Women at Work What Causes Lack of Respect in the Workplace

¶ … gender roles in the workplace pre-exist much of what we think defines what work really is; not only do they pre-exist the modern working world of offices and factories, but they also seems older than more basic things, like writing and currency. From the world of the Tasaday tribe in the Philippines to that of such fields as genetic engineering and astrophysics, men and women are compelled to function within the workforce in different ways. In the United States, women dominate fields such as nursing, teaching, and clerical positions, while fields like engineering, programming and accounting are thought to be the domain of men. Some positions, such as those of flight attendants and nurses, are considered so intrinsically "female" that many men refuse to enter these fields for fear that others will question their sexual preference. Other more coveted positions, such as that of the CEO of a large company, are so male-dominated that any female that climbs her way to such a position is elevated to almost guru-status. Again and again, we see males in the workplace play the dominant role. This is illustrated in such dichotomies as: manager/secretary, doctor/nurse, pilot/flight attendant. Although many women are content to take these positions, others have argued that a general lack of respect for women has hindered their ability to succeed at work.

II. Purpose.

The purpose of this study is to determine what causes this lack of respect towards women in the workplace. It should be remembered that historically, every group of newcomers to a work situation has met with the reproach of their new peers. This is best illustrated in the assimilation of successive waves of immigrants to the United States. However, there are several key distinctions between the historic integration of women into professions and the integration of immigrants.

III. History.

At the beginning of the 19th century, 90% of the population of the United States was employed in agriculture; this dropped to 40% in 1900. The male was seen as the head of the household, and states only granted women the right to own land after the Seneca Falls convention in the mid-1850's. The state of New York did not grant women this right until 1860. Western states were more progressive both in allowing women to own land and granting them suffrage. Oregon granted women the right to vote shortly after statehood in 1850.

Women were among the first factory workers: when the American textile industry was created in New England in the early 1800's, young women were recruited to work the looms. These "mill girls" were the country's first female factory workers. These women, who were usually between 15 and 30 years old, held nearly two-thirds of all textile jobs in Lowell, Massachusetts by the late 19th century. Women were preferred to men in this industry because they had smaller, more deft fingers; originally children also worked in the mills but this was curtailed by legislation that restricted child labor. Women were kept in boarding houses and their behavior was strictly monitored, but in this they were not dramatically different from male workers. Women went on strike successfully in the 1840's and were able to reduce the work required of them to 10 hours a day. Advancement and the prospect of working in a management capacity was never an option.

Women were mistreated in factory jobs, but in this they were no different from men. Women were usually kept in women's only dormitories; the social environment in which they operated was completely controlled by the company they worked for. In cities, women were employed as seamstresses in sweatshops and were usually paid by the piece. Immigrants always kept the pay low, and poor working conditions met with tragedy in 1911, when 141 women working at the Triangle Waist Company died in a fire or trying to escape the conflagration by jumping out the window. According to a New York Times article that reported the event at the time,

The victims who are now lying at the Morgue waiting for some one to identify them by a tooth or the remains of a burned shoe were mostly girls from 16 to 23 years of age. They were employed at making shirtwaist by the Triangle Waist Company, the principal owners of which are Isaac Harris and Max Blanck. Most of them could barely speak English. Many of them came from Brooklyn. Almost all were the main support of their hard-working families.

This event precipitated the establishment of the New York Department of Labor, which regulates places of employment in the State of New York. One of the main reasons why women generally did not seek advancement was because most corporations were very small. In a corporate environment dominated by small businesses, an individual proprietor is usually the boss. Because women didn't traditionally own land, they didn't have any property to borrow against and therefore could not obtain business loans. In addition, corporate lenders were unwilling to loan money to women. To complement these hindrances, women generally could not obtain college educations. Oberlin College was the first ever to accept women, the first three of whom graduated in 1841. The biggest impediment to female advancement was in the workplace was marriage. Until the 1940's, women who had children were expected to return to the home to manage a family after they were married.

The married women of the early 20th century and before were without the modern conveniences that were to give them the free time to pursue careers. This lead employers to assume that the incomes earned by women in these times were only a small part of what was considered the "family wage." Women not living with a husband were assumed to live with their parents, and it was thought that income earned by women in the trades merely supplemented the income of a male wage-earner, usually her father. Low wages earned by women in 19th and early 20th century America lead many urban women that were without families or considered unmarriageable became prostitutes. According to Timothy Gilfoyle, author of City of Eros, one newspaper estimated that in 1879, sixty thousand young females in New York City supported themselves. By 1900, 20% of adult working women in New York City lived in boarding houses. He goes on to say:

The occupational background of Gotham's prostitutes after 1900 reflected the low-paying jobs most women were forced to accept. Of nearly five hundred prostitutes who related personal histories in a 1912 Night Court survey, department- and small-store clerks made up 30%. Servants, house workers, and chambermaids together totaled another 24%. Interestingly, new occupations also appeared in significant numbers. As a single skilled occupational group, office workers, stenographers, telephone operators, and teachers accounted for 15% of New York's prostitutes, as did actresses and factory operatives.

