Mansplaining is more than an interpersonal annoyance—it’s a systemic barrier to leadership equity. Women are talked over, sidelined, or “re-explained” in boardrooms, classrooms, and C-suites every day.
As an organizational leadership expert, I see three reasons it persists:
- Bias Blind Spots. Many men don’t recognize when they’re doing it.
- Cultural Conditioning. Workplace norms often reward men for assertiveness while penalizing women for the same.
- Lack of Intervention. Organizations rarely train leaders to interrupt bias in real time.
How can organizations shift the culture?
- Train leaders on bias literacy and allyship.
- Reward listening as much as speaking in performance evaluations.
- Create accountability structures where interruptions and idea-stealing are flagged.
Women shouldn’t have to carry the burden of managing mansplaining alone. Real change comes when organizations stop treating it as a personality quirk and start treating it as a leadership problem.
