Week 8- Cultural Studies of Organizations and Communication (Gender, Ideology and Power in Career Paths)

I was really intrigued by this section which talked about how ideologies affect gender in certain organizations where one gender is more predominant to the other like nursing or secretaries. The question that this reading poses is “if you’ve ever considered the ways in which your choice of professional aspirations might have been influenced by gendered ideology?”

This section and specifically this question really made me think back to my freshman year at IIT. When I started, my major (Professional Technical Communications) was not a very popular undergraduate major and I rarely saw or met anyone whom I could relate to or talk to about it. A lot of my classes were with students with CS majors and within those classes it was predominately male students. Since the classes at IIT have always been small, a class of 15 students could potentially have 1–2 girls.

As the years have passed, I’ve seen a shift these classes as there are more women pursuing “technical professions” and the assumption that one gender is more interested in STEM largely because there’s been a big push over the years to bring interest to these fields to women specifically at a young age.

The book references the opposite, indicating that ideologies shape individuals interest in their professional fields and that the power associated with certain professions, where one gender is is more prevalent than the other continues to struggle with preexisting ideas of who should be pursuing these careers. For example male nurses and male secretaries, given that they are “less powerful, less prestigious, feminine professions” men who enter these professions are often questioned by those around them as to why they chose those particular careers given that they could potentially aspire to more “why not be doctor instead”? (think of Meet the Parents) and how Greg was not respected by Jack (his Fiance’s father) for being a male nurse.

Question 2 in this section asks “ how are male secretaries and male nurses the exception to the ideological rules and why are they’re stories exceptional?

I think the answer to lies in the fact that in the example of women pursuing “masculine professions” that are viewed by society as powerful, these individuals are pursuing careers that are considered “worthy” or often revered or powerful hence they become “trendsetters” or “role models” for other women to admire and aspire to be. This is the same as the focus that women CEOs receive, they are highlighted because of their profession and accomplishments and instantly, without knowing anything about them, people view them as powerful.

Men entering careers that are considered to be less prestigious and less powerful like nursing and secretaries are often questioned, ridiculed and not taken seriously by both genders mainly because these professions although vital in the fabric of our society are viewed as less important, less powerful and mediocre. The question becomes “why would you want to be _____, when you could be a doctor or a CEO …?”. These ideologies are part of societal views but more importantly, these views might shift depending on what “culture” or “organization” you belong to.