Gilfoyle claims that a life of prostitution afforded such women little in the way of the independence they lacked in traditional places of female employment; the nature of their work often necessitated the protection of a pimp, a parent, a policeman, a proprietor, or a madam.

The teens in New York saw the near-elimination of wide-scale prostitution as it had existed in the 19th century, as it was discovered that the deft fingers of women used to doing needlework were ideal for two of the inventions that revolutionized the workplace at the turn of the 20th century: telephone switchboards and typewriters. The capability of women to handle roles traditionally reserved for men was demonstrated during wartime. In the first and second world wars, women took over the factory positions traditionally held by men. In a way, this gave America an advantage in both wars: Germany insisted that its "German mothers" stay at home and tend to the raising of children that reflected the Reich's patriotic values. Regardless of this contribution, women were seldom paid on the same scale as men, and were restricted in their ability to purchase by rationing via ration stamps. Because the War department and others regulated the consumption of goods, employers knew exactly how little they could pay women while still deeming this wage appropriate.

It was not until the 50's that modern home appliances freed women of many of the inconveniences associated with cooking and cleaning. Wash and wear fabric and the washing machine allowed homes to function smoothly without the pressing need of darning socks. Rather than being modified or mitigated, the role of females in America was institutionalized. After the Second World War, the most popular major for women graduating from College was Home Economics. In The Feminine Mystique, Betty Friedan blames this on the American popularization of Freudian thought, and how the media interpreted it.

Sociology, anthropology, education, even the study of history and literature became permeated and transfigured by Freudian thought. The most zealous missionaries of the feminine mystique were the functionalists, who seized hasty gulps of pre-digested Freud to start their new departments of 'Marriage and Family-Life Education '. The functional courses in marriage taught American college girls how to ' play the role ' of woman - the old role became a new science.

Friedan and others convinced women that social fulfillment was to be found in returning to school and attempting to take on roles in the workplace traditionally dominated by men. During the Second World War, the National War Labor Board had recommended that male and female workers with the same job received equal pay. Although it was largely ignored at the time, this egalitarian idea gained weight in the early 60's.

In 1963, congress adopted the "Equal Pay Act," which forbid employers to pay men and women different wages for the same position. During the progressive era, women that had successfully lobbied for suffrage also had introduced minimum wage laws for women workers. The Supreme Court declared these laws unconstitutional, and John F. Kennedy created the Commission on the Status of Women, which passed the Act.

Although this was regarded as a vital step on the road towards wage parity, the new law was particularly difficult to pass. Into the 1960's, want ads characterized jobs as "male" and "female." At the time of its introduction, the National Retail Merchant Association claimed the new legislation to be unnecessary, expensive, and impossible to enforce. It was claimed that the high level of absenteeism due to pregnancy and other complications lead women to be more expensive to hire over the long-term.

IV. Methodologies.

In this study, we will establish a survey that determines how women are mistreated in the workforce. Although many people point to the pay scale as evidence of mistreatment, it should be remembered that these scales vary widely. Many such scales compare wages for "similar" jobs that are either dominated by women and men that are judged to be similar based on the level of expertise required to successfully undertake them. For instance, the job of truck driver is one that is traditionally dominated by men, whereas most school bus drivers are women. Whether such jobs are truly comparable is a matter of opinion. In other places of employment, such as JP Morgan Chase Bank and many federal offices, women leaving for maternity leave are offered excellent compensation packages. At the same institutions, men almost exclusively hold senior management roles.

If women are comfortable that they have not obtained management roles or it can be found that they didn't work as hard or with as much ingenuity as their male counterparts, the prospect of "leveling" such employees would not only be counter-productive, many would consider it downright coercive. Therefore it is important to determine not whether or not men and women occupy similar positions in an office setting, but whether or not the positions they do occupy are ones that reflect their needs and whether or not they are justly compensated for such positions.

However, it should also be taken into consideration that the mere conventions that allow women to find these positions comfortable may be a passive form of coercion. When a woman endures the reprobation of her peers, both male and female, for attempting to take on a role that isn't traditionally thought of as within her domain, she is the victim of work place discrimination. A woman may unwittingly refuse to climb the ladder for fear of alienating herself rather than due to the express recognition of a "glass ceiling." Since it has been recognized that women often prefer co-operation to the competitive edge that would allow them to request a higher salary, some managers will low-ball offers of employment in much the same way that used car dealers have been said to high-ball estimated used car prices to female car shoppers.

In light of these concerns, the questions that I have developed reflect a desire to gauge male/female relations at the workplace in light of the worker's overall happiness. Although many would argue that a rational worker would appraise sexism independently of his or her treatment as an individual, it is hard for most to determine whether or not poor treatment is the result of sexism or general adversity. This is especially true because sexism is genuinely disapproved of, and blatant sexism would result in censure, a poor reputation among other firms, or litigation. When and if policies are deliberately sexist, this takes the form of a "hidden agenda" and is probably rare because most corporate mission statements tend to reflect broad-based and uncontroversial goals. It is for this reason that I plan to ask questions that will allow us to grasp the social mechanisms of the workplace in order to determine the causes of discrimination against women. The first group of questions has to do with the worker as he or she relates to the workplace independent of sex. The second relates to how they deal with members of the opposite sex, and what role gender plays in the workplace.

