Lack of Gendered Register in Texts Requiring Genre Knowledge

What is it about?

Do men and women write differently? In some previous studies, the answer has seemed to be yes. This study shows that when nearly 200 women and men were given the same professional writing task after receiving less than a year of training in legal writing, their writing was indistinguishable. Men and women may write differently, but they didn't do so here.

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Why is it important?

If people believe that men and women communicate differently, and that the difference arises from biological sources, the door opens to deficiency narratives about women's communicative practices in the professions. In short: It licenses folks to believe that women cannot communicate as well in "masculine" professional discourses as men. This research shows that having a common purpose and common training, women and men communicate the same.