by Leigh Goessl

Created on: February 22, 2010

Years ago the workplace had clear boundaries when it came to gender. On the management end, men were typically positioned in the leadership and higher paying jobs, and women were hired for the subordinate positions. Gender diversity in the workplace was minimal, if existent at all.

In earlier decades even as recent as the 20th century, women working outside the home were the exception rather than the norm. For the most part a woman's primary duty was considered to be a homemaker and take care of the family.

The few women that did work and hold a job were usually hired for menial positions that didn't pay much money or carry any level of prestige.

Today the dynamics have changed.

While the glass ceiling is still a reality, and in some circumstances is still a clear barrier to women progressing career-wise, the good news is that ceiling is cracking, slowly but surely. Today's companies are showing much higher levels of gender diversity than ever before.

As more and more women advance to higher paying and prestige carrying positions in various industries, companies who are doing the hiring and promoting are beginning to realize the benefits of gender diversity in the workplace.

When any level of diversity exists, statistics indicate that higher levels of innovation are present and gender diversity is not an exception.

Women and men don't necessarily have the same approach to tackling a task, and the varying approaches create a nice balance that enable good decision making to take place. As there is usually more than one way to solve a problem, the different perspectives of men and women can be valuable.

Some perceive the different attributes and qualities that exist between men and women are also beneficial in the workplace and there are some instances where men and women are different. This is not to say that there aren't gender stereotypes either. Women and men do possess many of the same qualities even though gender differences do exist.

Sexism and stereotype does exist and when examining attributes and qualities it is important to determine whether or not these are perceived attributes or actual attributes when it comes to men and women in the workplace. Most of the time it likely comes down to individual attributes and qualities, not necessarily gender related.

While attributes and qualities are often similar between men and women, linguistic styles between men and women do often differ. These differences include tone of voice, speed and the way spoken words

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