The art of being polite yet asserting oneself in the office

I struggle to say no to my boss if he asks me to stay beyond my work hours. As a caregiver to my ailing mother, I have multiple responsibilities at home but I simply can’t get myself to speak up at work,” says a 31-year-old Mumbai-based marketing professional, who prefers to stay anonymous. “My inner voice constantly pushes me to stand up for myself, but I haven’t gathered the courage to confront my superiors.” This is the case with many people, especially women, at the workplace. According to a study conducted by the Gender Action Portal at the Harvard Kennedy School, “women may be discouraged by social cues that signal assertiveness and do not align with female gender roles.” “As a young girl, I was always expected to obey my parents. Even if women find the courage to be assertive, they face backlash if they are unable to “display both warmth and competence in the boardroom”, as highlighted by the Managing The Double Bind: Women Directors’ Participation Tactics in The Gendered Boardroom published in the journal Organization Science.