a question of psychology...

A question that has bothered me from time to time is that of the gender dominance in the profession of interpreting. No offence, guys, but most of us are women. At least here in Europe.

Having said this, let me please add that the 'bad' interpreters, at least in my personal experience, are as much male as female. So it can't be just about women being better at it.

My thoughts over time were as follows:

1. Women chat more, so they are better suited.

Not quite true as I myself was never much of a talker, more a listener. Although this evidently has changed as more than ten years into my professional career, a colleague and good friend told me she refers to me when talking to her husband as 'the one who can't shut up'. (?)

2. Women are natural multi-taskers, and listening, thinking, and speaking at the same time, never mind maybe asking the booth partner off-line what the hell the person has just been saying, is serious multi-tasking.

But I do have some German male colleagues, and I also know some male French, Italian, Spanish, Dutch... etc. interpreters who are right up there, too.*

3. Women are better at putting their own opinion second and repeating convincingly something they absolutely don't believe in. :-p

I think this one might actually hold some water. But I may be completely wrong, as I have used the cough-button countless times to give my own commentary to my colleague who was at those times most likely deeply involved in the newspaper the hotel provided in the morning and didn't really care. :-)

I think there may be some justification for a study into why at least in Europe, the profession is indeed female dominated. Even in East Germany, of the 10 students in my seminar group, only two were guys.

It might also be interesting to find out what the situation is like on other continents and whether there is a correlation, either positive or negative, to the position women hold in those societies...

* clients: If you need any recommendations, get in touch
colleagues: If you want me to mention you by name, let me know and make me a good offer. ;-)