Sorry, Not Sorry - Women! Stop Apologizing!!!!!!! Why Do We Apologize So Much and Why is it So Dangerous?

SESSION INFO

Monday, January 6, 2020
11:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Session Type: Workshop

Studies show that women apologize more than men and when it comes to the workplace, the stats are no different. It appears that apologizing seems to be a knee-jerk reaction for us ladies. Unfortunately, this learned behavior has had collateral consequences most of us have not considered. Although it has been proven that companies with more female leaders are more likely to outperform and be more profitable, there is still a significant lack of women leaders across all sectors. Women are typically rated as being more effective leaders overall than men by their reports, peers and managers. We are confident to suggest that our inherent need to apologize is an important factor that has been one of many barriers to our success in leadership positions. According to Allison Fallon 2016 article, she writes that research shows that women apologize more than men because our threshold for what we think is offensive is generally lower. Historically women have been perceived and treated as submissive across systems that have allowed for inequalities and designed structures of unfair and oppressive processes. Apologizing when we have done nothing wrong is not fair and often can lessen the power of the words when we have actually made a mistake. Apologies that are said because we feel we have to, come across as insincere and break the professional trust and sets us back in achieving our goals.

SESSION PRESENTERS

Jennifer Brady
Chief Probation Officer, MA Probation Service/MA Trial Court/Office of Commissioner of Probation


Jennifer Brady began her career with the Massachusetts Probation Department in 2000. She worked as a Probation Officer until 2013 when she was appointed as an Assistant Chief. In 2016 she was appointed Chief Probation Officer. She received her bachelor's degree in Sociology from Suffolk University and her master’s degree in criminal justice from Bridgewater University. She has lead trainings for the Massachusetts Training Academy in Domestic Violence, Ethics, Human Trafficking, and Advanced Violation of Probation Proceedings. She is a certified trainer in the Ohio Risk Assessment Tool and the Evidenced Based Community Supervision Practices.


Dr. Carmen Z. Gomez
Deputy Commissioner for Pretrial Services, MA Probation Service/MA Trial Court/Office of Commissioner of Probation


Carmen Gomez, PhD began her career with the Massachusetts Probation Service in 1997 as a Procedures Clerk and was subsequently promoted to Probation Officer in 2000. In 2013, she was appointed Chief Probation Officer of the Chelsea District Court. She holds a B.A. and M.S in Criminal Justice, a PhD in Philosophy with a concentration in Law, Policy and Society and is currently finishing law school. In addition, she received several master’s level certificates in Mediation and Hostage Negotiation, Domestic Violence, CJ Management and Behavioral Analysis. She has served as an adjunct professor at various colleges and universities and as a consultant to local, state and federal entities providing expertise in the areas of sex crimes and serial killings. She holds different positions in the Board of Directors of four different non-profits and currently serves in the Governor’s Criminal Record Review Board. She is a member of several committees including cultural competency, race and bias, leadership in community organizations and the Hub. She has been awarded two trial court excellence awards, women of distinction, Enroot person of the year, distinguished alumni and influential Hispanic in Massachusetts to name a few. Recipient of the Martin Luther King Spirit Award.