The Glass Escalator

I've heard that in some female dominated jobs, if you're a guy you sometimes get ahead without even trying just by virtue of being the only guy, therefore perceived as somehow more competent. Just curious if anyone here has ever had such an experience in the workplace.

I've found quite the opposite. I've worked in female dominated depts and found that they look out mainly for each other and find the male threatening. Also, they can do it more obviously than men can without lawsuit repercussions. I'm not making a general statement on women in the corp world but just what I have seen. Hope this doesn't come off as sexist.

^^ They just hate you, you sexist pig.

Originally Posted by FidelCashflow

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I've heard that in some female dominated jobs, if you're a guy you sometimes get ahead without even trying just by virtue of being the only guy, therefore perceived as somehow more competent. Just curious if anyone here has ever had such an experience in the workplace.

You've been watching too much Remington Steele.

Women who set the BS aside are a force to be reckoned with. They are also as rare as unicorns, or so it seems at times.

I thought this thread was about that cool Apple store in NYC.

Originally Posted by Thomas

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You've been watching too much Remington Steele.

Women who set the BS aside are a force to be reckoned with. They are also as rare as unicorns, or so it seems at times.

there is a good reason for that...

As for the glass ceiling, I always tell them "Sometimes you've got to give a bit of head to get a bit ahead"

A good balance is always important. I've never really had any issues when working with women.
The real issue is when you have too many women gunning for the same job promotion. Females are far more brutal towards one another than a man could ever imagine.

A while back, about 3 women at work really got upset with each other, and most of us still have no idea why. They were filing constant complaints against each other to HR, refusing to work with one another, so on and so forth. It got so bad that HR sat all of them down and did a mediation. The mediation didn't resolve their problems. One woman just quit, and the other two had to be shuffled into different jobs in different departments so they wouldn't be working together again.

I prefer jello wrestling to mediation.
Much more effective IMHO.

If they just stayed in the kitchen there would be no problems!

Originally Posted by Hard2Fit

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I prefer jello wrestling to mediation.
Much more effective IMHO.

I have to agree 100% on this.

Back in college, I did some martial arts and so did most of my roommates. So whenever I'd have a serious disagreement with one of my roommates, we'd just go beat the hell out of each other at practice, and then drink some beers and suddenly, no more problem.

But that only works for men. Women can't get into such brutal fights, it just isn't ladylike. Jello wrestling is a much more appropriate method of problem resolution for women. Call me old fashioned, but hey, if it isn't broke, why fix it?

Originally Posted by Thomas

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Women who set the BS aside are a force to be reckoned with. They are also as rare as unicorns, or so it seems at times.
I'd have to agree with this as I've seen it maybe one time in private business. At the university I work at I have almost always had a female boss, including now. And I have to say they are the most ill equipped leaders I've ever had the pleasure of working for. It's great for me because I come in late, leave early, etc (as does everyone else) and nobody cares. In the last few months we've had to bring in a second co-boss to help manage the 10 person group, a man of course. I would think that in an all female corporation you'd be likely to make a lot of money if you're a good looking guy, but only there for eye candy. You could prolly get away with murder but the women are going to be looking out for themselves mostly.

Just to provide a bit more context, I'm thinking of an organization where most of the people at your level are females, but the real bosses are all guys. Doesn't that help another guy to rise to the top faster?

Originally Posted by FidelCashflow

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Just to provide a bit more context, I'm thinking of an organization where most of the people at your level are females, but the real bosses are all guys. Doesn't that help another guy to rise to the top faster?

ehhh, doubtful. If the majority of your peers are female, there's probably a reason for that. It could be any number of reasons, such as:

They're really good at their jobs and deserve to be there
They're ruthless infighters who have weeded out the politically weak
Top brass could have a pro-female bias.

It could also be a matter of attrition (i.e., the women are sticking around longer) in which case the playing field gets more level.