Monday, April 4, 2011
"Career Strategies for Women"
I came across this article as I went to check my email and just about laughed out loud. “Career Strategies for Women”. Really? It is pretty pathetic that such a title was given to the article. Why could it have not simply been titled “Career Strategies”? Is there a necessity to divide such tips among men and women? I clicked on the article and continued to read the article in curiosity of why these strategies couldn’t possibly apply for men as well. Through reading the article it listed five “smart strategies for building long-term career success.” The five strategies were: #1 - Make Sure You Have the Right Credentials, #2 - Determine the Best Career for You, #3 - Be Positive and Proactive, #4 - Go the Extra Mile, #5 - Get Noticed for the Right Reasons. Personally, I feel that any man should take these same points into consideration. This article is an example of how sexism continues today in the workplace. Women are given special tips in this article as if men do not need them because they already have jobs. I think this article is a social example of the unfair opportunity for jobs in society based upon sex and am sharing this to bring awareness of such continued perspectives and practices of society shown seeping through in the media.
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I completely agree that these tips have merit for both genders. Everyone needs a few ideas when entering into the business world and women are not solely disadvantaged. Although I must say that women do face challenges in the workforce because of differing attitudes for men and women. Everyone should be treated equally when they are performing the same task and if we demand an equal society, how society functions should reflect that.
ReplyDeleteI agree! Not only does it show in the work atmosphere, but in all aspects of media. Women's basketball games get little coverage here at BYU, while men's games are front page with 2-3 more pages. Also, it just seems to be an easy thing to clearly delineate between men's and women's things. But it is always just defined as "women's". There is hardly ever an article that states it is a men's career option article. I think that reflects on the way that women are treated in general and there should be an end to that so women can be treated equally.
ReplyDeleteI remember reading this article and thinking the exact same thing. What confuses me even more is that the author is a woman. Perhaps she wrote that title to simply attract the attention of women to it, but the points given are completely gender neutral. I have read a good number of articles lately discussing majors that will translate to successful careers, jobs with the most satisfaction, etc. Despite women having higher college graduation rates in recent years, there can still be a bias toward hiring men. (Although sometimes it directly relates to the job field, like more women in education and more men in construction.) I would guess that she is just trying to encourage more women to be successful contributers in the workforce and wanted to give tips on how to think about a long term career, especially if they might be hesitant to do so. I completely agree though that someone definitely should have revised the title in terms of accuracy to what is written in the article.
ReplyDeleteI agree that men and women should have similar tips when trying to get a job, and should have equality when applying for a job.
ReplyDeleteBut, I do not believe that this article was meant to be sexist at all.
Writers write to the audience that they hope will read their article. Maybe this woman hoped that other women would read this article and be more inclined to be in the workplace. Maybe she wanted women to know that they can do it to, and wanted to show them how to do it with confidence.
I do realize that woman are discriminated against in the workplace. But maybe this article was not written to put women into a different category, but to draw more female readers and encourage them to work more. I'd be more concerned if this article specifically chose areas of work that are "meant for women" or that only women should consider.
this article also made me laugh. i think it is ridiculous that it would be specified as "career strategies for WOMEN," as if men don't need any help with getting a job. there are plenty of stereotypes regarding women in the workplace, which is unfair. i think that job opportunities should be available to those who are best qualified, regardless of sex. i agree that it should have just been titles "career strategies," and that the sex specification was unnecessary.
ReplyDeleteThis article is humorous for the reasons that the qualities and attributes listed for women are basic things that ALL people should remember when applying for jobs. People in society need to break out of the old ways of the past, where women were inferior to men. Especially in the church, we talk about how men and women work as equals to help support the family. Times are changing in the world; things are not the same that they used to be back in the times of women were good for cooking and cleaning and being wives. Society needs to accept that and move on with the changing times.
ReplyDeleteI also support the comments above. It is pretty ridiculous that this was titled "Career Strategies FOR WOMEN" Seriously? These strategies are basics that are good for any person not just women. Even though we try to stray away from sexism as much as we can in this society we really can't. No matter where we go sexism plays a role in everything. But in the defense of those who created the article I do not believe that they meant for it to be taken as so sexist. But society as a whole has to be careful.
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