My first interview was with Frank, a 25-year-old graduate of a small, parochial liberal arts school in Pennsylvania. Frank works at a consulting firm that specializes in international relations that numbers 50 people, who all work from a central office in midtown Manhattan. There he is in the marketing department, which consists of two other men and one woman. The majority of the people who work there have a master's degree or better, and are fluent in two or more languages.

1. Do you consider yourself successful?

Frank responded that he thought of himself as successful.

2. What kind of workplace environment makes you feel the most comfortable?

Frank enjoys working in extreme situations. His job has taken him to Moscow several times and Siberia once. He doesn't prefer a formal or informal environment.

3. To what extent has your work experience met these expectations or failed to meet them? Frank feels that he is comfortable with the work situation that has been presented to him, although he eventually would like to be self-employed.

4. How likely are you and have you been in the past to search for a better job or one that better meets your expectations?

Frank feels that he could drop a job that he is currently involved in to pursue other opportunities at the drop of a hat.

5. What is important to you when choosing a place of work?

Money is the chief motivator for Frank, although he also highly values independence.

6. To what extent is compensation as an incentive mitigated by other factors such as workplace environment and relationships with your peers?

He said that compensation was mitigated to a very high extent.

7. Do you see yourself as a member of a team with certain unspoken loyalties to your employer, or do you see yourself as a contractor exchanging a service for compensation?

Frank says, "I see myself as a contractor exchanging a service, and depending on the compensation, I will include certain unspoken loyalties in my offering."

8. To what extent do you see women/men in your workplace reflecting your views?

Frank claims "I typically work with secretive people. I honestly can't tell." Frank's place of employment is populated with people with political and personal interests that often diverge from those of the company.

9. Do you think that women and men have different social and lifestyle needs that are reflected in the jobs that they take and the manner in which they work?

Frank feels that women generally don't value money as much as he does, but that most of the women that he knows in Manhattan have families that more readily send them money when they are in need of it.

10. What do you think when the respective sexes take on job positions not thought of as characteristic, and do the women/men that you know that function in such a capacity possess what you would deem atypical personalities?

Frank finds this to be an interesting phenomenon, but he claims to not have given it much thought.

11. Have you witnessed sexual tension playing a role in office politics?

Frank claims that he's seen this happen. His office is predominantly male, and the attractive women attract attention.

12. Have you seen special consideration given to employees due to their sex, and if so, how has this affected your work and working relationships?

Frank says, "It hasn't affect my work or my working relationships, however, I always agreed the special consideration was justified." Frank believes that a woman's touch sometimes furthers corporate interests in front office deal-making situations.

13. Do you believe that men and women think differently or that gender identities are a social construct?

Frank doesn't see why these two are mutually exclusive. He claims, "Men and women think differently especially if there's a social construct."

14. If you do think that men and women think differently, how have you seen this reflected in their conduct in the workplace?

Frank responded, "They adapt to the workplace in different ways. A good manager recognizes this and constructs her team accordingly."

My second interview was with Steve, a 26-year-old graduate of the University of Delaware. Steve's peers often characterize him as a misogynist, which he attributes to his unique sense of humor. Steve works at a Newark, Delaware-based firm that gets contracts from the U.S. Air Force to draft spreadsheets for their inventory department, where he has the role of project manager and is paid an hourly wage with incentives for performance. Most of the people that work with Steve have grown up in the suburban community where he lives and have completed some college.

1. Do you consider yourself successful?

Steve responds, "Absolutely."

2. What kind of workplace environment makes you feel the most comfortable?

Steve would enjoy an office where he could find readily available casual sex; he thinks it would be interesting and he doesn't really think the social cost of repercussions would outweigh what was to be gained. He's also interested in making money.

3. To what extent has your work experience met these expectations or failed to meet them?

Steve's somewhat random advances have not met with any success, although he remains in good spirits and doesn't harbor any resentment.

4. How likely are you and have you been in the past to search for a better job or one that better meets your expectations?

Steve is content in his current position - he claims that it pays his bills and allows him enough spending money in order to drink regularly. Steve claims that he is much too lazy to worry about alternate career options.

5. What is important to you when choosing a place of work?

Steve claims that if he were to describe his ideal working environment, it would be "Comfortable, with friendly, attractive, with cultured people in a nice neighborhood." Steve prefers "intellectually challenging work, and a big paycheck."

6. To what extent is compensation as an incentive mitigated by other factors such as workplace environment and relationships with your peers?

Steve claims "It's about half of the equation. If it's a nice place to work then I'm happy scraping by. If it sucks then there better be a financial reward."

7. Do you see yourself as a member of a team with certain unspoken loyalties to your employer, or do you see yourself as a contractor exchanging a service for compensation?

Steve sees himself as an independent contractor. Steve says that "The loyalties are social, not financial," meaning that he wouldn't 'betray' his employer, but would consider leaving him for more money.

