Gender and Organizations

Organizational gendered communication is one of my favorite topics so far in the class, and one that I plan on researching more. I particularly enjoyed the section on linear career paths, and how those are ideas that should be challenged. One of my favorite professors that I’ve had used to work for Microsoft, and when his son was born, he took paternal leave from the company instead of his wife taking maternal leave to raise him. I think this is a great and inspiring story, and is something that should be encouraged to happen more often. I feel that if a man wants to take time off work to raise his child, he should be allowed to without receiving some sort of social stigma. At the same time however, I feel it’s important to reevaluate how maternal leave and other absences that women may take are treated. The chapter highlights several times that women often lose their spot on a career track when they take maternal leave.

            The second part of the chapter covers a topic that I cannot decide where I stand. While I feel that affirmative action and equal opportunity programs are important, and they have helped improve the situation of many people, I have a hard time standing behind them 100%. When I think of it from a business perspective, I would want the best employee working for me, regardless of gender, race, or socioeconomic class. In a perfect world, there would be no need for an affirmative action program, and I feel this is what we should strive for. For the time being, however, I hope that there can be some sort of innovation in the field and that changes can be made to make everything more equal for everyone.