"I told you so" and creditability..

[DanyaKay]

Wednesday, I'm crunching numbers and doing some simulations. I get an answer I don't like so I rerun the conditions with the same result. I called my client in So Texas and told 'em the hole they were working in was unstable and gonna collaspe. I even told 'em on what side. Fast forward to today, I recieved word the hole indeed collaspe just as my team predicted and on the correct side. The client had moved their multi million dollar equipment further back. Whew! No injuries. But my question is.....Had I been en femme or just a GG with a pocket protector would I have been given due respect for my answer or credit for being right? Who does business dressed? How are you treated? I'm not shaving my 'stache so it's really outta the question for me. Just askin'.
Time was the difference maker today had I not gotten involved until Wednesday we have had a different result. I think I'm gonna buy a nice new cherry carved desk with this check. Bank baby!

[celeste26]

We can only hope they would have.

[Kathi Lake]

Numbers don't lie - no matter if the numbers were crunched by one with boobs or not.

Seriously, some of the best engineers I know are women.

Kathi

[AllieSF]

Anyone who proves themselves will get adequate respect, based on my 30+ yrs. experience in the industry, no matter how they are dressed. Women may have an initial difficulty to gain that respect, but once they have it, they have it.

[aliceeliot]

I work with temporary structures in the UK and am proud to say that I've trained some graduates pretty well - if anyone from my department says 'No', regardless of gender, the response from site is 'if you say no, we won't do it' It's very, very rare that I have to back up one of my engineers, and these days, in this country, very few people would dare question a decision based on gender.

[Jannine]

Umm,
I dont' understand.
But whatever, as long as you're enjoying what you do AND havin' fun !!

Jannine.XX

[Kathryn Philips]

I work in a technology company where there are more female senior directors than male ones. I have never ever heard anynone question their decisions because they are women.

BTW I dont really get business of crossdressing and moustaches. How many CD's here dress without shaving off their beards/mostaches?

[Rogina B]

Imagine if they knew of your CD side..."He does know his stuff...But boy is he wierd...what a strage one" LOL Like many others on here,I get paid for what I know coupled with what i do.Often I wonder if there isn't a work situation for me that the results matter more than what the person doing the work looks like.

[Pythos]

"Anyone who proves themselves will get adequate respect"

Not always true.

There were several times that I figured out the problem of an engine when a plane taxied up to our shop. 9 times out of ten the rough running idle was due to loose intake clamps. AKA, intake leak. Well I would say "Oh man, that engine sounds like it needs some tightening up". Usually when I got assigened that plane, all I needed to to was change the oil, and tighten said clamps, and the plane would head out sounding and running like a champ.

I cannot tell you how many times the other mechanics would add more and more time to the job by messing around with ignition timing, fuel servos, and what have you and COMPLETELY skip the intake clamps!!! Sure enough the plane would come back with complaints of rough idle. Before someone else got to it, I would just walk out with my tools and have the cowl off, and tighten those clamps.

I think the reason this happened to be honest was simple.....money. I would get a two hour job done in an hour, whereas they would take three or more. More hours, more money.

money that is the bottom line.

[Joann Smith]

Female engineers in my company get no respect .....non... nada ...zip ...i do not give a damm if they the boss...or if they right 100% of the time.. The only thing that matters is how they ass look in a skirt ...The old boy network in this company is a MF...


Joann

[SusanCACD]

I know for a fact that if a guy in an traditionally main job was outed as a CD his creditability would reduce to zero overnight.
Susan

[Eryn]

I think that it varies by industry. I worked in aerospace a couple of decades ago and women engineers had a heck of a time getting credibility no matter what their talent. it was possible with time and experience, but it was a tough row to hoe.

Hopefully, things have improved somewhat, but I'll be it is still not easy.

On the other topic, my 'stache went right about the time I came to better terms with my CDing. I grew it when I was a 21-year-old engineer and needed to look older to be credible. I kept it for 32 years and belatedly decided that I really didn't need to look older. Out came the razor, off came the 'stache, and I look a lot better without it even in drab!

[PretzelGirl]

My company has a president that worked her way up through engineering. Loads of female VPs/Directors. It shouldn't be an issue.

BTW I dont really get business of crossdressing and moustaches. How many CD's here dress without shaving off their beards/mostaches?

I went years dressing with a moustache before shaving it off. The clothes feel just as relaxing.

[RADER]

Experience is all that count. Now many Females just do not get the every day
experience that some men do. That is the reason Females are not taken with the same
level as some of the men are.
Rader

[sandra-leigh]

I have to make a distinction between the place I work and the industries I work in.

The place I work has had some extremely effective female supervisors... and yet as someone pointed out to me a couple of weeks ago, we've ended up such that other than one high level female woman, we only have two full-time female PhD's left (and at least one of those isn't given a whole lot of respect.) The particular sub-department I work for does not have any women at all.

The industries I work in, on the other hand, tend to be much more "you are known by your work". In two of the three major industries I have worked in, there has always been at least one well-known female leads, whom you would be advised to re-re-check your answers before contradicting (because they knew their work very thoroughly!) I don't have any idea whether those women had trouble getting their positions in the first place, or trouble in getting promotions, but if you had a tough problem then you hoped they would answer because you knew you could trust their answer.


One thing, though: in the discussion systems for the industries I'm involved in, a fair number of people tend to introduce their questions with "Hi, guys" or "Dear sirs" or the like. I've been holding off on snipping at the gender assumptions, but I'm not sure how long until I tell someone or other off about it...

Experience is all that count.

Not in the industries I work in: understanding and ability to frame solutions count quite a lot.

[Babeba]

Experience is all that count. Now many Females just do not get the every day
experience that some men do. That is the reason Females are not taken with the same
level as some of the men are.
Rader

Which field are you talking about? And what is holding those females back from getting that experience?

In my field, women are likely to end up in middle management type positions, or a little lower down the ladder if they pause their careers to take a year or two off for maternity leaves; it's still a lot more common for women to go on parental leave than men in my field. Women traditionally also tend to find a working hours schedule and stress level which they like/is compatible with their other life goals and stay there, whereas men tend to focus on getting validation at work so they sometimes try to head to higher levels. This is changing, though, as more stay-at-home dads and coparenting is occurring.