The only thing I disagree with here is the idea that assertiveness is uniquely or predominately associated with white men, and that it's a problem to be solved

The only thing I disagree with here is the idea that assertiveness is uniquely or predominately associated with white men, and that it's a problem to be solved (that's how I read her, anyway.) To me, there are two problems to be solved here, the first is that women are uniquely punished for being assertive; the second is that, in my opinion, you need a mix of assertive and relatively unassertive people in your organization to accomplish the most, but being assertive will naturally get you more attention, money, etc, which can create an imbalance in staff rewards. So I would not say that the problem is assertiveness in any way whatsoever (insofar as you are not being abusive eg interrupting) but of mediating the two groups and assigning appropriate compensation for individual staffers' abilities. I initially had a slightly defensive impression about the article, but I ended up agreeing with it.