Gender differences and speech accommodation in occupational settings

Nearly one quarter of the U.S. workforce depends on a healthy, versatile voice as a tool for their profession. These are individuals who, lose voice quality and/or vocal endurance, would not be able to perform their job effectively. These occupational voice users include professionals such as teachers, counselors, emergency dispatchers, air traffic controllers, performers, and telephone workers. Women tend to have a disproportionate incidence of reported voice problems compared to men. They also make up the majority of several of these high voice-use occupations (e.g., public school teachers, call center workers). This presentation will provide an overview of our current understanding of gender discrepancy in vocal health issues as well as a discussion of recent results identifying underlying causes, which may contribute to their heightened risk. Such results include compensatory adjustments women use in different communication environments, speech accommodation to stress, and the relationship between vocal fatigue and pulmonary function.