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Could the IET Women's Network benefit from a male's perspective

Former Community Member
Former Community Member

We would be interested to hear your thoughts on this.



Thank you,

Jo
  • 0
    Yes & no!



    Yes because female engineers do not work in isolation. We live in a world where we are a minority and like it or not, actually looking at some issues from another perspective has merit.



    No. From my experience, they shout louder, can be more agressive and therefore our issues become diluted and even in some situations totally ignored......
  • 0
    Hi All,



    Enjoying the discussion.



    I like the fact that our male colleagues can join the group.



    One thing has caused me to post this comment though: Something that Mubbisher said worries me in that he said that if men shout loud, women should shout louder.  In my experience that doesn't work.  If we all look back at meetings where things have got heated, its when somebody makes an effort to calm things down that progress can be made.



    Didn't want to hijack the discussion, but wanted to make that point.



    Kind regards



    Virginia
  • Former Community Member
    0 Former Community Member
    Cristina,



    I think you are making a very sexist assumption there. Some women are very loud, and have no issues getting in a screaming match. Just as some men will back down when voices are raised.



    I do agree that women tend to have a higher percentage of this "soft" personality, however I don't think it applies to just 1 sex.



    I am just as guilty of rolling over a soft personality when we disagree as any man.



    Also there was a comment about a man yelling at a woman, is that his style (does he just yell at everyone to get his way)? We all have working styles and we all need to be able to work with those working styles.



    I'm not saying a good mananger or coworker is one who bullies their way, however regardless of if you are male or female you should be able to differenciate someone's style and being targeted or singled out.



    At the end of the day you need to be able to stand up for yourself. That may be taking the step of bringing up the issue 1 week later when tempers have cooled, but if you don't complain how will someone know?
  • Former Community Member
    0 Former Community Member
    Hello Everybody,



    Thank you very much for all of the interesting comments that you have posted.  They offer some fantastic insight and provide me with a strong basis to encourage more men to join the IET Women's Network.



    I expect that we will start to see more men joining this community soon as well as some of the other elements that make up the network.



    Your input is highly valued and will help to form how we progress  with the IET Women's Network in the near future.



    Thank you once again.



    Kind regards,

    Jo Foster.




  • Former Community Member
    0 Former Community Member

    Hi Mubbisher,



    thank you for your suggestions, regarding the re-post of the discussion.  I believe that there is a way for me to do this.



    Kindly note, if anybody wants to use the discussion forum to make requests, such as Mubbisher's request for a Programme /  Project Manager, you are welcome to do so by creating a brand new topic.



    Best wishes,

    Jo Foster





    Mubbisher Ahmed    :

    Hi everyone,



    What an interesting discussion!



    Firstly, thanks for allowing me to be part of your network. Secondly, just to let you know, I did debate whether I was sane joining a women's network as I genuinely felt, I would be booted out the minute someone realised I was a man.



    I feel quite privileged and honoured to be a part of your network.



    Now, to the main discussion:



    I think it would be quite positive/productive to have a male's perspective within the network (btw, my assumption is that there are other males' apart from me within the network).



    Women should have an equal place within our society and that includes all our professions. Dawn raised an interesting point about men shouting louder, aggressiveness and being totally ignored. I would say that in those situations, women should shout even louder and ensure that their viewpoints are taken on board and not ignored. One way of doing that is to ensure that those viewpoints are logged somewhere as a raised issue etc. I personally believe that women's intuition is second to none and men ignore their advice at their own peril as women can too often be right. Problem is that when that happens, men, generally, will never acknowledge that but if it is on record, facts speak for themselves.



    I have two teenage daughters and I am constantly taking their opinion and their mum's on varied topics and am pleasantly surprised by their alternative views and sound advice.



    It's about time men started to give women their true place in society, as an equal including senior positions within organisations.



    This network is a step in the right direction. Recruit more men and get your voice to as many men as possible on My Community. I think this discussion should be posted at least 3 times a day by various members (As a status update), so others see it in 'All Activity' and make some contributions.



    Thank you for the opportunity and for listening.



    PS: If anyone within your networks is looking for a programme/project manager, please do let me know as I am looking for my next interim/contract role.....


  • Former Community Member
    0 Former Community Member
    Yes, yes, yes. Absolutely.



    The moment more men start engaging with the issue of gender inequality in engineering is the moment we will start to see real change happening. BAE is a good example of this. They have some senior men who are actively trying to address the problem, and beginning to see results.



    Like it or not, the majority of senior engineers are male, so it is important that they identify with groups such as the IET Women's Network.



    Having a support network such as this is great, but most of the issues discussed on here are not women's issues. They are everyone's issues. So we should welcome male members with open arms.
  • 0
    I might be reading this wrong but I think the original statement of shouting louder what more metaphorical rather than literal.  Certainly I have never worked in an environment where it has been acceptable for anyone to shout to get their point of view across regardless of gender.

     

    Then again, I may have been lucky in the fact I have never felt marginalised in any place I have worked or studied in my 14 year career in engineering.  I have never had anyone tell me I’m not as good as my male counterparts or at least no one had dared to say it to my face.

     

    I certainly think male contribution to the debate is vital, otherwise we are only preaching to the choir and are at risk of getting too one-sided in our thoughts on the subject without having the balance of the other side of the argument.

     

    I have only encountered one man who I could label as very sexist in his opinions.  I am not certain how much of it is genuine and how much is his sense of humour as he enjoys getting rises out of people.  He has come out with the more bizarre statements that I genuinely don’t know what to make of him (the silliest being woman shouldn’t work offshore as they cannot climb ladders!!).  However when I have had intelligent discussions with him regarding issued such as equal pay he has made certain observations that have made me stop and think.

     

    My conclusion is we can’t debate and hope to gain any headway without first knowing what the genuine thoughts and attitudes are from the people who are against the changes.  With this in mind can we gain much from the “male” perspective in a discussion on the womens network? The likelihood is any man who wants to join the network is naturally going to be more up to date in his attitude towards women in the first place.
  • Former Community Member
    0 Former Community Member
    Hi Leah,



    Thank you for reminding me about Maria's post.



    There are a number of vaild points and reasons for ensuring that men join the network.   Although the Women's Network does not exclude men from the group I usually promote activity to our women members only.  I had promoted it to a group of men once and got very little response.  One man questioned why he had been sent the information, as he was not a woman!  I think that going forward the message will need to be changed to eliminate any confusion.  Reading some of the comments on here has given me an idea on how I can do that so, thank you very much to everybody that has contributed to this post. 



    Kind regards,

    Jo

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