fringe to society, the same can't be said, a few pages on, for how "the radicalization of teenage boys, which started only in the late 2010s," is becoming mainstream in many schools. Reference here isn't to Islamic extremism, as is already monitored, but to online channels "breeding in boys a dehumanization of their female peers." High time this was picked up on.One could nitpick, but overall this is a book both substantial and easy to read. If you have chosen to do so and are male, then you may not be the type who most needs to. Even if that's so, you will surely discover the 'authority gap' remains worse, with more you should be calling out, than ever imagined. And actually that aspects of social media may be pushing back the clock.

Anybody who wants to understand just why women continue to be taken less seriously than men, in spite of decades of feminism and women making huge strides in public life, must read this book. It is a cool, measured analysis of why women's voices and opinions continue to carry less authority than men's, even today when a woman prime minister or head of state is no longer such an oddity. All the arguments are backed up by impeccable and impressive research, along with testimonies from leading women in their fields. I was also pleased that the author includes a chapter on trans people, who have had direct experience of living both as men and as women. Their stories are perhaps the most telling of all. Although a weighty tome in more ways than one, this book is also an easy, pleasurable read, and makes a huge contribution to one of the most important issues of our time. Very highly recommended.

It lost 1 star as the writing was so small - and i'm 40 + so maybe increase the price and make text bigger

The book is great! I am writing my dissertation on feminism and gender mainstreaming. This book helped me to understand the situation with female leadership.Most of all I like the narrative about unconscious bias which goes as a golden treat along the whole book!Thank you, Mary Ann Sieghart for this work and people who delivered the book within one day.

I am a white, middle class, educated male who would have probably dismissed Mary Ann Sieghart's proposition, had she told me about it before writing this book, as somewhat paranoid, exaggerated ... surely our generation has moved on from the era of prejudice against women, undervaluing them? Her disturbing but very valuable book has shown me that much of the problem is cultural-historical. Our behaviour seldom derives from an objective analysis of our own ingrained attitudes; how can it?. We grow up influenced by behaviour and received opinions which we do not stop to analyse. Why would we? This book tells us why we should, with a mass of fascinating detail derived from a year or more of research (I have never seen such a long bibliography, and I used to be a publisher) and interviews with an astonishing range of influential and successful women. In my publishing days I might have tried to reduce a little some of the lists of quotations but they are all telling, and do add to the argument. Her advice on how we can change things should probably be included in the national curriculum.

A real eye opener. One to take in chunks as there is a lot to digest. Finishes at about 65% with the remainder being references.

Bought for a friend and for my male partner , all of us in our 50’s and we all can recognise the experiences and information in this book and OMG does it boil the blood!

It's an interesting and thought-provoking read, well-researched and thorough. The only problem for was that I felt her politics got in the way. This is a topic which is universal to women and her inability to applaud the achievements or fully recognise the struggle that women on the other side of the political spectrum to what appears to be her own was undermining of some of her argument. It's a shame because this is an important subject.