Gender Stereotypes and Work
I forgot what the stereotype was, but one gender is supposed to be driven by a desire to get things done, while the other is driven by the desire to be recognized for doing something.
I realize now that I'm the first. In high school, there was little interest from the general student body in being in charge of Debate Team, or Academic Team, or Math Team. Or being the Tech Editor for Literary Magazine, or Manager for Swim Team, etc. (I'm pretty sure there's more). So, I helped out because I cared about those teams and wanted us to be at least active and producing results.
When I'm in a project, and no one is taking care and we're sucking, I just jump into it. And when a bunch of people are trying to decide something, if I just want something done already, I'll organize an event and do all of the planning and inviting.
I wanted that iPhone app with GPS finder attached to taxis so badly that I was thinking about submitting a proposal to a taxi company (until I figured out that Google already had done it as a Lab experiment).
When no one in classes raised their hands, or showed interested in academics, I jumped in,
The same goes for my PR positions. I felt that the disinterest in sororities was unfair (to be honest, even though I'm not Greek anymore, I still think it is) and that a lot of girls would be interested, if they just understood correctly what Greek Life really is. Same reason with why I promote CMU and CS... both are underrated, in my opinion.
But I'm not saying I'm awesome, because really, what it comes down to, is I'm a reluctant leader/participant. When I came to CMU and there were students jumping at the chance to raise their hands and showed off their knowledge, I stayed quiet. I don't run for leadership or do anything in clubs unless someone nudges me into the position, or I feel like something needs to be done, or we're going to fall apart.
So what's going to happen when I go to my job, and people are trying to get promoted and are driven by whatever drives them? If there's no need for me to step up, then I won't. I like to try to stop things from failing, get them to a stable state, but I have no desire to take on extra work otherwise. Sighhhhhhhhhhz. We'll see.
I realize now that I'm the first. In high school, there was little interest from the general student body in being in charge of Debate Team, or Academic Team, or Math Team. Or being the Tech Editor for Literary Magazine, or Manager for Swim Team, etc. (I'm pretty sure there's more). So, I helped out because I cared about those teams and wanted us to be at least active and producing results.
When I'm in a project, and no one is taking care and we're sucking, I just jump into it. And when a bunch of people are trying to decide something, if I just want something done already, I'll organize an event and do all of the planning and inviting.
I wanted that iPhone app with GPS finder attached to taxis so badly that I was thinking about submitting a proposal to a taxi company (until I figured out that Google already had done it as a Lab experiment).
When no one in classes raised their hands, or showed interested in academics, I jumped in,
The same goes for my PR positions. I felt that the disinterest in sororities was unfair (to be honest, even though I'm not Greek anymore, I still think it is) and that a lot of girls would be interested, if they just understood correctly what Greek Life really is. Same reason with why I promote CMU and CS... both are underrated, in my opinion.
But I'm not saying I'm awesome, because really, what it comes down to, is I'm a reluctant leader/participant. When I came to CMU and there were students jumping at the chance to raise their hands and showed off their knowledge, I stayed quiet. I don't run for leadership or do anything in clubs unless someone nudges me into the position, or I feel like something needs to be done, or we're going to fall apart.
So what's going to happen when I go to my job, and people are trying to get promoted and are driven by whatever drives them? If there's no need for me to step up, then I won't. I like to try to stop things from failing, get them to a stable state, but I have no desire to take on extra work otherwise. Sighhhhhhhhhhz. We'll see.