Why is it only women who notice sexism everywhere? Martin Schneider used to wonder about this until he decided to experience it firsthand. When Schneider and his former colleague, Nicole Hallberg, switched email signatures at work as an informal experiment, he quickly discovered a shocking truth about workplace sexism.
The experiment unfolded after Schneider noticed a client was treating him rudely via email for no apparent reason. It turned out the client mistakenly believed he was communicating with Nicole due to their shared inbox. As Schneider revealed to People, when he clarified the mistake—explaining to the client that he was "Martin" and not "Nicole"—he saw an immediate shift in attitude.
"Positive reception, thanking me for suggestions, responds promptly, saying 'great questions!' Became a model client," Schneider explained. He emphasized, "My technique and advice never changed. The only difference was that I had a man’s name now."
Co-workers shake hands with a clientCanva
When Schneider and Hallberg intentionally swapped email signatures for an entire week, the impact was staggering. "I was in hell," Schneider tweeted on X. "Everything I asked or suggested was questioned. Clients I could do in my sleep were condescending. One asked if I was single."
Meanwhile, Hallberg enjoyed a vastly different experience, stating on Medium, "I had one of the easiest weeks of my professional life. He... didn't."
Stressed out employee at workCanva
Schneider, who supervised Hallberg at the time, quickly recognized the disadvantage his coworker had been silently enduring. Their shared boss often criticized Hallberg for taking longer to handle tasks. The experiment finally revealed to Schneider the reality behind the issue.
"I showed the boss and he didn’t buy it. I told him that was fine, but I was never critiquing her speed with clients again," Schneider told People.
Though the results were eye-opening for Schneider, Hallberg wasn't surprised by what they uncovered. Writing on Medium, Hallberg remarked, "I would like the record to show that I have the filthiest mouth in the tri-state area, and one of my pasttimes has always been trying to come up with jokes off-color enough that I can actually embarrass Marty. I would also like the record to show that I developed a trucker’s mouth and bawdy sense of humor precisely because I’ve always had to act 'like a man' to be found funny and be accepted in male spaces."
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Schneider summed up their findings in stark terms to People: "For me, this was shocking. For her, she was USED to it. She just figured it was part of her job. I wasn’t any better at the job than she was. I just had this invisible advantage."
This article originally appeared six years ago.
"You expect me to believe that!" 
They're cute, but they are harsh judges of character. 
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