Wk 6 Eureka Moment

Last week I was witness to gender stereotyping in work. I was sitting in a meeting with one of the VPs of my company when the CEO walked in to ask a quick question of the VP. To summarize…my company is funded by venture capitalists and presently is looking for additional funding. The two executives were discussing a potential investor who happened to be women. They stated that the other investors didn’t like the woman because she came across strong-willed, opinionated, and abrasive. They even mentioned that they thought the other investors didn’t like her because she was bitchy. I felt like a fly on the wall (who is presently taking a Gender & Communications class…lol). I found this exchange interesting from many aspects. Did they forget I was a female in the room? Probably not so that makes me think that they didn’t see a problem with their discussion. Which than makes me believe that they in fact were stating their own opinions as well. If this new potential investor was a man with the same traits, would these traits be viewed as negative? I’ve worked with my boss at three other companies prior to my present employer so I have a good relationship with him and am able to share my thoughts on many topics without negative repercussions. Of course, I didn’t hold back on this topic (after the CEO left the room of course). My boss’s wife is a very successful engineer and plant manager for a large well known company which will remain nameless. She is a minority in a predominately male-dominated field so she has had many obstacles to overcome and bumps in the road along her career path. Now back to my boss….I asked him how he would feel if he witnessed this same discussion about his wife. He gave me a little laugh and agreed that it was unfair but that is how the investment business is…cut-throat and unfair. I laughed right back at him and said ‘change can start with you’. He laughed again…….

OL1 Eureka 5

Eureka 5

I travel a lot for work so many times I’m striking up conversations with the person sitting next to me on the plane. As expected, the typical question is “Are you out here on business or pleasure?” When I reply business, I know that the next question will be “What business?” Nine out of ten times after I explain that I’m in Clinical Research I get that blank look from my fellow passenger and it is probably the same look on your face right now. In my field, we conduct drug or device trials and my job involves monitoring doctors and hospitals involved in the trial to ensure that they are following the protocol of the study and for patient safety. One important trait for a person working in this monitoring job is that the person needs to be able to multi-task and display great attention to detail. After taking this class, I’m a little uncomfortable stating this but in my field there are more women than men doing this job due to the fact that women are better at multi-tasking and attention to details. Now on to my Eureka moment….Recently, my department has been conducting interviews for additional monitors and I’ve been responsible for weeding though resumes to see what candidates would be worth scheduling for interviews. I try to ignore the name of the candidate so I don’t immediately stereotype based on gender instead of experience. I’ve even set up interviews with both genders so that I give equal chance. Trust me when I say that I would love to add a man or men to the department because I think that there is danger of cattiness when too many women work together (sorry another stereotype) but none of the men interviewed showed signs that they could fulfill the job requirements. Do we hire someone just so we don’t reinforce a stereotype or do we hire a person who will excel at the job? Last semester I wouldn’t have given it a second thought but now I find it amusing that this class is making me think twice.

OL1 - Eureka 4

OL1 - Eureka #4

Chapter 10 of our text discusses how women in the workforce are classified according to one of four roles and these include sex object, mother, child, and Iron Maiden. The ‘mother’ role I found very interesting especially where our text mentions that each year the Equal Opportunity Commission receives thousands of pregnancy-based discrimination complains (231). These complaints include how pregnancy has changed how employers view these women now and career advancements are stalled. Well my employee must be the exception to the stereotype but guilty of another. A coworker of mine had been talking about getting pregnant and she shared this decision with many of her coworkers including our boss. This coworker and I were at the same level but I’m 23 years older and I was at the company longer. One morning I work up to an email where it was announced that she accepted a lead position where travel was minimal. Up until then, this position had never existed. Needless to say I was stunned and angry. I discussed this with my boss who shared his reasoning. He was considering one of us for this position because we were equally qualified but…..since she was planning on getting pregnant and eventually wouldn’t be able to travel he gave the position to her. Of course he told me how valuable I was and how I excelled on the road but to me it came down to reverse ‘mother’ discrimination.

OL1 - Eureka 3

The required reading this week was interesting and disturbing at the same time. I thought that I would recognize sexual harassment in the work environment but I didn’t realize that there are two categories. I assumed that quid pro quo was synonymous with sexual harassment but as our text explains that is only one category. Movies like ‘Disclosure’ with Demi Moore and Michael Douglas show how sex can be used as a tool for power (1). This movie deviated from the stereotype that just females could experience sexual harassment but it stayed true with showing how the victim felt threatened.

The second category, hostile environment, is broader and could include lewd remarks and/or unwelcome touching (Wood 296). This harassment may also exist when one sex is disrespected, demeaned, ignored, and told that he or she is not welcome. What I didn’t realize was that a single act even if unwelcome and inappropriate might not meet the legal criteria of sexual harassment. Pattern has to be established.

Years ago at a former company that I worked for, the CEO created a hostile work environment. I used to think that the problem was that he managed by intimidation because he yelled and screamed and you never knew what would set him off. After reading Chapter 12, I realize that in reality, his actions went beyond intimidation. Personally, I was never exposed to his sexual intimidation because I worked from home and rarely went into the office but other women used to discuss how he would walk around the office stopping at each person’s cube. For the women employees he would come up behind them and many times massage their shoulders and make comments like ‘What have you done for me today?” He was slick enough to than focus the conversation on actual work but females couldn’t wait until he moved from their cubes. When there were different company functions and alcohol was flowing, he would often steer the conversation toward inappropriate sexual topics like Brazilian waxing. No one ever complained to management and it became like an inside joke. When employees would meet in the breakroom, the CEO’s inappropriate behavior would come up in conversation but was accepted as the norm. Than things changed when a woman employee was fired for well-documented poor performance but in her eyes the reasons were not justified so she was pissed. She didn’t have a leg to stand on regarding her performance but she tried the next best thing. She filed charges of sexual harassment against the CEO personally and the company as a whole. The company’s lawyers met with some of the female employees who were named as witnesses but these women didn’t want to get involved because they still were employed with the company and wanted to keep it that way. This then brings us back to the pattern of behavior. None could be established so the lawsuit was eventually dropped. One positive change did occur due to this incident and that was the behavior of the CEO. He learned to keep his hands and comments to himself. I was amazed though that his pattern of behavior went on as long as it did even when the females were given the opportunity to stop his harassment.

1) http://www.sexualharassmentlawfirms.com/resources/sexual-harassment/sexual-harassment-claims/for-men.htm

Welcome

Hi Everyone,
Hope everyone is well and enjoyed your short time off after Spring Semester ended and this one began. This is the first time I'm blogging so I'm a little intimidated but I'll figure it out before this class ends....I hope.