Women in justice mean several things to me. Because my area of focus isn't in justice I tend to think of how women relate to the business world in general. The area of justice I'm somewhat familiar with is female police officers, because of an old roommate who wanted to be one. In that field women have to be able to stand their ground against a male-ruled environment, and still find a way to be like one of the guys in certain areas. In the business world I follow a more general rule, one that I heard years ago. Employers want women in charge who can lead men. I no longer think in most situations that women are held back due to gender. More likely, it's due to childbearing and subsequent maternity leave, and women who choose to stay home with their kids who make less with home-run businesses. The one cultural factor that does come into play unfairly is that regardless of who's job is more demanding or higher in the food chain, women are expected to take responsibility for the majority of child rearing. That means moms are more likely to pick up a sick kid than dads. While many families may not have negative feelings toward this situation, it does have an impact on a woman's success. Single moms (like myself) have additional hurdles, especially when juggling multiple schedules. Successful ones may be able to hire nannies to allow more job options, but it can be very much like digging yourself out of a hole.
My reasons for choosing Psychology are because I love knowing what makes people tick. If I can find out how they got there I feel I know them even better. I also like helping people and make it known that if someone I know needs to talk I'm there. I will be going into the corporate world, but psychology has a real benefit there as well, especially in how one learns to deal with people.
I do look forward to this class and seeing how my current views compare with the material and if and how my views change over the semester.
Welcome to the class, Joanne.
ReplyDeleteThe first section of the class will challenge the assumption that childcare and raising a family is not a gender issue. Parenting should not be gendered. In most cases, couples do not have the choice to have only one wage earner in the family and one full-time parent. Instead, more women with children need to find employment and many also want a career but they also want children or have time to spend with family. If carework (child care, parent care, cooking, laundry, etc) were not gendered and both men and women engaged in the work, then the issue would not be gendered. However, we are from that reality.
While there have been remarkable changes in the labor market in the last 40 years, many occupations remain sex segregated. When women do enter male-dominated fields, they are faced with obstacles. I hope the section on women correctional officers and women lawyers point to both changes that have occurred, issues that still need to be addressed and solutions. Women employed in female dominated occupations are still paid less than women employed in male-dominated occupations. Men who enter female dominated occupations tend to get promoted sooner and women in male dominated occupations tend to get promoted slower.
I hope you enjoy the readings. I look forward to reading your blogs.
Professor Romero