8. To what extent do you see women/men in your workplace reflecting your views?

Steve has no problems with a male dominated environment, and jokes that he would enjoy working in a Thai brothel or with Henry Kissinger.

9. Do you think that women and men have different social and lifestyle needs that are reflected in the jobs that they take and the manner in which they work?

Steve agrees with this, but doesn't cite any examples.

10. What do you think when the respective sexes take on job positions not thought of as characteristic, and do the women/men that you know that function in such a capacity possess what you would deem atypical personalities?

As much as Steve demonstrates that he is in many respects a misogynist, he critiques the notion that men and women have different roles. The example he gives is that "a male nurse or a female serial killer is more likely to be 'atypical', but in this ever-changing world of ours who can tell the difference between typical and atypical?"

11. Have you witnessed sexual tension playing a role in office politics?

Steve claims that the sexual tension he feels in the workplace is simplistic and biological, likening it to the need to urinate. He claims that undesired sexual tension strikes him where he works that he relieves it with a quick trip to the restroom.

12. Have you seen special consideration given to employees due to their sex, and if so, how has this affected your work and working relationships?

Steve claims that he doesn't see this happen.

13. Do you believe that men and women think differently or that gender identities are a social construct?

Steve responds, "Of course they think differently. Men want to eat and ***** and kill everything and everyone, and women want to be eaten and *****ed and killed by men, but they have to prove they're worthy of being consumed, and sometimes this means acting 'masculine' themselves for attention. But as for the general understanding of 'gender identity'; yes, that's a bull***** gender identity."

14. If you do think that men and women think differently, how have you seen this reflected in their conduct in the workplace?

Steve responds, "The men here eat and kill and ***** more. The women do a little of all three, but it is because they need to be eaten and killed and *****ed, not because they like it." His account of killing at work is probably added for emphasis.

My third interview was with Andrea, a 20-year-old student at the University of Pittsburgh who is studying physical therapy. Andrea is a nurse's aide at a Jewish nursing home. She is single and lives with roommates in a house in a middle-class neighborhood of Pittsburgh. Andrea's responsibilities include giving medication to nursing home residents, organizing activities, and attending to their general needs. Most of Andrea's co-workers have at least a four-year education and there is a strong Russian and Ukrainian ethnic presence in the mostly Jewish staff.

1. Do you consider yourself successful?

Andrea doesn't really know. She's had some difficulties in her life although she claims that most of her peers consider her a success.

2. What kind of workplace environment makes you feel the most comfortable?

Andrea enjoys working for money - she considers it fulfilling. Andrea would get sales jobs as a teenager and could lay claim to the fact that she made more money than her father by the time she was 14. She had a tough home life, is extremely intelligent, and thinks of work in terms of proving herself.

3. To what extent has your work experience met these expectations or failed to meet them?

Andrea notes that she makes more money than most students. Although this gives her some satisfaction, she has a negative view of the future.

4. How likely are you and have you been in the past to search for a better job or one that better meets your expectations?

Andrea had a high-energy sales job that she traded in for a job at a theater where she didn't have to work very hard. She lied about her age and got a job as a nurse's aid in a Jewish retirement home, which paid significantly more. Although she finds the job rewarding, it is also very stressful.

5. What is important to you when choosing a place of work?

Andrea has often lied about her age and experience in order to get positions that she feels better reflect her ability. She tries to get a job that pays well, because it allows her to feel good about herself that she's making money.

6. To what extent is compensation as an incentive mitigated by other factors such as workplace environment and relationships with your peers?

Andrea will take a higher paying job, but there have been times in the past when other factors in her life have gotten in the way of her handling the stress. She also questions commissioned sales jobs, because she feels bad about selling people things they may not necessarily need.

7. Do you see yourself as a member of a team with certain unspoken loyalties to your employer, or do you see yourself as a contractor exchanging a service for compensation?

Andrea always tries to work hard, despite the fact that she'll break rules in order to get jobs. How she identifies herself is largely dependent on her relationship with her boss.

8. To what extent do you see women/men in your workplace reflecting your views?

Andrea replies that "most of them seem pretty dedicated. They like working there." She hasn't noticed any observable differences between the girls and the guys.

9. Do you think that women and men have different social and lifestyle needs that are reflected in the jobs that they take and the manner in which they work?

Andrea responds that this may be the case, but that the needs of an employee are just as likely to be dependent on his or her age.

10. What do you think when the respective sexes take on job positions not thought of as characteristic, and do the women/men that you know that function in such a capacity possess what you would deem atypical personalities?

Andrea feels that the men and women that work there have basically the same responsibilities. She notes that a lot of medical professionals from Russia and Ukraine take nursing jobs when they come to the U.S. because medical degrees from those countries are not recognized in the United States.

11. Have you witnessed sexual tension playing a role in office politics?

Andrea responds that "the Ukrainian guys hit on you, but it's not like the men are the orderlies and the women are the nurses; they perform their jobs the same though."

12. Have you seen special consideration given to employees due to their sex, and if so, how has this affected your work and working relationships?

Andrea notes that ethnicity plays a greater role in her workplace than gender. "Special consideration is given to the Ukrainians and Russians; they are more respected than the Americans. Lord knows why." She notes that the head nurse is a Russian.

