By Colleen Seto
How often has a 30-something woman been asked, “So, when are you having children?” Chances are, if your experience has been anything like mine, a lot. And what’s most irritating about it is that no one ever asks my husband. Even when we are together, the question is still directed at me. It’s as though it’s my responsibility, not ours. When this happens in the workplace, however unwittingly, we get sucked into the murky world of family politics. The reality is, women still largely bear the burden of child care and because of this, businesses still tend to favour men, particularly when it comes to advancement.
Unlimited asked five folks working in various industries from across Canada four questions about how family issues play out for them at work. While it seems businesses have stopped discriminating, at least overtly, based on gender, there are still gender boundaries at work. See if you can guess which of our respondents are women and which are men, based on their answers. And let us know how family and gender has affected you in the workplace in the comments.
Respondent #1
Have you ever been asked about having children in the workplace? No.
Have you ever missed out on a work opportunity (e.g., promotion, travel, professional development) because of family commitments? Yes. I was put onto a project in a lead position. When I came back to work after parental leave, I no longer had that position. I also came back to fewer hours so I could spend more time with my son, and I knew that it would ultimately ruin any chances of me going back into a lead position.
Have you ever been discriminated against because of your gender? Not that I can recall.
Anything to add? In my experience, I have never had to deal with any types of gender discrimination. If you worked hard and impressed people, you got rewarded.
Guess the gender:
Respondent #2
Have you ever been asked about having children in the workplace? No, unless it’s in a casual conversation.
Have you ever missed out on a work opportunity because of family commitments? My employer has always understood if I needed to take time, and the one time I did, it did not affect my work.
Have you ever been discriminated against because of your gender? The only possible thing that I could see in my line of work is being discriminated against based on how much weight I can carry. As it stands, my bosses have put me to the test and never taken anything away based on that.
Anything to add? Women seem to have made some serious headway in the wildlife biology field. It makes it a lot easier for a woman to now approach a potential boss and not feel like that may negatively affect her chances should she be up against a man for the same position.
Guess the gender:
Respondent #3
Have you ever been asked about having children in the workplace? No.
Have you ever missed out on a work opportunity because of family commitments? No.
Have you ever been discriminated against because of your gender? No.
Anything to add? My answers are boring.
Guess the gender:
Respondent #4
Have you ever been asked about having children in the workplace? I have been asked if I planned to have kids, but only by my colleagues. I have never been asked by management.
Have you ever missed out on a work opportunity because of family commitments? I have not missed out on a work opportunity because of family commitments. But I have missed out on family events because of work.
Have you ever been discriminated against because of your gender? Not that I know of.
Anything to add? No.
Guess the gender:
Respondent #5
Have you ever been asked about having children in the workplace? I have been asked about having children, but only by female colleagues. It seems that women who have decided to pursue careers have endless amounts of advice on when the best time to have children is…
Have you ever missed out on a work opportunity because of family commitments? No I haven’t, probably more so because I don’t have children and am not married.
Have you ever been discriminated against because of your gender? I can’t think of any obvious examples where I felt discriminated against. I feel like there is more subtle discrimination that happens.
Anything to add? It’s interesting to work in a female-dominated profession where there are many stereotypes of what characterizes a nurse. Even though the majority of nurses are still female, men who enter the profession are more likely to rise to positions of power. I think this demonstrates that there are invisible obstacles for women even in roles that they have traditionally held.
Guess the gender:
Category: Work
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Discrimination is fundamentally about self and power and territoriality. Beginning with a tribe of one, we expand to family, friends and colleagues … and upward to city, country, etc. … gender has always been part of this definition of “inside” and “outside” … so it should come as no surprise that the glass ceiling exists for men as well as women.