How important is having other women in your work place?

[merr0973]

I'm entering a male dominated world.... engineering. At my school it's about 8 to 1 boys to girls. I do my best to find other women to be around, joined a womens society on campus and at my current job there's two women in my section of the building who I talk to daily. Well... I'm switching internships and I have two options. They are actually competitors so it's going to be similar work either place and they both have the same philosophy in how they use students, but one is large with many facets and directions and many women engineers in every department (General Electric). The other is single focused and only makes one product and durring my visit I met nearly the entire team I would be working with and guess what... no women.
Seeing as how I'll still be miles away from anyone I know with either choice and I've never really been the only girl, how important do you ladies feel having fellow women co-workers is to your careers, work satisfaction, and emotional health?

[Kamila]

That is a tough question because there are jerks in every gender. Personally I grew up during a time when all we wanted was choice. That was the thing that was often closed to us. Now you need a female ally? Interesting.

In a "I'm just here for the money" kind of job I do not think it matters. You put in your time, go home. If team work is needed then I suppose it would be important to me to have co workers (man or woman) who would let me do and improve on my job without thinking I was coming on to them by asking questions. In that respect it is easier to work with women.

I have never been an engineer, I cannot really figure out what it is they do. I have only ever teased them. It always seems like they work alone until they spring a new plan on the rest of us. You cannot win if my perception is correct. But since you are drawn to that line of work there must be something more interesting then what I see. What are you hoping for from a woman co engineer?

[MsRuthieB]

I agree. There are jerks in every gender. When I first started in my industry, there were more males than females. Now I work where it's female dominated. Both have their pro's and con's. The grass isn't greener on either side of the fence.

[kristadb]

I should not have opened this.

/rant on

My GE history (industrial software): I worked there (I did the same work as the engineers), my bf still works there (he's a PEng), many of my friends work there (PEng'ers and nons).

The only people I didn't get along with were women. The office environment of GE allows the breeding of vicious, petty, backstabbing, gossiping, reputation destroying behaviours of women. And yes, I identify women b/c those were the ones that were involved.

I worked at an American site for a time and it was the same thing there. GE Fanuc is a small group and nearly everyone works on the same projects eventually (regardless of what office you're in) or comes in contact with each other. My experiences w/ women were not pleasant. My bf still has troubles w/ some of the women that I had problems with that are still around.

I wouldn't go back to GE unless they agreed to fire every woman that worked there except for me.

/end

[merr0973]

support and career guidence.... A man that pushes his way to the top of the ladder is called assertive and a go-getter, and a women doing the same thing is usually seen as being agressive, and pushy. It's a common thing that women in the engineering industry have told women at my school. I've personally heard it from over 20 professional women in positions of power and responcibility. And their tip to career success is to get mentoring from someone who knows what you're going through as a young woman engineer who is likely to be tested and pushed around as a right of passage.
It's not so much that there is a stereotype anymore that says we shouldn't be there, as much as the fact that we react differently and sometimes incorrectly, in a man's opinion, to pressure and tough situations. We're emotional by default. Having someone who's already run the gauntlet to talk about how to handle situations in the future has shown to give stability and power. Women who have been mentored during internships by women professionals are more likely to negotiate a better contract when they are hired due to the confidence in their self worth.
But... is that really true?? That's what I've been told, but I'm independent, and I have social skills... and I'm fairly confident in myself... so I was wondering if it should be of concern while trying to choose from almost equal oportunities.

[merr0973]

I should not have opened this.

/rant on

My GE history (industrial software): I worked there (I did the same work as the engineers), my bf still works there (he's a PEng), many of my friends work there (PEng'ers and nons).

The only people I didn't get along with were women. The office environment of GE allows the breeding of vicious, petty, backstabbing, gossiping, reputation destroying behaviours of women. And yes, I identify women b/c those were the ones that were involved.

I worked at an American site for a time and it was the same thing there. GE Fanuc is a small group and nearly everyone works on the same projects eventually (regardless of what office you're in) or comes in contact with each other. My experiences w/ women were not pleasant. My bf still has troubles w/ some of the women that I had problems with that are still around.

I wouldn't go back to GE unless they agreed to fire every woman that worked there except for me.

/end

This is deffinately helpful. I hadn't heard anything like this before... of course i've only talked to other students that have co-ops there.