13. Do you believe that men and women think differently or that gender identities are a social construct?

Andrea considers herself bisexual, and has never felt at home with traditional gender identities, but feels at the same time that most social characteristics of people are based on commonly held conventions.

14. If you do think that men and women think differently, how have you seen this reflected in their conduct in the workplace?

Andrea feels that the biggest role sex plays in her workplace is that the men tend to make advances towards the women. Although this is a point of contention between the men and women, it doesn't interfere with hiring or promotion practices.

My fourth interview was with Jen, a 27-year-old graduate of a small, parochial, liberal arts school in Pennsylvania with a degree in Christian Thought. Jen has been married for the past three years and has a two-year-old daughter. She lives with her daughter and unemployed husband in New Castle, a lower-middle-class town in Western Pennsylvania near where she went to school. Jen works as a call center representative in a firm that gives credit information over the phone to businesses that wish to know the credit history of individuals. The majority of the people who work there have several years of college education.

1. Do you consider yourself successful?

Jen considers her life to be a success, but as a call center employee she doesn't feel fulfilled in her place of work. Jen is a devout Christian, and much of her self-worth is determined by her spiritual beliefs.

2. What kind of workplace environment makes you feel the most comfortable?

Jen replies, "One that is friendly and open, where people work together as a team."

3. To what extent has your work experience met these expectations or failed to meet them?

Jen doesn't feel that her job reflects her interests. She says she doesn't like her work place "because people are more concerned with getting drunk and fixing up the supervisor with a date." Of other work experiences, Jen claims that "there seemed to be a break down in communication and things did not run smoothly and people did not work as a team."

4. How likely are you and have you been in the past to search for a better job or one that better meets your expectations?

Jen claims that she seldom feels completely satisfied with a work situation.

5. What is important to you when choosing a place of work?

Jen values honesty in her employer. She claims that she's had problems with employers making good on the promises they had made when hiring her.

6. To what extent is compensation as an incentive mitigated by other factors such as workplace environment and relationships with your peers?

Jen has a two-year-old daughter, but claims that since her husband is unemployed that she doesn't worry as much as would normally be expected about not spending time with her.

7. Do you see yourself as a member of a team with certain unspoken loyalties to your employer, or do you see yourself as a contractor exchanging a service for compensation?

Jen considers her loyalties to be largely dictated by her family, although she considers herself an honest person who tries to avoid deceiving people.

8. To what extent do you see women/men in your workplace reflecting your views?

Jen claims that she hasn't attempted to pay attention to people's ideas vis-a-vis their sexes.

9. Do you think that women and men have different social and lifestyle needs that are reflected in the jobs that they take and the manner in which they work?

Jen replies, "Yes and no. Yes, because more women seem to take the daycare, working with children, teaching positions and men take more the physical or upper management positions. Women seem more emotional when choosing jobs and men seem to take jobs that are more physical or positions with more control."

10. What do you think when the respective sexes take on job positions not thought of as characteristic, and do the women/men that you know that function in such a capacity possess what you would deem atypical personalities?

Jen replies, "I think it's great when that happens. Men who are in social work, from my experience, are better about talking problems out, sharing, and more patient. And women who take on the upper management positions, seem to be the more take charge type of people."

11. Have you witnessed sexual tension playing a role in office politics? Not really.

Jen claims not to, but she notes that many of her co-workers socialize more with each other than she would care to, and that many of the go out drinking together.

12. Have you seen special consideration given to employees due to their sex, and if so, how has this affected your work and working relationships?

Jen replies, "No. I've seen special consideration to the person who can kiss up to the boss the most but not because of their sex."

13. Do you believe that men and women think differently or that gender identities are a social construct?

Jen replies, "Of course. Men are more problem solvers, take charge, strategic minded and women are more emotional, sensitive, talking types."

14. If you do think that men and women think differently, how have you seen this reflected in their conduct in the workplace?

Jen's reply is "Yes, Especially in the cubicle office setting. Women in the business setting seem to gossip more, flirt to get promoted, and in general, lazy in their work. Men, seem to only care about making the numbers work, and not so much about their employees."

My fifth interview was with Jason, a 27-year-old graduate of a liberal arts school in Pennsylvania who spent three years teaching English in a rural town in Japan to middle school-aged children. Jason works at an auditing firm that gets a government contract every year to audit the implementation of technology initiatives in the nation's school districts. He lives in northern New Jersey, where his job is located. Jason works as an auditor and is one of the youngest people in his position. The majority of the people who work where Jason does have a college degree in accounting or finance, and a great number of them have many years of experience in the telecommunications industry, where they had traditionally worked at AT&T, once New Jersey's largest employer.

1. Do you consider yourself successful?

Jason replies, "Currently? No. But I have the potential for future success."

2. What kind of workplace environment makes you feel the most comfortable?

Jason likes environments that are flexible, lenient, and relatively unstructured. He says, "I have a predilection for doing things my own way, so I tend to perform poorly when micromanaged."

