Join Paige West, Managing Editor at Electronic Specifier, and Associate Editor, Sheryl Miles, this International Women in Engineering Day (INWED) as they question “is language really universal?” in a revealing webinar that examines how men and women can be perceived differently in the workplace – despite using the same language.
The 2025 INWED theme is #TogetherWeEngineer – a celebration of the “collective strength of engineers who unite across disciplines, challenge conventional boundaries, and drive progress through teamwork.” In that spirit, this session will explore how we can better understand and address the language barriers that divide rather than unite, and how building awareness can create a more inclusive and collaborative environment.
We will look into the concept of perceived language, where identical phrases or behaviours are interpreted differently depending on who uses them. For example, one person may be seen as assertive, where another may be labelled as difficult.
- Why percevied language differences happen
- How language contributes to workplace inequality
- What individuals and organisations can do to support more inclusive communication
