Are women tougher to work with?

mariaalice

I don't know if its industry specific, I think its probably more common in areas which are largely female, poorly paid, and with weak management... also I have found it is less in employment situations in which there are high academic standards for the job and where their are confidant women who know there ability to do the job...Lack of confidence is one of the biggest causes of the behavior IMO

suicide_circus

Bigtoe107 wrote: »

Work in retail and only problem i have had is with the women being less inclined to pull their weight with regards bringing in stock and going out in the rain etc. I know the guys are normally a bit stronger but it still shouldn't negate their responsibility. In saying that I haven't experienced any of the bitchiness talked about.

This is a big issue in my place. Female colleagues refusing to do any physical work whatsoever. Im not talking about asking them to carry sacks of coal or lead or anything like that, its the unspoken expectation that the lads will do all the lifting and carrying while there being no equivalent female jobs. Its really quite irritating. Also the women are out sick far more than the guys, i can't remember the stats off hand but its pretty shocking.

ennis81

I'm the only female and work with 12 men for the last 8 yrs, absolutely love it, don't think I could work with women again, we all get on and communicate well. Our industry is construction. Some of my friends work stories are unbelievable, and the majority of them are about women, A friend of mine was a manager of a big salon in the city centre and the women working there nearly drove her to have a breakdown, She even had to resort to searching their bags when leaving work as so much theiving was going on, along with bitchiness and bad customer service to clients, she actually went into a completely different industry after it as she couldn't stand working in a female dominated industry anymore!!!!

PrincessLola

efb wrote: »

I find girls really bitchy to other girls

I don't at all.

PrincessLola

ennis81 wrote: »

I'm the only female and work with 12 men for the last 8 yrs, absolutely love it, don't think I could work with women again, we all get on and communicate well. Our industry is construction. Some of my friends work stories are unbelievable, and the majority of them are about women, A friend of mine was a manager of a big salon in the city centre and the women working there nearly drove her to have a breakdown, She even had to resort to searching their bags when leaving work as so much theiving was going on, along with bitchiness and bad customer service to clients, she actually went into a completely different industry after it as she couldn't stand working in a female dominated industry anymore!!!!

Yes, women are worse people than men. They are bitchy and always get emotional and have breakdowns.

Men are more rational and nicer, thats why theres never been a woman taoiseach or US president.


Why did we even let them into the workplace at all?

Why are women even allowed to vote?

flyswatter

PrincessLola wrote: »

Yes, women are worse people than men. They are bitchy and always get emotional and have breakdowns.

Men are more rational and nicer, thats why theres never been a woman taoiseach or US president.


Why did we even let them into the workplace at all?

Why are women even allowed to vote?

Wow. Way to blow things out of proportion to suit your argument. She clearly isn't saying anything as such, just giving her personal experiences, hardly a crime is it?

PrincessLola

flyswatter wrote: »

Wow. Way to blow things out of proportion to suit your argument. She clearly isn't saying anything as such, just giving her personal experiences, hardly a crime is it?

Her personal experiences were offensive and biased.

Wompa1

PrincessLola wrote: »

Her personal experiences were offensive and biased.

bias in what sense? She's a woman herself...I think?

The Sweeper

I've had some terrible female work colleagues. I've had some terrible male work colleagues. I've had horrible bosses of both genders.

It's nothing to do with their gender. It's just because they aren't nice people. Stick enough 'not nice' people together in a room and it's like a vampire nest - they all go crazy and encourage an atmosphere of hideousness.

It may simply be that at certain levels in certain industries, all of the workers will be female. So you have a lot of horrible people working together who just so happen to be female, and they egg each other on because they're horrible people (not because they're female). Put a nice person with a strong personality in there and the horribleness can ease up - regardless of their gender.

Interestingly the single worst boss I've ever seen was a man who behaved in a fashion I could only call 'bitchy'. He was catty, moody, nasty and sly and he was an absolute shocker.

Wompa1

Figure I'd expand on my experiences and I'm sure somebody will get defensive and bring up examples of men doing something similar but here we go:

I've worked with a handful of women who would whisper to each other in cubicles a lot. They may have been talking about personal things but I just found it very rude and for some reason, I've never noticed guys doing this in my time.

We had tv's in the canteen. They would be turned on and usually left on a news channel but sometimes changed for major events like Olympics, World Cup, election coverage etc. Anyway, one of the channels that showed sports got banned because a woman got offended by something she saw on the channel and complained to HR. Not sure what could be so offensive during the day! But there ya go.

I've had 3 male bosses. I won't go into too much detail but basically. If there was a problem they'd stop, slow things down and tell you what to do and make it seem like no big deal. I've had 3 females bosses. All of them seem to panic when there's a problem. It becomes a case of putting out fires. Since they ask us to act right away and don't think it out we end up causing and having to fix more small issues. But to be honest I don't think that would be all women. The smartest, most competent person I have worked with was female.

