The more I think about it, the more i’m convinced the points you’ve made are spot on. Probably a combination of being junior and being the only male just made the group not want the make me uncomfortable.

I thought of social occasions where I’ve gone out with a bunch of girlfriends — and one guy (that one of the girls always drags along). Thinking about it, I now notice how we always shut up and listened politely as he spoke, perhaps as a concession to the gender imbalance, without even realising it.

As for your points; I think you may be onto something with the statement about my junior status. They could very well be being polite and not want to intimidate me. Mmmm.

I’m quite vocal during all the other round table discussions, so I don’t think it’s a case of me being quiet, so they are in return.

And I love the fluidity of this post, including the random font change. Now that’s fluid!

As for your question at the bottom, it’s hard to say, because I wouldn’t think all women — regardless of age or background — would shut up and listen politely out of conditioning.

Perhaps they were simply aware that you’re one of the “juniors”, as you mention, and were trying to give you the time and space to have your say. I wonder this, because whenever I’ve been in meetings, I’ve noticed that staff who have been there a while tend to be more conversational, whereas with the newer staff, they are politely listened to. Whether it’s to figure them out (being new-ish) or to give them the time to speak up in a room full of people who already know each other easily, I don’t know.

A question just occurred to me: were you talking yourself during the easy conversation? If not, maybe when it was your turn they noted that you’d been quiet up to that point and when it was your turn to talk, they wanted to hear what the “quiet bloke” had to say.

Dunno. Beats me. Could be so many possibilities.