Millions of people look for a job every day. Some are fresh graduates; others already have years of experience under their belt. Some want a career change; others wish to resume what they have started but had to hold off due to personal issues. Despite that, if you look at various data, you will notice the lack of gender inequality in a few industries.
One particular thing I am talking about is my female friend’s experience while trying to earn money. Since many companies were not hiring en masse, she decided to become an Uber driver to generate income for her bills. Her chosen work time was between 9 P.M. to 2 A.M., assuming that commuters would pay extra at night.
As it turned out, though, my friend got at least one canceled trip or two every night. She wondered initially if it was because the would-be passengers chose to walk or grabbed a taxi. But after meeting other male Uber drivers and hearing that no one ever declined their services, she realized that seeing her gender must be the problem. After all, men have more confidence in driving than women — studies have proven that, and many people believe it. It does not matter to them if the same studies claim that women are safer drivers than men.
Is It Unfair?
Of course, it is! Transportation is not the only male-dominated industry across the globe. You can hardly find a female construction worker, miner, computer programmer, engineer, or software developer. It is not due to women’s lack of interest in those fields — many strive to work in such industries out of love for them.
Nevertheless, male-dominated industries were not 100% impenetrable. Some accepted women due to their incredible skills; others did it to avoid getting labeled as gender-biased. Either way, the ladies had to work harder than everyone to keep up with the guys or prove that they were better than the latter.
How Does It Affect A Woman’s Mental Health?
In all fairness, since women pretty much expect some form of gender discrimination in their chosen fields before they get hired, they prepare themselves for it early. Because of that, misogynistic colleagues or biased bosses could not always affect their mental health and make them want to quit. Some even managed to earn respect and admiration of their male coworkers, to the extent that they were treated as “one of the boys.” That seems to be the highest compliment that a woman gets when working with guys since they are seen as equals.
The problems merely appear when a weak-hearted woman gets shoved into a male-dominated industry out of sheer desperation to find a job. When they feel less recognized or appreciated than their male counterparts, they cry in the bathroom or curse everyone behind their backs. If the promotion goes to someone else, they get upset and hand over their resignation letter. Then, they get depressed and do not want to work with men again.
How Should A Woman Think While Working In A Male-Dominated Industry?
From the get-go, women need to know their rights as an employee. For instance, if the men receive X amount of bonus, they should also get the same amount. If a higher position opens, everyone should be able to apply for it and be considered relatively. And once they experience discrimination, they can appeal to the executives or go straight to government officials that handled such problems.
Women should not tolerate emotional or verbal abuse either. Although it rarely occurs in well-established companies these days, there are still some unique cases where women get taunted or treated as inferior by men. Instead of taking it all in quietly, afraid of losing your job, you need to speak up and inform the authorities about it. That’s the only way for them to prevent them from treating other women like that.
Consequently, it is wrong for women to expect receiving special treatment in a male-dominated industry because of their gender. You are entitled to a separate bathroom, for sure, but your workload should be similar to that of others. Doing otherwise will be discriminatory towards the male employees, especially if you hold the same positions.
Final Thoughts
Many women cannot stand working in male-dominated industries; that’s why some have banded together to create their own companies. Since their talents cannot shine in those areas, they make sure to build a platform for themselves where no one will feel like they can be bossed around due to their gender. For that, everyone is proud of your accomplishments.
In case you are still in a male-dominated industry, though, ask yourself: “Am I treated fairly here?” “Do I get the same privileges as my male counterparts?” “Do they respect me as a person, not just as a woman?”
If you can answer ‘yes’ to everything, that’s awesome! It practically means that your coworkers are #woke and know how to treat people equally. If one or all your answers are ‘no,’ then it’s time to say goodbye to them and carve a new path for yourself. Trust me that will be better for you mentally and emotionally.