3. To what extent has your work experience met these expectations or failed to meet them?

Jason preferred his last job overseas. He says, "My experience in Japan met these criteria. I had very little input/direction from my boss, and I was able to drive many of my own performance goals. The work itself was not so interesting, but the challenge of working across cultural and linguistic barriers made it worthwhile. My work experience since returning to the U.S. has been tedious at best."

4. How likely are you and have you been in the past to search for a better job or one that better meets your expectations?

Jason feels that he is always looking, he says, "I doubt that I'll ever be completely satisfied with anything."

5. What is important to you when choosing a place of work?

Jason looks for potential for career advancement and the level of challenge. He says, "For any job, it should present opportunities, knowledge, and skills that could lead to advancement within the company or to a better position at another company. I perform best when challenged, so the work must be moderately engaging. I am not sufficiently motivated by a salary alone."

6. To what extent is compensation as an incentive mitigated by other factors such as workplace environment and relationships with your peers?

Jason responds, "I guess that compensation is relatively important, but it's not the sole criterion I consider. I'm not so altruistic as to take a job I love for minimal pay, nor am I so avaricious to take a loathsome job for exorbitant pay."

7. Do you see yourself as a member of a team with certain unspoken loyalties to your employer, or do you see yourself as a contractor exchanging a service for compensation?

If I look at my career as a whole, across various employers, I'd say that I see myself as a contractor. If I look at my tenure with each employer separately, I'd have to say that I see myself as a member of a team with unspoken loyalties to my employer. I don't see these two statements as a contradiction."

8. To what extent do you see women/men in your workplace reflecting your views?

Jason feels that people in his workplace seldom reflect his views. People at his current place of work tend to be older and underemployed; refugees from the collapsed telecom industry in northern New Jersey.

9. Do you think that women and men have different social and lifestyle needs that are reflected in the jobs that they take and the manner in which they work?

Inherently? No. It depends upon the individual. Just a decade ago, society's expectations of men and women meant that the two sexes had different social and lifestyle needs. Today, and at various points in history, the line between the sexes has blurred. There are many career-minded women now who, at least in the workplace, share their male counterparts goals and needs."

10. What do you think when the respective sexes take on job positions not thought of as characteristic, and do the women/men that you know that function in such a capacity possess what you would deem atypical personalities?

Jason replies, "In general, I think don't mind a man or a woman taking on a job typically associated with the opposite sex - as long as the person in question meets certain gender-neutral qualifications. What upsets me is the trend of establishing quotas for the sexes and various races. I also dislike the use of sex-specific physical requirements in the armed forces." Jason notes that his roommate, Gina, is a 25-year-old project manager that survived the dot-com crash and has had men reporting to her that are 20 years her senior and have advanced degrees.

11. Have you witnessed sexual tension playing a role in office politics?

Jason replies, "Sexual tension (mutual)? No. Sexual attraction? Of course. Attractive women are often given more leeway than less attractive counterparts, and more chauvinistic male managers are apt to let physical attraction lead to favoritism."

12. Have you seen special consideration given to employees due to their sex, and if so, how has this affected your work and working relationships?

I'm a realist, so I don't waste time *****ing and feeling sorry for myself if I see someone else use their sex or their attractiveness to achieve a competitive edge in the workplace. I know that I'd do the same thing. I'd have a problem with it only if it was causing the boss to make patently egregious business decisions."

13. Do you believe that men and women think differently or that gender identities are a social construct?

I don't know. I think that there are elements of both in the reality. Obviously, men and women have different levels of different chemicals in their bodies, so I assume that this can affect cognition. And, equally as obvious, society/culture play a major part in gender identities. It's a chicken-egg dilemma."

14. If you do think that men and women think differently, how have you seen this reflected in their conduct in the workplace?

Jason notes that older women that don't like their station tend to blame coquettish younger women like Gina, who have seen more opportunities. In the eyes of the older women, the younger, prettier women are always suspect.

My sixth interview was with Christine, the 48-year-old administrator of the Slavic Language Department at a university in western Pennsylvania. Christine commands the business end of the department, is fluent in Polish and Slovakian, and is conversant in Russian and Ukrainian. The staff of the department is comprised of professors and graduate students in language studies, and has approximately 20 people total, all of which are fluently bilingual with a demonstrated proficiency in at least one European language. Christine also maintains responsibility over the summer language program.

1. Do you consider yourself successful?

Christine considers herself successful.

2. What kind of workplace environment makes you feel the most comfortable?

Christine says that she prefers "An informal one with a cooperative group spirit."

3. To what extent has your work experience met these expectations or failed to meet them?

Christine takes responsibility for her own work environment. She says, "Due to my role in setting the atmosphere (most of the time), my expectations are met most of the time."

4. How likely are you and have you been in the past to search for a better job or one that better meets your expectations?

Christine feels comfortable in her current role. She says, "I am content in my current situation and do not entertain the idea of changing it by choice at this time."

5. What is important to you when choosing a place of work?

Christine replies that she finds "a belief in the general usefulness and goodness of the goods or services produced" is important, and prefers "an atmosphere where at least some of the other employees share the same beliefs and who have some pride in their work."

6. To what extent is compensation as an incentive mitigated by other factors such as workplace environment and relationships with your peers?

