THE AGE-OLD debate about women in the workplace was discussed last Thursday, as the University Career Services hosted a discussion on the topic of women in law. Three panelists, Professor Edith Lawrence, Sherrie Moore and Professor Steven E. Rhoads, discussed the challenges women face in highly competitive fields such as law. While Lawrence and Moore expressed optimistic views about a woman's role in the workplace, Rhoads thinks that certain biological and evolutionary factors hold women back from competing with males. Rhoads' deficient view of women in competitive fields, however, is precisely the reason why women often feel restricted in their career choices.
Rhoads, a professor of politics at the University, made disappointing, remarks about sex differences. He concluded after thorough research that women derive the most satisfaction in life not from careers, but from emotional relationships. Women, therefore, do not enjoy highly competitive situations as much as their male counterparts do. When women are faced with more competitive work situations, they experience more stress than men. Women also complain more than men about working long hours. This, Rhoads believes, is because women are more family-centered than men, and biologically, women want to be nurturers.
While all of these conclusions appear logical, Rhoads made several remarks that are hard to swallow. Rhoads thinks that when both partners in a relationship have highly competitive careers, tension will arise. He claims that women want men to be more driven than they are, so if women are as driven as their partners, marriages are more likely to fail. Men become stressed when women are stressed because of an evolutionary belief that they should be the protector and provider for the family. Despite Rhoads' research, there seems to be something missing from his claims.
As long as society emphasizes stereotypes of women, women will never be able to compete with men. Studies continue to show that women are more likely to enjoy relationships and family than men because it is ingrained in them by societal expectations. Society dictates that women should stay home, instead of men. It also dictates that women are too emotional to handle stressful situations and that men are not as integral a part of family life as women.Rhoads can defend his statements with countless studies, but these studies have been affected by societal expectations for centuries.
Edith Lawrence, a professor in the Curry School of Education, does not think gender differences are as great as people tend to believe. Women have operated in a male-dominated world for so long that women are just now on the cusp of figuring out what they can do. She said tht careers are just like children, requiring negotiation. Therefore, women need not be denied satisfying careers simply because they are more family-oriented. Women have the ability to be great mothers and great assets in the workplace, but only if society allows them to do both.
Sherrie Moore, an attorney at Lenhart Obenshain P.C. Attorneys, experienced the challenges facing women in law first-hand. As a woman in a highly competitive field, a wife, and a step-mother, she exemplifies the model of a woman who wants and does it all. She doesn't sacrifice her success just because she wants to be home with her family. She puts her demands on the table, and she said, "You can make demands by the work you do." This has nothing to do with sex differences, but is a sign of a basic work ethic in any person.
Unfortunately, women in careers such as law, medicine and politics have to work much harder to prove themselves in order to make demands. In starting a career stereotypically dominated by males, women must work harder and longer to earn respect.
Interestingly, Moore noticed that it was the female secretaries and other employees in her law firms that created a more hostile environment than the men. This is a sad yet true fact that can be found in many aspects of life, not just careers. If we expect men to respect women as equals in the workplace, women must respect each other as well.
At the end of the discussion, Rhoads made sure to end on a positive note. He said that he believes that women make great lawyers, just as much as they make great nurturers. Men, then, are the ones that have some catching up to do.
Lindsay Huggins' column usually appears Fridays in The Cavalier Daily. She can be reached at lhuggins@cavalierdaily.com.
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