[catswym]

hi merr,
i definitely know where you're coming from. i'm getting my phd in biophysics right now and most graduate schools have a higher pop of men, not to mention postdocs and profs. the school that i go to (brandeis university) has one of the highest concentration of females in this area of any school that i've seen (in the US at least). i am now, more than ever, glad that i chose to go there. i agree that women can be very horrible to one another when put in the environment of competition. i would say if you're working with females do you have someone who can specifically be your mentor--who is opento that andthat you respect? the thing i love about my predominantly female atmosphere is the lack of competition or backstabbing by either gender. i love that the women and men who come to my school come because they feel comfortable being around lots of strong, intelligent women. i guess that doesn't always have to be true but i'm glad it is in my case.

[NaturalChick]

I'm in nursing school and I work at a NICU (newborn intensive care unit). All my classmates and all my co-workers are female. It's not awful or anything, and there's plenty of nice people, but I'd love to have some good quality men around too. I think it would really be a positive improvement. So, all you smart, kind men who don't pass out at the sight of blood: come be a nurse!!

[Morticia]

I'm studying microbiology at a very conservative school. As an undergrad I had classes that were less then 10% female; now in grad school it has evened out a bit. I honestly haven't found that it made a difference either way. There are awesome and awful people in both genders. For me it hasn't changed anything to have more women around.

[lucycat]

The only people I didn't get along with were women. The office environment of GE allows the breeding of vicious, petty, backstabbing, gossiping, reputation destroying behaviours of women. And yes, I identify women b/c those were the ones that were involved.


Although I've worked in a couple places with some really nice women, this has been my overwhelming experience. Women can be downright awful. It's really disappointing. Even if a few men might be sexist, at least they are usually straightforward about things. I'd take a little sexism before I'd ever take an office full of backstabbing wenches.

If you do manage to work with nice, supportive women though, it can be very enjoyable. Unfortunately, it's one of those things that you don't find out until after you've started at that particular workplace.

[Dirty Martini]

support and career guidence.... A man that pushes his way to the top of the ladder is called assertive and a go-getter, and a women doing the same thing is usually seen as being agressive, and pushy. It's a common thing that women in the engineering industry have told women at my school.

Don't believe it.

This is something I heard all the time in school, but I have yet to see it happen. I work in a male dominated industry (construction software sales) - I'm the ONLY woman in a department of about 25 people. but you know what? The guys actually, instead, look out for me. I am working my way up, and I am a competitor with some, but they all like me as a person (at least as far as I know) so they take pretty good care of me. I feel like I'm treated like their little sister sometimes, which isn't meant in a condescending way - I do my job, I'm good at it, and I'm well-respected. I'm really nice, I am great at listening to our clients, and I'm friendly. And, I know beer. :D And I've been promoted 3 or 4 times since I've been at this company - most of my recommendations coming from my male peers.

I think that if you can prove yourself to be (a) fun to work with (b) intelligent about your work and (c) just an all-around nice person who wants to move up the corporate ladder, people will respect you. You can move up the ladder without being aggressive or bitchy, trust me. Being smart and friendly yet clear to your manager about where you want to go is the best strategy I've found thus far.

But then, that's my experience and it may be different from yours. But my point is that what you're being told isn't necessarily true.Even among our R&D staff, I don't see that the men stomp on the women. It is actually pretty fair and productive. Go in with your eyes open and without your biases.

amy

[Jinga]

I'm an Architect, and the type of woman who prefers the company of men or 'non-stereo-typical' women (ie - not into talking about nails, make-ups, dieting, or anything that involves backstabbing or making fun of someones shoes). Since Architecture is a greatly male-dominated field, things work out well for me. I am currently working on a large Arena project and am the only female on the office's team. When we go to coordination meetings, there are about 20 people there. The client and I are the only females of the bunch.

In general, I prefer this setting, but I have come acrossa few problems. The first is occassionally being treated as a secretary. The first two firms I worked at, had me answer the phone. One might say this is because I was the low wo-man on the totem pole, but I was even told by one place that they saw having a woman answer the phone as being more 'friendly' or 'inviting'. I'm an architect and don't want to answer the dang phones. At the time, I was too young and intimidated to stand up for myself. The second was a serious problem involving workmen not taking me seriously. Beyond the construction cat-calls, certain inviduals just would not show me the respect they would have shown a man in my place. Maybe if they'd have stopped checking out my ass for a few minutes, we'd have been able to communicate better. The fact that my boss was a bit air-headed and sent me to report his constant changes did not help. The third problem is that married men are not quick to try to be my friend. Seeing as married men make up the large majority of my coworkers, this creates a problem. I have had an extremely hard time building relationships with people at my new office. Everyone is nice to me, but honestly the new guys are accepted quickly, as I have not been. This is partially due to my quiet nature (in person), but I do feel that most of my male co-workers would feel strange being buddy-buddy with a young single female ... and if they didn't feel strange about it, their wives might.

