Hanna Seligson wrote an op-ed for the New York Times in relation to her latest book, “New Girl on the Job: Advice From the Trenches.” In it, she laments the girl-poweredness in school, from Kindergarten up through college. However, that power somehow diminishes for many women when they enter the workplace.
What was it, I wondered, that was making our first career steps so wobbly when we had been so accomplished and self-assured in school?
Every workplace is different, but certain patterns began to emerge. I experienced and heard of instances when some women, instead of helping a new female colleague, tried to undermine her. Rather than giving “the new girl” the tools to succeed, they might try to sabotage her advancement.
I saw some men, raised in a different era, who refused to take young women seriously, focused on their appearance and gave them the least desirable assignments. Even in this day and age, I saw women becoming “assistant-ized”— saddled with all the coffee runs and photocopying.
At the end of the essay, she talks to a male friend who says when he wants a raise, he just asks for it. And if he doesn’t get it initially, he keeps asking for it. Is that an acceptable way of doing things? Is it really a problem for women to be so forward, if a guy is going to be just as forward? I mean, persistence is a valued trait in most workplaces, but doesn’t that sometimes cross a line, when it goes from being persistent to being rude? I’m all for asking for raises and promotions when you deserve it, but how do you toe that line while maintaining integrity?
Does anyone have Hannah’s book? Is it worth reading? I’m intrigued.
