Latest / Women at Work: Career, Leadership & Modern Work
Why Women Apologize for Their Ideas at Work
Episode 56 of Women at Work with Fexingo explores the 'idea apology' phenomenon: why women often preface their contributions with hedging language like 'this might be a bad idea' or 'I'm not sure if this works.' Lucas and Luna break down a 2025 study from the Journal of Applied Psychology showing that women use such qualifiers 40% more often than men in brainstorming meetings, and that even when the idea is identical, listeners rate the hedged version as less credible. They discuss the double bind: women who don't hedge risk being seen as aggressive, while those who do risk being overlooked…
The skinny
The skinny isn't ready yet — notes appear once the transcript is processed.