The best thing about being female in a male dominated field is being noticed. On that team of 20 people, the old balding men all blend together. The one young woman stands out. Through highschool and college, I had professors that really took to me. They went out of their way to give me new and challenging architecture related experiences. These professors were all male, by the way. ...The most bestest wonderous thing is being able to beat out all the boys! :p

My best advice would just be to work hard and stand up for yourself. There are still sexist jerks out there who believe a woman is not capable of doing a 'mans job'. Prove them wrong. If you have problems making friends at work/school, just join a club or group that involves something else you enjoy (yoga, martial arts, cooking, spirituality, etc). Good luck and have fun :D

[kristadb]

And there are sexist women who have their own way that women should climb the ladder and heaven help you if you don't follow their rules.

I've had far more problems with women then I have had with men. As you can tell :rolleyes:

[Jinga]

And there are sexist women who have their own way that women should climb the ladder and heaven help you if you don't follow their rules.

Rule number 1: While climbing make sure to wear short skirts with no panties :p

[shagginabit]

It's not at all important having other women at my job. I work with all men. I'm the vice president, the president's a guy, and all the contractors and maintencance people are guys. I wouldn't have it any other way. When there was a female working there as my assistant she spent the majority of her time flirting with the contractors, talking on the phone, and rolling her eyes at me, so I axed her. Even though I'm the only female at the job, the guys there dont' treat me as the secretary, or just "some chick behind a desk". They know better. Call me crude or whatever, but I personally don't want to work with females. Before this job, I worked as an instructor at a training school. The females there were pretty much backstabbing, gum chewing, broads with nothing better to do than talk about what everyone was wearing at work. It's not my thing.

[kristadb]

My mother taught me that girls are a reflection of their mothers. I would like to think that I would not raise that type of daughter. God knows my mother didn't.

[merr0973]

Thanks guys, it's good to get another perspective

[SpunkyChild]

I would much rather work with men than women. I worked at a hockey shop in HS and loved every minute of it, even when stuffed inside a hockey bag, zipped up, and left on the front counter. Then I worked as a teacher, with a bunch of women, and loved that, too. For the most part, though, I've had bad experiences with women, and would prefer the "tell 'em like it is" style of communication, which I most often get from men.

[IamJen]

I"m a bit bummed by the number of posters preferring to work with men. I wonder how the menfolk feel..if they have a preference between working with men/women.

Working in early childhood and at a women's shelter, I am mostly surrounded by women. While there is one that I occasionally want to bitch-slap, generally I enjoy the environment.

[kristadb]

My bf doesn't care. He doesn't want to work with anyone :D

In my experiences, men usually want to work with men. And I can't blame them.

[SystmDwnGrl2]

In my experience as kitchen management/cook, the men were bad.. bad bad bad bad. The women were much better to work with. But, that is just my experience. Now, I work by myself for the time being and I like that better.

[MsRuthieB]

It doesn't matter to me. I'll work with anyone. One always should adjust (or try the best they can) to their work environment or find another place of employment. I'm glad I have such a good job (albeit boring as hell but it pays).

[Christy]

For me it really depends on the person. I have a few assholes at work now, male and female. I work with mostly males and we get along just fine. Some of the women are prone to office gossip and politics, for which I have no patience. And I've always gotten along well with men, having grown up with two older brothers and my dad. Also, I don't think a couple of the men I work with would prefer to work with men (only). I have no point.

[CarbLover]

I haven't noticed much of a difference. Although since I have mainly worked in the clerical field up to this point, the vast majority of my co-workers have been female.

[kristadb]

In my experience as kitchen management/cook, the men were bad.. bad bad bad bad. The women were much better to work with. But, that is just my experience. Now, I work by myself for the time being and I like that better.

My experiences working as a restaurant backstaff grunt, everyone (grunts and management) was equally bad, nasty, and other words that my religion prevents me from saying.