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Women at the White House are using this simple but very effective trick when a man talks over them

Women at the White House are using this simple but very effective trick when a man talks over them
Picture: Chip Somodevilla/Getty

The Obama administration has done much to elevate and empower women, from additional funding in schools to working with organisations to combat violence against girls.

And attention to women extends to the White House. There are seven women in the cabinet and both of his deputy chiefs of staff are women.

Nevertheless, women remain in the minority, and one former aide recently divulged a strategy they use in order to be heard in meetings.

They call it ‘amplification.’

When a female member of staff makes an interesting or valid point, another female staffer would repeat the point, making sure to credit the woman who said it.

The anonymous aide told Washington Post:

We just started doing it, and made a purpose of doing it. It was an everyday thing.

Not only did this prevent men from talking over them, but it also encouraged Obama to call on the female aides more often.

And while this strategy demonstrates the unity of women working in the White House, its very existence provides further proof that women are faced with unique challenges in the workplace.

A study published in the Journal of Language and Social Psychologywhich looked at the impact gender had on communication, found that women are interrupted far more in conversation with men.

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