Had a female manager and for some reason a clique of 4 women took issues with her. No guys had a problem with her but these women got something up their arses about them. It culminated in 2 of the women storming out of a meeting...it was crazy, it didn't make any sense. She was talking about something technical, not something about people having to do anything and the two women stormed out saying it was f'kin stupid.

Worked with 2 women who went on extended maternity leave, came back for less than 2 months and went on extended maternity leave again. Leaving our department short 2 people for nearly 2 full years, when they came back, as we worked in a changing industry their jobs were redundant but they couldn't be fired. 3 men were then let go, then some of the women went on part time, working 3 days a week, which doesn't work because the work has a deadline so basically they'd start work and others would have to take it when they finish for the week. That's more that the system is broken I'd guess. So in the end it's more like the department lost 5 people because the others need to be re-trained for different positions.

The only incident of workplace bullying was involving 5 women picking on a guy. They would give out to him about his grammar in e-mails. The way he spoke on the phone to people. Give out if he brought food into the room. If he asked any questions they'd hum and haw that he should already know. The guy hadn't been given any training, they were the most experienced in the room and should have been the one's helping to train him!

May be off the point but just had the thought. My most hated teacher were nearly all women too. A few of them were really nasty and mean to me. A-holes.

All layers of management in my current company are women. It's the worst work environment I've worked in. If I was offered less money ( I was on nearly half what I'm on now in my last place) to go back to my old job with my male boss, I'd jump at the chance. He had a way of slowing everything down, even when he didn't actually give any help he made me feel as though he did. He was also professional, he'd be supportive if I had personal problems without trying to pry.

But I probably just got unlucky with my lot so far

RhubarbCrumble

My current job is very male dominated. I'd say almost 99%. I wouldn't want it any other way. The few woman I do encounter can be very unpleasent. They seem to really be out to 'prove themselves'. I've always found all of my male colleagues to be polite and helpful to me. I will chat away to everyone regarldess of whether they're male or female, but have noticed that any other women I encounter through work don't seem to do this. Male collegues have actually pointed out to be that I'm a lot friendlier than most women. I took it as a compliment!

And yes, of course the old cliche of 'filth' in a male dominated environment is quite true! At this stage, there's nothing I haven't heard or hasn't been said to me. However I know it's all a laugh and I don't take it seriously

ennis81

PrincessLola wrote: »

Her personal experiences were offensive and biased.

Oh sweet lord, how can I be gender biased on this topic considering I am a woman??? I prefer to work with men for many reasons and am as entitled to my preferences as you are

So sorry my experience is so baised, I could you give you a few more very valid stories but would hate for you to get upset over them "princess"

Madam_X

I worked with a bunch of absolutely dreadful women in one job (no other job though) but I certainly wouldn't use that as currency to decide women are generally tougher to work with, and that I'd avoid working with women again. 'Twould be kinda ironic anyway, seeing as I'm... a woman.

El_Dangeroso

Madam_X wrote: »

I worked with a bunch of absolutely dreadful women in one job (no other job though) but I certainly wouldn't use that as currency to decide women are generally tougher to work with, and that I'd avoid working with women again. 'Twould be kinda ironic anyway, seeing as I'm... a woman.

Ya but you're the type of woman that's fine to work with (I'm assuming!). I've worked with lots of those, and humbly, hope I am one.

It's just that when a workplace has been dominated by female bitchiness, it's way harder to deal with than a bunch of bitchy men, I seem to fly under the radar in that instance.

PrincessLola

ennis81 wrote: »

Oh sweet lord, how can I be gender biased on this topic considering I am a woman??? I prefer to work with men for many reasons and am as entitled to my preferences as you are

Yes women can be misogynistic too, I guess I should be surprised that this is new information to you, but I'm not.

So sorry my experience is so baised, I could you give you a few more very valid stories but would hate for you to get upset over them "princess"

My user name is awsome sparkly and all you other mediocre user names just have to deal.

billyhead

efb wrote: »

I find girls really bitchy to other girls

True. My workplace is predominantly women and the amount of nastiness and back stabbing/sniping amonst them is unreal

Madam_X

El_Dangeroso wrote: »

Ya but you're the type of woman that's fine to work with (I'm assuming!). I've worked with lots of those, and humbly, hope I am one.

It's just that when a workplace has been dominated by female bitchiness, it's way harder to deal with than a bunch of bitchy men, I seem to fly under the radar in that instance.

I reckon the crowd I worked with though were ring-led by one or two arseholes who happened to be women, and then their poison rubbed off on a few impressionable others. The bitchiness definitely rubbed off on a few men who worked alongside us also. I worked now and again in other departments in that company and the men and women were absolutely lovely across the board.
I think an unpleasant atmosphere grows from a particular person or people who have that kind of influence - and they can be male or female.

ennis81

PrincessLola wrote: »

Yes women can be misogynistic too, I guess I should be surprised that this is new information to you, but I'm not.



My user name is awsome sparkly and all you other mediocre user names just have to deal.

