In chapter 2 of Breach of Trust, Dr. Meredith Raffensperger has rebounded from a bad situation at a previous job to find a better workplace environment:
“Meredith enjoyed working for Wendell. He was fair with people but tough on bad performance. If you were a hard worker and did your best, you were rewarded. Wendell also made quick decisions, something that could be a blessing or a curse, especially at a nuclear power plant. The Diablo Canyon Power Plant became their mutual workplace after she graduated from Georgia Tech as an electrical engineer and completed her apprenticeship at the Southern Company’s Plant Vogtle nuclear facility. Moving to San Luis Obispo County and coming to work for Wendell was a move, in part, to salvage her career from being derailed by a past stormy relationship with her previous boss. The affair had fizzled. Meredith threw herself into her work and decided to prove herself in the male-dominated workplace of nuclear power production. Wendell was a supporter of women in the workplace. He was instrumental in securing her the engineering directorship at Diablo Canyon.”
Meredith is fortunate. Even in 2016, workplace challenges for women continue unabated. Close to home, two of my daughters have faced situations in different states of our country where they have not been supported by their male leadership or union. Both are millennials.
“Meredith enjoyed working for Wendell. He was fair with people but tough on bad performance. If you were a hard worker and did your best, you were rewarded. Wendell also made quick decisions, something that could be a blessing or a curse, especially at a nuclear power plant. The Diablo Canyon Power Plant became their mutual workplace after she graduated from Georgia Tech as an electrical engineer and completed her apprenticeship at the Southern Company’s Plant Vogtle nuclear facility. Moving to San Luis Obispo County and coming to work for Wendell was a move, in part, to salvage her career from being derailed by a past stormy relationship with her previous boss. The affair had fizzled. Meredith threw herself into her work and decided to prove herself in the male-dominated workplace of nuclear power production. Wendell was a supporter of women in the workplace. He was instrumental in securing her the engineering directorship at Diablo Canyon.”
Meredith is fortunate. Even in 2016, workplace challenges for women continue unabated. Close to home, two of my daughters have faced situations in different states of our country where they have not been supported by their male leadership or union. Both are millennials.
One experienced sexism in an academic setting – grad school – in Hawaii where she was excluded by her professor from team meetings. She recalls, “He would never fill me in on meetings or what my responsibilities would be. I had to hear second hand from the male grad students who he would provide the information too. It was bizarre.”
What kind of environment is that to work in?
She soon left without gaining her masters in microbiology.
Another daughter experienced little financial support while staying at home to raise her second child. In that case, even a female-dominated workplace, like that of K through 6 elementary schools, does not support women. To wit, only two days of maternity leave are granted under the gaze of the politically powerful California Teacher’s Association, and there is no paid leave for female teachers with babies beyond that.
What kind of advocacy for career women is that [1]?
To add injury to insult, her paycheck funds her replacement, a substitute teacher who is paid almost double the normal daily rate for subs. Claiming the legality of this maneuver, the school board effectively pays only one teacher and refuses to support maternity leave benefits beyond its 16-hour-leave time per child. The union simply goes along with this and all it does is to cite the immorality of this treatment. Then, after paying for medical insurance and suspending contributions to her retirement plan, my daughter’s sick leave take home pay is obliterated. Clearly, neither the school administration nor the teacher’s union support teachers with children.
My female cousin weighs in too. She shared with me her story specific to women being harassed in the workplace. Even the federal government, which is supposed to support all types of work arrangements, is not immune to its lack of support for women trying to advance their career while raising a family. In her case, a male managerial bully arrived on the seen and intimidated my cousin, trying to force her to quit because of her previously arranged, flexible working arrangement [2].
Is it any wonder Hillary Clinton has pretty much sewn up the women’s vote in her bid for the White House. Her fact sheet on equal pay, for example, states, “Establish workplace policies like paid leave and flexible scheduling that allow parents to take care of their obligations at home without sacrificing pay at work.”
