Unit 2  Being a participant – how to play nicely!

Introduction

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A group of individuals seated around a wooden table, each holding a large white puzzle piece.

Online meetings allow us to participate in different ways. Some participants may be highly involved, actively contributing and engaging in discussions with other attendees, while others might choose to keep a low profile and make minimal contributions. These are two sides of the same participation coin.

This unit is about how people participate, negotiate or withdraw in online meetings and how gender and power can play out in these situations. The aim of this unit is to reflect on how the many different ways people participate in these meetings can help create a fairer workplace. Creating an atmosphere where everyone feels comfortable to speak, respecting everyone’s turn and avoiding any signs of disrespect or aggression are essential to foster meaningful interactions.

  Learning outcomes

 

By the end of this unit, you should be able to:

 

  • Identify how gender and power influence the success of online work meetings.
  • Assess the influence of different communication styles on building equitable online working relationships.
  • Recognise different forms of microaggressions that might arise in an online meeting and familiarise yourself with the strategies you can use to resist them.

 

Welcome from the Unit 2 authors

Listen to the unit authors introducing themselves and sharing what they enjoyed most about the GEiO research project.

Note: In the audios below the authors speak in their first language. The transcript has been translated into English.

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Transcript

Barbara Biglia

BARBARA BIGLIA
Welcome to the ‘Participate’ module. My name is Barbara Biglia, professor in the Department of Pedagogy at the Universitat Rovira i Virgili. The content we present in this module, co-designed by several hands, is based on the study I have coordinated. With it, we aim to support you in understanding the different ways we participate in work videoconferences, as well as their possible effects.
Building on these learnings, we will continue exploring how certain forms of interaction can become microaggressions and generate discomforts that transcend interpersonal relationships.

Alejandra Araiza

ALEJANDRA ARAIZA
I’m Alejandra Araiza, professor in the Department of Social Psychology at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, and as a social constructionist psychologist, I have prepared materials to encourage reflection on how gender affects our workplace relationships, as well as the ways in which we interact.

Marta Castillo González

MARTA CASTILLO GONZÁLEZ
My name is Marta Castillo González, and I hold a PhD in Philosophy and Language Sciences. In this module, I invite you to explore different communication styles, focusing on how they manifest in workplace environments, with the aim of reflecting on how we can adapt our conversations to promote more equitable communication in these spaces and foster inclusive environments for those who inhabit them.

Nikolina Janjic

NIKOLINA JANJIC
I’m Nikolina Janjic from the Universitat Rovira i Virgili, and I have taken care of the details to help you empathise with the situations and content proposed, encouraging you to become agents of change in the creation of safe and equitable workspaces.
End transcript
 
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Next, go to 1  Gender and power relationships in online meetings.

1  Gender and power relationships in online meetings