I took my first college job on a whim, my bank account dismal and the first part of my sorority dues were only two months away. I was determined to find something that would give me enough money to pay my dues as well as have a little money on the side.
About a week after my applying splurge I received an email from a potential employer. The email was short and asked if I could meet for an interview. Ecstatic, I emailed my potential employer with my availability.
Later that week I had my interview. I arrived 10 minutes early for a 15-minute interview and then I was out. An hour later I had the job and I was scheduled to start the following Tuesday. My job was to work for the Hard Ware Information Technology department of my university, Rochester Institute of Technology. The first semester was only training; a fourteen week training period that I had to pass in order move on to the next position. On my second day my boss came to me and asked to do two semesters of training in one. Foolishly, I eagerly accepted because it came with a pay raise as well as the title of ‘Student Manager.’ I was blindsided by the notion that my position would actually matter in the grand scheme of this rat race.
Quickly I realized that I was horribly wrong.
The first experience I had with my manager was him mocking my intelligence because I could not remember the ‘correct term’ for a wrench. While holding the piece of equipment I insisted that it was an adjustable wrench but it wasn’t the answer.
I quickly noticed the divide. My boss was horribly inappropriate; he insulted the student managers and was horribly unreliable. There were times where he would leave early but never tell anyone. Along with the lack reliability and the inappropriateness his communication skills left a lot to be desired. Communicating with him was a nightmare.
The discrimination I felt was so jarring that I wouldn’t train with a certain manager. He would berate you if you didn’t know the answer in the first try, or at least that was the reaction another girl and I received.
It was in the second semester of working here that I realized how it was truly an "old boys club." I found that the men that worked here could get away with anything while the women were often scrutinized and treated as if they knew nothing about the department they were working in.
During the spring I worked evenings. On Thursdays it was myself and one other person; I was supposed to be the manager and the guy I worked with that night was supposed to preform the jobs we had. For five weeks straight he called in for this shift, sometimes without notifying myself. When I asked my boss why this behavior was being tolerated, he replied that it was my job to speak with the guy that was calling in. And I did. The sixth week when he actually came in for his shift I talked to him about calling in and his response was "I thought the boss told you." It made me seethe with rage. There was a lack of consideration that translated to lack of professional courtesy.
During the summer things seemed to get progressively worse. The paid interns would not listen to the managers- both were female. When we brought this up to our bosses attention during a manager meeting, our bosses response was that we needed to be more assertive. But changing our demeanor was not the answer.
There is a culture of sexism in STEM majors. Women in these jobs often experience different levels of sexism in their daily careers. They are brilliant women who wish to excel in their fields. This is a culture that needs to stop. We are hindering young girls and women form pursuing these amazing STEM careers.
In order to see a rise in women taking on STEM careers we have to change the attitude in those job fields. I can no longer be the ‘old boys club’ of yesterday because if we stay in the culture of yesterday we are denying the progression of tomorrow.