Sounds like reasonable public policy for the 21st century, especially for female-dominated workplaces like elementary schools.
Fortunately, for Meredith, she now has an employer that supports women.
Apparently, however, that’s fiction!
[1] A Pew Research study in 2014 states, “Millennial working mothers were even more likely to say that having children hinders their career advancement, and the gender gap was even bigger for them. Fifty-eight percent of Millennial mothers, compared to 19 percent of Millennial fathers, say being a parent makes it harder to advance in their jobs.”
[2] My cousin was the only woman working in her department, a job she started in 1998 with the federal government. She writes, “Things seemed to be going fairly well until I returned from maternity leave in the fall of 2000. I received six months of maternity leave and took an extra seven months of unpaid leave because of my son's challenges. There were many doctors appointments as well as appointments with other medical professionals.”
The situation was very difficult for her and her family. She adds, “Eventually, I asked if I could have my work hours reduced and the request was granted on a temporary basis, to be reviewed every couple of months. I compromised in that I would work everyday but for less hours, instead of being away for any one or more particular days. That way, I would always be able to keep on top of assignments on a daily basis.”
The situation was workable until there was a change in management structure at the government, “Originally, I had asked to work from home periodically, but that request was denied. During this time, however, my supervisor had become close with one of our other employees, who oversaw a section within our department. He was much more of a bully to his staff than my supervisor was to us. It was a collaboration between the two of them on how to run the department and it was clear that they wanted me to leave the department.”
Indeed, this new male manager was worse than my cousin’s immediate male supervisor as the new guy micro-managed and ran his larger area of responsibility like it was the military. The harassment and invasion of privacy became even more palpable. My cousin reports that management eavesdropped on her phone conversations, looked through her desk, asked her outright about her personal life at home, and more. After several discussions regarding her work arrangement at the time, she was given an ultimatum: “Either return to work full time or find another job!”
She was stunned. Her performance was not the issue. But her two male bosses did not like the non-standard work arrangement required to support her family. One by one responsibilities were stripped from her job as if to make it undesirable, in what she perceived, as another way to force her to leave. They challenged her often with personal questions, “Why can’t your husband look after your son?” and so on. But she decided to fight for her job, “In my eyes, this was not going to happen.”
There was no support from her local human resources either. This department was known to support managers and if you raised a concern, you were labeled as a “troublemaker.” A more drastic approach was needed.
She continues, “Because of the nature of our Human Resources department at the time I decided to go to the federal agency at the nation’s capital with my dilemma. I was advised to get a doctor's letter from my son's doctor explaining the situation, which I submitted to my immediate supervisor. This led to a meeting with him, his supervisor, and the head of Human Resources. My request to continue as it was, was granted and I've been able to sustain this working arrangement since then.” This particular ordeal to support her situation lasted six weeks.
Perseverance pays off, especially when you know you’re pursuing the right path. My cousin has been working these reduced hours since 2007 and continues to do so presently. Her new supervisor, a woman, stands behind flexible working hours in support of my cousin’s ongoing family situation. In fact, her current supervisor hired another employee, also a woman, to fill in for her during those “missed” hours that so vexed her earlier male supervisors.
What kind of environment is that to work in?
She soon left without gaining her masters in microbiology.
Another daughter experienced little financial support while staying at home to raise her second child. In that case, even a female-dominated workplace, like that of K through 6 elementary schools, does not support women. To wit, only two days of maternity leave are granted under the gaze of the politically powerful California Teacher’s Association, and there is no paid leave for female teachers with babies beyond that.
What kind of advocacy for career women is that [1]?
To add injury to insult, her paycheck funds her replacement, a substitute teacher who is paid almost double the normal daily rate for subs. Claiming the legality of this maneuver, the school board effectively pays only one teacher and refuses to support maternity leave benefits beyond its 16-hour-leave time per child. The union simply goes along with this and all it does is to cite the immorality of this treatment. Then, after paying for medical insurance and suspending contributions to her retirement plan, my daughter’s sick leave take home pay is obliterated. Clearly, neither the school administration nor the teacher’s union support teachers with children.
