Jezebel: working

Bullies Are As Common In The Cubicle As The Classroom

Dodai — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 17:30:00 EDT

Much has been made of kids who get bullied recently — Billy Wolfe, in fact, was on the Today show this morning — but the truth is, many of us face bullies as adults: At work. On a BusinessWeek blog, Cathy Arnst writes about an editor she once had: "Whenever I made a mistake—and in the beginning I made many, many mistakes—he would stand over me in the open newsroom and scream at me, impugning my intelligence and professional skills in language I've rarely heard since. I had nightmares about those tirades for years afterwards. Needless to say, I never made the same mistake twice." According to a New York Times piece by Tara Parker-Pope yesterday, 37% of American workers have experienced bullying on the job.

Researchers at SUNY New Paltz have developed a survey to help identify the full range of behaviors that can constitute bullying. Notes Parker-Pope: "Some of the behaviors — glaring, failing to return calls, not praising a worker — may seem trivial, but they take a toll when repeated over and over again." And in some ways, can a cubicle bully be worse than a childhood bully? You're an adult! You shouldn't have to put up with this! But you need the job. I wouldn't say I'd ever been bullied, although I did once work with a loud, gruff superior who often left people in tears. But that was before I checked the list supplied by the New York Times and SUNY New Paltz. Thinking of past jobs, I realized some of the "behaviors" were quite familiar! Have you regularly:

Been glared at in a hostile manner? Yes, and sometimes I glared first.
Been excluded from work-related social gatherings? Yes, thank God.
Not been given the praise for which you felt entitled? Obviously.
Had your contributions ignored by others? Yes, although sometimes instead of "ignoring" it was more like "laughing."
Been lied to? Of course! This is America!

In any case, this is not to belittle bullying. The point is more that being thrown into a pressure-cooker situation with strangers when there's money and recognition on the line makes the workplace thrive on bullying behavior. Who among us has not experienced some kind of cube heckler?

The Bully Next Door [BusinessWeek]
When the Bully Sits in the Next Cubicle, Have You Been Bullied at Work? [NY Times]

Earlier: What Separates The Bullies From The Bullied?

Time To Mend

dodai — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 12:45:00 EST

Tokyo-based marketing firm Hime & Company allows its employees to take paid time off after a bad break-up, reports Reuters. And the older you are, the more time you're allotted. CEO Miki Hiradate, whose company of six women markets cosmetics, says, "Not everyone needs to take maternity leave but with heartbreak, everyone needs time off, just like when you get sick." Beats crying in the bathroom or huddled in your cubicle, that's for sure. Hiradate also allows mornings off twice a year for shopping the sales, and is certain to be inundated with résumés. [Reuters]

"Sexist" Career Counseling Banned in the UK

dodai — Mon, 14 Jan 2008 12:30:00 EST

The British government is going to outlaw "sexist" career advice, like encouraging girls to go into hairdressing. The new Education Bill, reports the Telegraph, is supposed to attempt to bring some equality to the kinds of jobs young women and men are encouraged to explore. Ed Balls [Heh, heh. -Ed.], Secretary of Children, Schools and Families says: "I want more young women being encouraged and supported to have a career in engineering and more young men being encouraged to have a career in child care. It won't suit everyone but it's important to consider all the options." Of course, the highest wages are in the male-dominated fields. (There's a 40% wage gap between male and female trainees, sigh.) When it comes to vocational exams, it's clear where the gender differences lay: Almost 8,000 male students took engineering last year — compared with 350 females; while 4,500 female pupils studied health and social care, compared with 350 males.

Says Buckingham University's professor Alan Smithers, "It is certainly important that boys and girls should not be put off things that they like and are good at for stereotypical reasons. However, it is also important to accept that boys and girls are different and many will choose to live their lives differently." Well, duh.

But while more and more women getting into engineering sounds great and very possible; waves of men choosing child care seems rather unlikely. Or is that just sexist? (And what ever happened to the manny?) But seriously, can the government force women to consider higher-paying fields? And if not, then who can?

Schools Ordered To Ditch 'Sexist' Career Advice [Telegraph]
Earlier: When Mannies Attack