Hellobee Boards Topic: How prevalent is sexism in your workplace?

Hellobee Boards Topic: How prevalent is sexism in your workplace? https://boards.hellobee.com/ Pregnancy, Baby and Parenting blog, by Hellobee en Tue, 14 Apr 2026 13:21:50 +0000 travelgirl1 on "How prevalent is sexism in your workplace?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-prevalent-is-sexism-in-your-workplace#post-2513523 Sat, 02 Apr 2016 09:58:03 +0000 travelgirl1 2513523@https://boards.hellobee.com/ There was a fair bit in my old newspaper office, but we had a female news editor who was very on top of it and not afraid to protect her reporters against the jokes/whims of the male editors above her. danda on "How prevalent is sexism in your workplace?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-prevalent-is-sexism-in-your-workplace#post-2513496 Sat, 02 Apr 2016 09:10:36 +0000 danda 2513496@https://boards.hellobee.com/ NOT normal! I'm an engineer in pharmaceuticals, so it's slightly male dominated but not much. We have subtle bias going on...like the management in my department is all male and they truly believe it's unintentional, but it looks highly fishy. I'm the most senior female within my department and I've had some candid discussions with my boss about it. What you are describing sounds like a work environment that is toxic to women. I would ask the HR rep about possibility of getting some training on subtle bias or gender discrimination. Rockies11 on "How prevalent is sexism in your workplace?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-prevalent-is-sexism-in-your-workplace#post-2513474 Sat, 02 Apr 2016 08:17:46 +0000 Rockies11 2513474@https://boards.hellobee.com/ Sexism is rampant in my workplace, in virtually all areas. And relatively speaking, where I work is not even that sexist for the industry. ElbieKay on "How prevalent is sexism in your workplace?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-prevalent-is-sexism-in-your-workplace#post-2513460 Sat, 02 Apr 2016 07:31:49 +0000 ElbieKay 2513460@https://boards.hellobee.com/ Yes, I started a secret FB group specifically to discuss issues such as this. In three months we have almost tripled in size. mediagirl on "How prevalent is sexism in your workplace?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-prevalent-is-sexism-in-your-workplace#post-2513440 Sat, 02 Apr 2016 05:35:07 +0000 mediagirl 2513440@https://boards.hellobee.com/ There is a ton of sexism in my field but somehow I found a company that treats all of their employees equally. I had to leave an old.company for a couple of reasons, one being I was never getting anywhere in the old boys club. yoursilverlining on "How prevalent is sexism in your workplace?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-prevalent-is-sexism-in-your-workplace#post-2512867 Fri, 01 Apr 2016 12:29:20 +0000 yoursilverlining 2512867@https://boards.hellobee.com/ I think sexism is prevalent pretty much everywhere, especially when you include pregnancy discrimination in that and mommy-tracking, which are examples of gender discrimination. I think women are much, much more likely to hit brick walls based on abrasive/"aggressive" personality traits that men won't be faulted in the same way for. It's also stuff like the general assumption that women bring more drama to the workplace, that teams of women can't support each other / will always be catty, etc. runnerd on "How prevalent is sexism in your workplace?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-prevalent-is-sexism-in-your-workplace#post-2512774 Fri, 01 Apr 2016 11:19:10 +0000 runnerd 2512774@https://boards.hellobee.com/ It's not been an issue in my career, but the bulk of our employees tend to be female. I work in administrative/consulting for retirement. Regardless of gender, experience and knowledge are valued and companies will bend over backwards to be accommodating to knowledgeable workers. The male co-workers overall tend to have higher level, consulting, ownership roles, but bc there are so many women I think we are well respected. My past two companies all upper level management has been female as well. sunny on "How prevalent is sexism in your workplace?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-prevalent-is-sexism-in-your-workplace#post-2512763 Fri, 01 Apr 2016 11:12:09 +0000 sunny 2512763@https://boards.hellobee.com/ @Miss Ariel: yes! Love her and so much of her book resonated with me. @ShootingStar: I struggle with this too. I need to be opinionated to be successful but I have to watch how I present my opinions or disagreements because I would be perceived as a bitch if I don't choose my words/tone carefully. I don't think a man would have that problem. ShootingStar on "How prevalent is sexism in your workplace?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-prevalent-is-sexism-in-your-workplace#post-2512753 Fri, 01 Apr 2016 11:06:13 +0000 ShootingStar 2512753@https://boards.hellobee.com/ @Miss Ariel: I haven't read it, but I've seen talks by Sheryl Sandberg. And yes, I knew these things happened, but I never experienced it much first hand. My last company had a lot of strong females in management, and it never seemed like they were held back by not being "sweet". But the opposite seems to be true at my current company. I struggle with this because essential my job is to have an opinion. And to advocate for our users - which means I can't always be agreeable. I try to be calm and never yell, but I can't be a pushover. So I'm starting to feel like it's affecting my ability to do my job, and that the male managers just expect me to be an acquiescent pushover. Miss Ariel on "How prevalent is sexism in your workplace?