In chapter 5, Medical Examiners Laura Paige and Cynthia Glenn, and CBI agent Gail Fong meet at the 4th Street Bar in San Francisco. Their conversation moves to women working for, and with men, in the workplace:
Laura furiously nodded her head. “I agree with you, Cynthia. All of my management team is men who push paper around and have meeting after meeting to discuss mundane things like selecting our office supply company or reviewing the design of new department logos. I get the work expected of me done, but it requires longer hours. This stifles opportunities to look into other more critical areas such as incorporating more advanced diagnostic tools to speed the analysis as to a cause of death and takes away time that could be spent with detectives on identifying motives for killings.”
Gail interjected, “I can see it was a good idea to go for drinks.” She finished her first one and picked up the second. “Would you say these problems are unique to you as women marginalized in a man’s world or as resource-strapped Medical Examiners?”
Laura and Cynthia both laughed and almost in unison said, “as Medical Examiners.”
Gail empathized with the sentiment. It was easier to blame the males dominating her work environment than to solve her problems of limited resources. Sure there were sexist bastards in every organization, but most men faced the same problems she did at the CBI, a general lack of resources. “What are we going to do about our resource problem on this case?”
Women entering law enforcement as their career choice still encounter sexual harassment and attitudinal resistance, primarily from their male supervisors, according to Dr. Curt Bartol, a personality and social psychology expert dealing with the justice system. In urban police departments across the U.S., he notes, less than 10 percent of police officers were female in 1988 [1]. Although that number has climbed in the last 25 years in some agencies, women remain a minority in law enforcement.
This fact is born out in 2016 in northern California’s Sonoma County, where part of Breach of Trust is set. Female deputies account for only five percent (14 of 267 deputies) of the law enforcement team, consistent with staffing levels of the late 1980s. If the entire Sonoma County Sheriff’s department is taken into account, the female percentage jumps to 30 percent (198 of 665 employees) [2]. Women are making inroads in local police departments in the aggregate, but not so much in the field.
Laura furiously nodded her head. “I agree with you, Cynthia. All of my management team is men who push paper around and have meeting after meeting to discuss mundane things like selecting our office supply company or reviewing the design of new department logos. I get the work expected of me done, but it requires longer hours. This stifles opportunities to look into other more critical areas such as incorporating more advanced diagnostic tools to speed the analysis as to a cause of death and takes away time that could be spent with detectives on identifying motives for killings.”
Gail interjected, “I can see it was a good idea to go for drinks.” She finished her first one and picked up the second. “Would you say these problems are unique to you as women marginalized in a man’s world or as resource-strapped Medical Examiners?”
Laura and Cynthia both laughed and almost in unison said, “as Medical Examiners.”
Gail empathized with the sentiment. It was easier to blame the males dominating her work environment than to solve her problems of limited resources. Sure there were sexist bastards in every organization, but most men faced the same problems she did at the CBI, a general lack of resources. “What are we going to do about our resource problem on this case?”
Women entering law enforcement as their career choice still encounter sexual harassment and attitudinal resistance, primarily from their male supervisors, according to Dr. Curt Bartol, a personality and social psychology expert dealing with the justice system. In urban police departments across the U.S., he notes, less than 10 percent of police officers were female in 1988 [1]. Although that number has climbed in the last 25 years in some agencies, women remain a minority in law enforcement.
This fact is born out in 2016 in northern California’s Sonoma County, where part of Breach of Trust is set. Female deputies account for only five percent (14 of 267 deputies) of the law enforcement team, consistent with staffing levels of the late 1980s. If the entire Sonoma County Sheriff’s department is taken into account, the female percentage jumps to 30 percent (198 of 665 employees) [2]. Women are making inroads in local police departments in the aggregate, but not so much in the field.
The FBI, on the other hand, as early as 2009, claimed that females comprised about 44 percent of its 33,000-employee total [3], much better, in terms of diversity, than the wine country statistics reported some seven years later.
In my fictional account, Gail Fong’s character toils in a less diverse environment and finds she has to work harder than a man to gain the same recognition and rewards for solid performance. But women continue to persevere in their chosen fields.
As Carly Fiorina, a former CEO of Hewlett-Packard and a Republican presidential candidate in 2006, wrote, “Life isn’t always fair, and it is different for women than for men. I decided to accept the reality and refused to be diminished by it. I would accomplish all I was capable of. I would concentrate on doing what I believed were the right things for the right reasons to the best of my ability. . .” [4]
That’s all anyone can expect of working women: persevere and continue to do the right thing.
In my fictional account, Gail Fong’s character toils in a less diverse environment and finds she has to work harder than a man to gain the same recognition and rewards for solid performance. But women continue to persevere in their chosen fields.
As Carly Fiorina, a former CEO of Hewlett-Packard and a Republican presidential candidate in 2006, wrote, “Life isn’t always fair, and it is different for women than for men. I decided to accept the reality and refused to be diminished by it. I would accomplish all I was capable of. I would concentrate on doing what I believed were the right things for the right reasons to the best of my ability. . .” [4]
That’s all anyone can expect of working women: persevere and continue to do the right thing.
[1] Bartol et al, Editors, 3rd Edition, Current Perspectives in Forensic Psychology,” Sage Publishing, 2012, p.22.
[2] Shannon Dower, Sonoma County Sherriff’s Office correspondence, February 24, 2016.
[3] David Cuthbertson, Special Agent in Charge, remarks at “The Next Generation Of Homeland Security Professionals: Educating the Next Generation of Homeland Security Professionals,” University of Texas at El Paso, February 26, 2009.
[4] Carly Fiorina, Tough Choices: A Memoir, 2006, p.70.
[2] Shannon Dower, Sonoma County Sherriff’s Office correspondence, February 24, 2016.
[3] David Cuthbertson, Special Agent in Charge, remarks at “The Next Generation Of Homeland Security Professionals: Educating the Next Generation of Homeland Security Professionals,” University of Texas at El Paso, February 26, 2009.
[4] Carly Fiorina, Tough Choices: A Memoir, 2006, p.70.