She responds, "To me personally, the environment is extremely important. I would rather work for a lower salary if the environment and goals and attitudes are to my liking."

7. Do you see yourself as a member of a team with certain unspoken loyalties to your employer, or do you see yourself as a contractor exchanging a service for compensation?

She sees herself both as a team member and a team leader, and attests to certain unspoken loyalties.

8. To what extent do you see women/men in your workplace reflecting your views?

Christine gives a breakdown - "70% do; 30% think it's 'just a job.'"

9. Do you think that women and men have different social and lifestyle needs that are reflected in the jobs that they take and the manner in which they work?

Christine, who has a 16-year-old daughter, responds "Definitely."

10. What do you think when the respective sexes take on job positions not thought of as characteristic, and do the women/men that you know that function in such a capacity possess what you would deem atypical personalities?

Christine believes in self-determination. She responds, "I see no problem with doing ANY job if you are interested in it and capable of doing it regardless of who traditionally does the job. Some who do this might have atypical personalities, but I have met many 'average' people who have unusual professions and are otherwise 'typical' males and females."

11. Have you witnessed sexual tension playing a role in office politics?

Christine comments that many of her co-workers are graduate students, and that sexual tension often plays a role in the office.

12. Have you seen special consideration given to employees due to their sex, and if so, how has this affected your work and working relationships?

Christine responds, "Yes. It has not affected me personally. I felt sympathy for the persons in the unpleasant situation."

13. Do you believe that men and women think differently or that gender identities are a social construct?

Christine replies, "I believe that although the social construct strongly affects how we 'present' as a male or female, that there men and women do 'think differently' and communicate differently."

14. If you do think that men and women think differently, how have you seen this reflected in their conduct in the workplace?

Christine says that although these differences exist, she claims that they manifest "mostly in terms of misunderstandings connected with how to execute certain projects."

My seventh interview was with Claire, a 35-year-old social worker with a master's in social work and psychology who is working on her PHD. Claire is a drug and alcohol counselor at a high school for disadvantaged children in Fairfax County, Virginia. Claire's school has over twelve hundred students and 150 employees, consisting of teachers, guidance counselors and administrators. The majority of the employees at her school are teachers with a bachelor's or a master's degree.

1. Do you consider yourself successful?

Claire replies, "In some areas yes but in some no. I mean, if you consider what we as a society consider successful - how much money we make, etc. - no. But I have lived on my own without help from my parents, I own my own home and put myself through graduate school with a 4.0."

2. What kind of workplace environment makes you feel the most comfortable?

Claire responds that she values a casual workplace - one with participatory management lots of autonomy, minimal bureaucratic interference.

3. To what extent has your work experience met these expectations or failed to meet them?

Claire responds, "When I first got out of college, I worked in lawyer's offices, which made me uncomfortable, so I worked towards my ideal work environment by entering a field (social work) where there isn't a pecking order and there's personal involvement."

4. How likely are you and have you been in the past to search for a better job or one that better meets your expectations?

Claire replies, "I've been very pro-active at doing that in the past because my work takes up a lot of my life so I might as well be happy. To be practical as a trade off, you might have more money but not as much autonomy."

5. What is important to you when choosing a place of work?

Claire prefers a work environment that gives her flexibility and yet not one that pays too little. Claire moved from clinical psychology at a hospital to a school environment for this reason.

6. To what extent is compensation as an incentive mitigated by other factors such as workplace environment and relationships with your peers?

Claire replies, "I'm not going to work for 30k if I can set my own hours, but I won't give up my autonomy for more money, unless it was 30% more or so - I leave at 3 in the afternoon."

7. Do you see yourself as a member of a team with certain unspoken loyalties to your employer, or do you see yourself as a contractor exchanging a service for compensation?

Claire replies, "A bit of both - the job I have now I definitely have loyalties to my supervisor but she is leaving - from here on out I see myself as a contractor."

8. To what extent do you see women/men in your workplace reflecting your views?

Claire resents people at work, but it doesn't have anything to do with their gender. She says, "It's kind of minimal, I'm in an educational setting where you have a lot of *****ing Christian types - little flexibility, little imagination, doctrinaire, small minded."

9. Do you think that women and men have different social and lifestyle needs that are reflected in the jobs that they take and the manner in which they work?

Claire responds, "Not necessarily. I don't think women and men are all that different."

10. What do you think when the respective sexes take on job positions not thought of as characteristic, and do the women/men that you know that function in such a capacity possess what you would deem atypical personalities?

Claire replies, "No - I think there's a lot more quality - some jobs like secretaries are stereotypes, but there are plenty of male receptionists, female firefighters, and I'm all about that."

11. Have you witnessed sexual tension playing a role in office politics?

Claire says, "Oooh yes. Yeah - to some extent, but only with people that can't control themselves. I'm not going to get involved with anyone I work with."

12. Have you seen special consideration given to employees due to their sex, and if so, how has this affected your work and working relationships?

Claire responds, "No - I really haven't - I've seen favoritism but not along gender lines. People with narcissistic and passive aggressive personalities play a key role in such office politics."