My female cousin weighs in too. She shared with me her story specific to women being harassed in the workplace. Even the federal government, which is supposed to support all types of work arrangements, is not immune to its lack of support for women trying to advance their career while raising a family. In her case, a male managerial bully arrived on the seen and intimidated my cousin, trying to force her to quit because of her previously arranged, flexible working arrangement [2].
Is it any wonder Hillary Clinton has pretty much sewn up the women’s vote in her bid for the White House. Her fact sheet on equal pay, for example, states, “Establish workplace policies like paid leave and flexible scheduling that allow parents to take care of their obligations at home without sacrificing pay at work.”
Sounds like reasonable public policy for the 21st century, especially for female-dominated workplaces like elementary schools.
Fortunately, for Meredith, she now has an employer that supports women.
Apparently, however, that’s fiction!
[1] A Pew Research study in 2014 states, “Millennial working mothers were even more likely to say that having children hinders their career advancement, and the gender gap was even bigger for them. Fifty-eight percent of Millennial mothers, compared to 19 percent of Millennial fathers, say being a parent makes it harder to advance in their jobs.”
[2] My cousin was the only woman working in her department, a job she started in 1998 with the federal government. She writes, “Things seemed to be going fairly well until I returned from maternity leave in the fall of 2000. I received six months of maternity leave and took an extra seven months of unpaid leave because of my son's challenges. There were many doctors appointments as well as appointments with other medical professionals.”
The situation was very difficult for her and her family. She adds, “Eventually, I asked if I could have my work hours reduced and the request was granted on a temporary basis, to be reviewed every couple of months. I compromised in that I would work everyday but for less hours, instead of being away for any one or more particular days. That way, I would always be able to keep on top of assignments on a daily basis.”
The situation was workable until there was a change in management structure at the government, “Originally, I had asked to work from home periodically, but that request was denied. During this time, however, my supervisor had become close with one of our other employees, who oversaw a section within our department. He was much more of a bully to his staff than my supervisor was to us. It was a collaboration between the two of them on how to run the department and it was clear that they wanted me to leave the department.”
Indeed, this new male manager was worse than my cousin’s immediate male supervisor as the new guy micro-managed and ran his larger area of responsibility like it was the military. The harassment and invasion of privacy became even more palpable. My cousin reports that management eavesdropped on her phone conversations, looked through her desk, asked her outright about her personal life at home, and more. After several discussions regarding her work arrangement at the time, she was given an ultimatum: “Either return to work full time or find another job!”
She was stunned. Her performance was not the issue. But her two male bosses did not like the non-standard work arrangement required to support her family. One by one responsibilities were stripped from her job as if to make it undesirable, in what she perceived, as another way to force her to leave. They challenged her often with personal questions, “Why can’t your husband look after your son?” and so on. But she decided to fight for her job, “In my eyes, this was not going to happen.”
There was no support from her local human resources either. This department was known to support managers and if you raised a concern, you were labeled as a “troublemaker.” A more drastic approach was needed.
She continues, “Because of the nature of our Human Resources department at the time I decided to go to the federal agency at the nation’s capital with my dilemma. I was advised to get a doctor's letter from my son's doctor explaining the situation, which I submitted to my immediate supervisor. This led to a meeting with him, his supervisor, and the head of Human Resources. My request to continue as it was, was granted and I've been able to sustain this working arrangement since then.” This particular ordeal to support her situation lasted six weeks.
Perseverance pays off, especially when you know you’re pursuing the right path. My cousin has been working these reduced hours since 2007 and continues to do so presently. Her new supervisor, a woman, stands behind flexible working hours in support of my cousin’s ongoing family situation. In fact, her current supervisor hired another employee, also a woman, to fill in for her during those “missed” hours that so vexed her earlier male supervisors.