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Monster member hoku27 posted: Discrimination is still with us, and too many men just don't get it. But there are plenty of threads about what goes wrong. Shouldn't we say a word or two about the areas where progress and improvement are visible?
And the Monster Community responded with a qualified yes. Read some of the responses below or join the discussion yourself.
Monster member dorothyCQE: To be fair, I must say that I'm sure that years of working in a nontraditional field (largely through 10 years active duty in the Navy) has somehow (it's not easy to describe for those without the same experience) influenced my behavior in ways that have probably helped. Overall it is not just interpersonal behavior that has improved, I think. In the engineering fields a woman's presence is not so much a novelty as before. As far as pay goes, though, I can't be sure, but it's likely I am paid less than my male counterparts.
Monster member tmsmalley posts: I think back to my great aunt, Sister Mildred. She was born about 1900, and she was a nun for 75 years. When she was 19 years old living in Jamestown, North Dakota, she worked at the haberdashery. She didn't have a boyfriend and was essentially minding her own business. One day her cousin who was a Christian Brother came to visit and asked her about her plans for life and talked to her about becoming a nun. She really wasn't interested, but in order not to offend him, she said that if she could get into this particular order (Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet), she'd consider it. I'm sure she never thought that would happen, because the closest convent was nearly 1,000 miles away. Her cousin, however, tracked down a nun from that order who came to visit her. She felt that such an unlikely occurrence must have been divine intervention and therefore joined the convent.
As a nun, she was trained as a nurse and eventually became a highly regarded hospital administrator. She built 3 hospitals for the order over the years and eventually died at 95 years old. Being a nun allowed her to have a career and do a job that was interesting and exciting in an era where women could not do things like that. If she were born today, or for that matter if she were born when I was born even, I doubt she would have gone into the convent in order to do what she wanted to do. It just was not an option for a woman (married or not) to have a career like that. It is certainly well within my grasp and my daughters' grasp to have it.
So, all in all, I'd say that there are just a lot more options.
Monster member soilschick posts: I work in a male-dominated field. I have been doing testing and inspections on construction and environmental sites for the last eight years. For the most part, I do not have too many problems with the guys. A few of the older workers have said I should stay home and have kids. But my boss, also my engineering mentor, says to do my job and ignore them. I am one of a few women inspectors and a journeyman in my union. I have earned a very good reputation and am well-liked by most contractors. I have earned business for every company I have worked for. My confidence and ease with my work is evident when people meet me. I admit that I do have it a little easier than male inspectors, because guys will offer to carry my equipment for me. Most of the time I say no…. I love my work and hope to eventually train another woman apprentice.
Monster member EEO_Atty posts: My professional life went from slightly male-dominated (law '89) to mostly female (HR since '98). I have generally cultivated more male than female friends and acquaintances, mainly because I share more interests with the guys.
Some male-dominated workplaces can be a little randy and crude; to fit in, you have to endure a bit of that, unless it becomes personal and/or interferes with your work environment. I fondly recall some of the good ol’, pre-politically correct times, enjoying a couple of drinks during lunch with my colleagues and then returning to the office and swatting one of my male buddies on the bottom. No harm, no foul. Those days are long gone. They need to be. Today, any little thing can give rise to the appearance of impropriety. There are no perfect workplaces.
Monster member LValDean posts: I definitely think things are changing. Maybe not changing fast enough, but changing. I work in consulting where there has always been a somewhat even split of men and women at the bottom (doers), but as the ranks thin the women drop out, some for obvious reason and some for not so obvious reasons. When you add that I work in a unique area of consulting, where men have always dominated, well the number of women has always been negligible above the manager level.
But times, they are a changing. In the past five years even, I have begun to see a shift in both the private consulting firms and the public firms -- not huge yet, but some. Maybe more so in my segment than anywhere else. Although I believe this shift was partially driven by some other influences such as the close link between other consulting disciplines where women are far more prominent.