13. Do you believe that men and women think differently or that gender identities are a social construct?

Claire is a fan of Simone de Beauvoir and considers these identities a social construct.

14. If you do think that men and women think differently, how have you seen this reflected in their conduct in the workplace?

Claire replies that she hasn't.

My seventh interview was with Lela, a 23-year-old assistant hotel manager at a small, interstate exit hotel outside Erie, Pennsylvania that earned her degree in business administration. Lela's hotel employs approximately 35 people, including a cleaning, restaurant and administrative staff. Lela works closely with the manager of the hotel, a thirty-year-old Indian-American with wealthy parents who owns the franchise. Most of the staff lacks a college education with the exception of the bookkeeper.

Do you consider yourself successful?

Lela wants to find a husband and get married. She considers herself traditional and sees her job as a way to pay the bills.

What kind of workplace environment makes you feel the most comfortable?

Lela doesn't enjoy working for other people, and would prefer being in a situation where she was the boss and could call the shots.

3. To what extent has your work experience met these expectations or failed to meet them?

Lela has quit her job several times, but her relationship with her boss is such that she has always been able to return.

4. How likely are you and have you been in the past to search for a better job or one that better meets your expectations?

Lela doesn't actively look for other jobs. She lives with her grandmother and doesn't have any notable expenses, although she is in her twenties.

5. What is important to you when choosing a place of work?

Lela didn't study hotel management; she was a general business major that didn't know what she would do with her life.

6. To what extent is compensation as an incentive mitigated by other factors such as workplace environment and relationships with your peers?

Lela exclaims that she doesn't have much of a social life, and hasn't since she finished college. As a result, it doesn't conflict with her work schedule, which often demands that she get up at five o'clock in the morning.

7. Do you see yourself as a member of a team with certain unspoken loyalties to your employer, or do you see yourself as a contractor exchanging a service for compensation?

Do to the small staff where she works, Lela sees herself as an independent contractor that maintains an independent relationship with her boss.

8. To what extent do you see women/men in your workplace reflecting your views?

Lela notes that her boss sees the hotel as a way of providing a steady revenue stream. The cleaning staff is mostly uneducated and female, and Lela claims that she doesn't speak with them often.

9. Do you think that women and men have different social and lifestyle needs that are reflected in the jobs that they take and the manner in which they work?

Lela notes that the women with children have different needs.

10. What do you think when the respective sexes take on job positions not thought of as characteristic, and do the women/men that you know that function in such a capacity possess what you would deem atypical personalities?

Although she doesn't identify with proud and successful women, Lela doesn't condemn their actions.

11. Have you witnessed sexual tension playing a role in office politics?

Lela believes that her youth and "long blonde hair" managed to land her current job over the dozen or so other, more qualified applicants.

12. Have you seen special consideration given to employees due to their sex, and if so, how has this affected your work and working relationships?

Lela claims that she's often been the beneficiary of this treatment, but considers the attraction to sometimes be unwelcome. Lela tells me that her boss often hits on her.

13. Do you believe that men and women think differently or that gender identities are a social construct?

Lela believes men and women think differently.

14. If you do think that men and women think differently, how have you seen this reflected in their conduct in the workplace?

Lela says that the cleaning staff never gets much attention because they're all old and uneducated women. She doesn't feel herself to be competitive with any of the other employees.

My ninth interview was with Jonathan, a 28-year-old Sales Representative with Thompson Financial in downtown New York City. Jonathan never graduated from college, but only has three credits left to go. Thompson Financial employs several thousand people, and Jonathan's office has about 40 people working at it. His office handles the marketing of advertising space in an industry publication for bankers. Most of his co-workers are male and average in age from 30-35. Employees there typically have an undergraduate degree in marketing and some familiarity with the banking industry.

1. Do you consider yourself successful?

Jonathan sees himself as successful, although he wants to complete college and has considered the Peace Corps.

2. What kind of workplace environment makes you feel the most comfortable?

He enjoys a fast past environment with the opportunity to travel. He considers sales and front-office operations his specialty.

3. To what extent has your work experience met these expectations or failed to meet them?

Jonathan replies that he had worked in a "boiler-room" style stockbroker environment, which he considered much too stressful and somewhat deceptive. This led him to pursue a job where he could do inside sales instead of approaching new clients.

4. How likely are you and have you been in the past to search for a better job or one that better meets your expectations?

Jonathan claims to dislike personality conflicts with his employers. He is more quick to re-negotiate his compensation rather than look for better-paying jobs.

5. What is important to you when choosing a place of work?

Jonathan prefers co-workers that are fun and sociable.

6. To what extent is compensation as an incentive mitigated by other factors such as workplace environment and relationships with your peers?

Jonathan has read several success books, and one of his goals remains to climb the corporate ladder for as long as he's working at a corporate job.

7. Do you see yourself as a member of a team with certain unspoken loyalties to your employer, or do you see yourself as a contractor exchanging a service for compensation?

Although Jonathan has developed camaraderie with other marketing execs, he feels that ultimately his relationship with his workplace is a contractual one.

8. To what extent do you see women/men in your workplace reflecting your views?