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-prevalent-is-sexism-in-your-workplace#post-2512747 Fri, 01 Apr 2016 11:01:12 +0000 Miss Ariel 2512747@https://boards.hellobee.com/ Have you read Lean In? A lot of what you discussed in mentioned there. There are definitely makle/female biases, but they're so ingrained in us people don't realize it's there. For example, men are assumed to be more aggressive so when they yell people don't necessarily notice or realize because they expect it. Whereas women are supposed to be "sweet" so when they yell everyone notices because it's out of character. Women are often evaluated as abrasive in their performance reviews whereas men rarely are. Obviously it's not an easy problem to solve but I think the first step is making others aware a bias exists. avivoca on "How prevalent is sexism in your workplace?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-prevalent-is-sexism-in-your-workplace#post-2512686 Fri, 01 Apr 2016 10:33:43 +0000 avivoca 2512686@https://boards.hellobee.com/ Yes. I can't say more because this is a public forum, but yes. ETA: I live in the south. Mrs Green Grass on "How prevalent is sexism in your workplace?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-prevalent-is-sexism-in-your-workplace#post-2512684 Fri, 01 Apr 2016 10:33:34 +0000 Mrs Green Grass 2512684@https://boards.hellobee.com/ @Amorini: I'm West Coast. Anything overt would be incredibly shocking. Amorini on "How prevalent is sexism in your workplace?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-prevalent-is-sexism-in-your-workplace#post-2512676 Fri, 01 Apr 2016 10:27:55 +0000 Amorini 2512676@https://boards.hellobee.com/ Ugh, yeah. I work in a mostly male-dominated field so I'm sorry to say that I have also had a few experiences like this. My little hypothesis (not that well-researched!) is that it is more overt or covert depending on where you live. For example, I have lived in progressive west coast cities and it is much more covert and sometimes not prevalent at all in the workplace. I think they say the same thing about racial discrimination in big coastal cities in the west that appear to be super progressive -- it's there... it's just isn't blatant. Now in a smaller town in the south, it's pretty rampant and totally obvious that this field -- and pretty much every field -- is dominated by a boys' club mentality. I work with a lot of older men and some are more skilled with this than others! I had very nice, senior supervisor recently who would let sexist things slip now and again (in the most graceful, Southern way) and the progressive city-girl in me would rebut him without batting an eye. :wink: It might be 'normal' in your workplace and mine, but it's not acceptable and it should be addressed in whatever way is best for your work culture. (Not everyone has the comfort with smacking down sexism with their supervisor ... and I've had a very few supervisors I could be so honest with!) snowjewelz on "How prevalent is sexism in your workplace?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-prevalent-is-sexism-in-your-workplace#post-2512659 Fri, 01 Apr 2016 10:15:33 +0000 snowjewelz 2512659@https://boards.hellobee.com/ @Mrs Green Grass: Oh yeah, tons of 'boy's club' stuff over here too. Mrs Green Grass on "How prevalent is sexism in your workplace?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-prevalent-is-sexism-in-your-workplace#post-2512651 Fri, 01 Apr 2016 10:08:32 +0000 Mrs Green Grass 2512651@https://boards.hellobee.com/ I'm a high school teacher so there are more women than men in general, but still, most of try administrators are men. It's not sexist per se, I think a lot of it has to do with the horrible hours and having kids (which I also think should be changed to attract more women), but there are still a lot of "boys' club" thugs that go on. But no overt sexist comments or anything. ShootingStar on "How prevalent is sexism in your workplace?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-prevalent-is-sexism-in-your-workplace#post-2512569 Fri, 01 Apr 2016 09:07:17 +0000 ShootingStar 2512569@https://boards.hellobee.com/ I've been dealing with some issues at work because I believe I'm being held to a double standard as a woman. I pointed out this out to my (female) boss and I told her I've never experienced an environment like this at any other workplace. I've been working for 16 years, and I've been in this industry for 9 of those years. She was absolutely amazed. She said she'd faced things like this her entire career and feels that my experience (of little sexism) is an anomaly. Which I found incredibly depressing. Some examples: - Men are blatantly paid attention to more, even if they have less experience - Men can yell and be rude in meetings with no repercussions. Women on the other hand, are held to much higher standards of communication both in meetings and in email. I personally was delayed a promotion because of one slightly argumentative comment I made in a meeting. I was told I need to work on my communication skills to be "appropriate to my level" and I will likely be promoted mid-year. Meanwhile, a male colleague on the same team who regularly is rude and contentious and yells, received a promotion to an even higher level. - Two women had a debate on a work topic at a work lunch and a male colleague (and part of management) went to one of the women later and said, "hey I heard you and (other employee) were in a cat fight at lunch." - We recently hired a female director in my department and my team was hesitant to hire a woman because we were afraid the male managers wouldn't respect her the same way they would a man. These are only a handful of examples. Does this seem normal to you? Do you experience these same feelings day to day? FYI, I have a meeting with HR to discuss this.