Ah right I'm a biased offending misogynist ... Thank you for pointing that out to me;) I must alert my mother, daughter, step daughter, 5 nieces and 5 sisters & large group of female friends of this, they are quite obviously in danger of being damaged by me and my views!!!
I don't HATE any man, woman, child or animal, its not in my nature, I have witnessed many women being bullied in the work place by other women over the years, I have never witnessed this at the same level with men, I never said that WOMEN were solely to blame for conflict in the work place however it does seem to be more predominant, and this point is proved by the level of stories in this thread about women

Anyhoo thanks for the "awEsome" clarification and sense of sparkly education you have given me, much appreciated

I won't be engaging in any more debate with you so no response required

Ickle Magoo

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mariaalice

I think people are missing an important point of course some men and women can be horrible to work with both as colleges and as bosses, but how they express the horribleness is different.

cassiedoll

I personally think it depends on the type of women we work with. Whether they are in work or at home, they are probably just as horrible.

I worked for a large american company for 7 years and at times there could 30 women on a shift. And i have to say that only a handful of the women were bitchy/catty/nasty.

I now work in a small firm that is predominantly female and i have had horrendous problems here, i've posted on it a few years back.

Now i ignore all of other women and only talk to one other girl and i am perfectly fine with it and i am a much better person outside of work because of my decision to not talk to them. I decided that i had to distance myself from all of the crap because i was taking it home with me and that wasn't good.

Pythia

My current team has two men and me on it but the rest of the dept are all women. Everyone gets on really well, particularly the girls. Definitely no bitchiness and the dept is too small to have cliques, we are all friends. I work for a great company so I suppose the atmosphere is upbeat and people have no reason to be negative.

In general there are more men than women in my industry so I suppose my place is unusual.

I have had women bosses before and they have been lovely too. All my bosses except one have been really nice. I suppose I am lucky!

daenerysstormborn3

supermouse wrote: »

Ladies,

Do you enjoy working with other women?

What do you think?

And why do you think that it's tougher to work with women?

Do you think that we compete with each other unnecessarily? Is jealousy a factor?

Would be interesting to see people's takes on it.

I have worked as a P.A. and legal secretary for 8 years and it is an area dominated by women. Up until last year I had never worked for a woman, all the solicitors I worked for were male and it was a simpler time.

I found the men I worked for were more easy going about things. If something needed to be done last minute or something went wrong at the worst moment possible they stayed relatively calm and everything got sorted. On the other hand, the woman I have worked for since last year is an absolute nightmare if something goes wrong or some last minute work comes up, she can't organise herself, she spends more time talking about the work than actually doing the work and if something goes wrong there's a full stewards enquiry into every member of staff in the office and why they did or didn't do whatever it was.

I also find TOTM an absolute nightmare when surrounded mainly by women. I'm lucky that I don't turn into the kraken but jesus some of the women I've worked alongside down through the years have been absolute beasts to both work colleagues and clients when it comes to TOTM.

I enjoy working with other people who can maintain civility and manners throughout the working day without letting their personal stuff follow them into work.

I have never competed with work colleagues unnecessarily but obviously situations (such as promotions) have cropped up and healthy competition was necessary.

newport2

As a guy I have never found women any more difficult to work with than
men. Can't imagine work without women, would be far less interesting.

That said, I do think that women in the workplace can be a lot harder on each other than they are on men.

cherrypie

I don’t think it’s a conscious thing at all but women are more competitive and we do tend to nit-pick. *ducks*

Ant

Lots of posts here seem to be missing the adjective, "some" when making statements about women and/or men.

Madam_X

cherrypie wrote: »

I don’t think it’s a conscious thing at all but women are more competitive and we do tend to nit-pick. *ducks*

I don't know whether it's true that women are more competitive than men. 50/50 I'd have thought. Maybe just manifested in different ways though.

Perhaps women are more likely to nit-pick all right.

Ah_Yeah

Based on my reading of the thread, I think another good question would be "Are women tougher to work with when you're a woman?"

I'm not suggesting it in the least, but it just got me thinking, and it's just speculation, do genders treat each other differently in the workplace? E.g. are women bitchier with female colleagues, or is it the same across the board?

I worked in male dominated environments for years (I.T and Advertising), and then when I moved to my most recent job (Media) I found it was female dominated, which unnerved me, as I had the "women are so bitchy to work with" bias, when in fact I had no grounds for that claim.

The girls I work with are the most fantastic bunch I've come across, both to work with and in terms of friendships outside of work. There are of course, cliques and bitchy girls in the workplace, but I think you could equally say that most workplaces come with men who are fantastic to work with, and men who are sexist towards women.

It goes for both genders IMO

getzls

Ellsbells wrote: »

Horrendous. All women bosses I've had have been bitches

Agree with that one, don't know what makes them that way but they are.

Madam_X

Hasn't been my experience. Of course there are gonna be some horrible female bosses - there are some horrible people. Saying women are worse to work with though is a bit of a bandwagon-jumping thing to say. Some folks do tend to blurt it out without thinking.