When asked to describe how they feel about meetings, many professionals will use the same language: “boring,” “inefficient,” and “unproductive.” While these descriptors may ring true for some, they do not ring true for all. For some, meetings aren’t boring—they’re stressful. They aren’t inefficient—they’re isolating. They aren’t unproductive—they’re confusing.

If you are joining a meeting where people are different from you, whether in terms of race, ethnicity, gender, sex, sexual orientation, ability, religion, age, language proficiency, socioeconomic background, education, degree of introversion, level of seniority, or other characteristics, then your identity can influence not only how others see you, but also how you see yourself.