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women in power

flossy_log_ladyflossy_log_lady
edited July 2011
Wasn't there a thread around these parts asking about women in high-up positions? Maybe women CEO's?

Well, I'm having fun at my new job where women are everywhere(!) in what's supposed to be a pretty male-dominated field (science). Went to a meeting today for one of the research projects I'll be working on (in a very lowly entry-level capacity) and guess what? Not a male to be seen. The lead investigator? Woman. The genius programmer people? Women (one in her seventies, no less!). The data analysts? Women. Everyone else? Women (another one in her seventies, too!).

My supervisor and boss are also women.

!

Comments

  • MatthewMatthew
    What a cool place!
  • YoursTrulyYoursTruly
    I LIKE THIS
  • lml__0_0__lmllml__0_0__lml
    my wife works for a women owned business and there are no male staff (about 12 employees).

    Is that legal?
  • Cherry_PieCherry_Pie
    So rad, Flossy!
  • swamp_knobbler_mahanswamp_knobbler_mahan
    I was on a skate trip to Vancouver, BC last weekend, and we went into the skate shop, and there were 4 lady skaters (who probably shred way harder than us) in there and we were the only dudes. It was pretty rad, because skateboarding culture is often so male/broey.

    The co-owner woman told us about the coolest camping spot ever:
    http://www.flickr.com/photos/nilesa/5934547602/in/photostream
    http://www.flickr.com/photos/nilesa/5934547134/in/photostream/

    We were surrounded by water at high tide! It was in the fanciest and most beautiful place. Here's to Canadian girl skaters.
  • Loose_ThreadLoose_Thread
    Alex, I love that you just called nature "fancy."
  • Loose_ThreadLoose_Thread
    edited July 2011
    my thing is I wish I had more female mentors. I wish there was a workplace culture of older, experienced women taking an active interest in guiding their younger sisters. I seek this out and send out the message that I am an enthusiastic disciple, but I do think that maybe this is a part of our culture that we should work on. It is my understanding that this is how authority has been developed toward a male bias. Older guys take on young guys who remind them of themselves, and the whole wonderful lineage of leaders producing leaders is carried on. Realizing my own desire to be mentored has inspired me to a goal of mentoring young women through my life as the opportunity arises.
  • swamp_knobbler_mahanswamp_knobbler_mahan
    It wasn't the nature that was fancy, it was the neighborhood!
    http://maps.google.com/maps?q=whytecliff+park,+vancouver&ll=49.370595,-123.288081&spn=0.008272,0.021586&oe=utf-8&client=firefox-a&fb=1&gl=us&cid=0,0,17552859826394664510&t=h&z=16
    Million dollar homes everywhere. We camped out on that little rock/spit area.
  • swamp_knobbler_mahanswamp_knobbler_mahan
    Female mentors:
    http://images.google.com/search?tbm=isch&hl=en&source=hp&biw=1242&bih=624&q=female+mentors&gbv=2&oq=female+mentors&aq=f&aqi=g1&aql=&gs_sm=e&gs_upl=1179l2635l0l3492l14l9l0l2l2l0l342l1273l1.4.0.2l7
  • swamp_knobbler_mahanswamp_knobbler_mahan
    Fresh confidence:
    http://www.google.com/search?tbm=isch&hl=en&source=hp&biw=1242&bih=624&q=fresh+confidence&btnG=Search+Images&gbv=2&oq=fresh+confidence&aq=f&aqi=&aql=&gs_sm=s&gs_upl=0l0l0l1669l0l0l0l0l0l0l0l0ll0
  • Loose_ThreadLoose_Thread
    thank you that was helpful
  • Cherry_PieCherry_Pie
    L.Threads- I just read an article in the NYer about the COO of Facebook, Sheryl Sanberg, and her whole thing is "Ladies, we need to be mentors to each other and put ourselves and each other forward." She really encourages women to make a place for themselves in their chosen field before they have babies, thus making them more likely to stay in their profession post-kids than if they were just in some lame entry level position. But in order to do that they need to be more aggressive about seeking advancement etc. She seems like a rad person and a great mentor.
    Here's the article: http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2011/07/11/110711fa_fact_auletta
  • flossy_log_ladyflossy_log_lady
    Oh dear. I wish there wasn't a damn time limit on our female bodies making healthy babies. Why do we start producing sick babies at such an early age!? I guess 35 used to be REALLY old.
  • Loose_ThreadLoose_Thread
    1* is just the right age for fresh healthy babies


    #trollin
  • YoursTrulyYoursTruly
    I have had two really powerful lady mentors in my academic life--my undergrad thesis adviser and my graduate dissertation adviser--both are badass feminist scholars but in different, complementary ways. Totally took the role of "woman advising a woman" super seriously as a feminist act, etc. It is such a pleasure and a joy to have this experience, when even just one generation ago that's not at all a thing that would have been very possible--my grad adviser was the only woman in her entire department at harvard, and there were no female professors, and everyone was so mean to her. It's so legit that she carries that experience with her and takes her role as a female higher-up seriously now that this damn ol' field is packed with ladies needing guidance.

    also babies: i know! it is hard. none of my female mentors in academia had children, except one who had her baby really late in life. Even one generation ago it was just sort of accepted that you couldn't be an academic and also have babies. In fact, women would remove their wedding rings before job interviews sometimes, because if they knew you were married it was just "obvious" that you were going to have a baby soon and need a bunch of time off/quit your job. I know a lady professor who didn't get a job one time because one of HER professors told one of the professors on the search committee "oh she doesn't need a job--she's married." !!!!!!!!!!!! And this is just our parents' generation. Imagine!

    There is still lots of fear in academia but more and more people are just saying "fuck it." I know like 4 people my age who have had babies and are making it work. You just do it, and make it work, and demand your rights, and more and more society is changing to reflect these things, although it's still frustrating.

    the other option is to not have babies, which I also feel pretty cool with.

    if you are super pro-baby I will tell you what one of my (male) professors told me on this topic: "If you want to do it, you'll feel stupid later if you don't do it."





  • flossy_log_ladyflossy_log_lady
    Yeah, I've never felt that I needed to have babies. But regardless, I think the ticking clock comes into play whenever I think about my future. ("What if I wake up one day when I'm 34.7 years old and I suddenly just HAVE to have babies!? How will I strategize to manage that?") Lately, though, I've been reminding myself that adoption is a cool option for older ladies, and if I've been using my 30's to establish a career for myself (or just save enough or whatever), I can hire help and make it work.



  • YoursTrulyYoursTruly
    totally!
  • MirandaJulyMirandaJuly
    I was thinking about my younger years the other day and realized this thread would be a good place to talk about a female mentor who was super important to me.

    I've been into video production since I was super young, and in high school, I was selected to participate in a mentor program. A woman who went to my church was a co-owner of a video production company, and she graciously agreed to be my mentor. She gave me my first experiences being in "professional" environments, dealing with the gear, seeing how real shoots and editing sessions went down. It was a great experience and definitely encouraged me to continue down the path I was on.

    Just wanted to point out that strong women mentoring boys is also a very cool and important thing!
  • Loose_ThreadLoose_Thread
    yeah!! in general, we need to step up to authority positions. Personally I have usually been very shy when it comes to owning up to my areas of expertise.
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