Same-sex harrassment
Who holds women back in the workplace more: men or women? Judith Sills' column (2006) in Psychology Today claims that women often feel their "worst enemy" in the workplace is another woman; Sills calls it "a common survey finding" and offers advice on how to deal with workplace competition between women. Garcia-Retamero and López-Zafra (2006) found more discrimination against women leaders from women than from men, although blogger Robert May at Business Pundit complains about the lack of "solid evidence" in this study.
Ramit Mizrahi's (2004) note in the Yale Law Journal asserts that female-on-female harassment is not only common, but does qualify as sex-based discrimination under the Civil Rights Act (see also Mizrahi, 2004). However, Berkley and Watt's (2006) review suggests that same-sex workplace harrassment is not covered under current statutes, and that further action is necessary to protect GLBT employees (admittedly a separate issue).
I've heard many women complain about the pressure to join the old-boy's-network to gain acceptance in the workplace. When I was working as a female, I certainly wanted to be associated with the males I worked with more than the females, but I'm hardly good example in this circumstance. Working as a man, in a mostly female department, I've felt perhaps too supported by my bosses, and I sometimes worry that my progress may have more to do with my presenting gender than with the quality of my work.
Ramit Mizrahi's (2004) note in the Yale Law Journal asserts that female-on-female harassment is not only common, but does qualify as sex-based discrimination under the Civil Rights Act (see also Mizrahi, 2004). However, Berkley and Watt's (2006) review suggests that same-sex workplace harrassment is not covered under current statutes, and that further action is necessary to protect GLBT employees (admittedly a separate issue).
I've heard many women complain about the pressure to join the old-boy's-network to gain acceptance in the workplace. When I was working as a female, I certainly wanted to be associated with the males I worked with more than the females, but I'm hardly good example in this circumstance. Working as a man, in a mostly female department, I've felt perhaps too supported by my bosses, and I sometimes worry that my progress may have more to do with my presenting gender than with the quality of my work.