Monday, December 23, 2013

Need for gender equality on the work floor (especially tech)

Lest my intentions be mis-construed, let me start by saying that I have immense respect for women at my workplace and at other companies. I have worked with exceptionally smart women both in companies and schools. This blog, like some of my other blogs, is a lighter take on the need for a balance of the number of men and women on each floor of a company and this need is more apparent in tech companies. This blog has no connection with my workplace either.

It has happened multiple times that I had to wait in line to use a stall or a urinal in the men's room and was annoyed by it. Then during a tea break, I mentioned to my friends the same. One of the girls in the group replied, "Well I don't have that problem, didn't you notice the number of girls on the floor". And then it struck me, if there are more girls in technology, this problem would not be present.
Now, there are some advantages to waiting in a line. I made some good friends/acquaintances while waiting in the line. And this network helped me in getting work done faster too. I learnt about gyms with better equipment, good action movies and about various new phones in the market to mention a few topics. I recently met a person working with another company who mentioned how he made a connection with a manager higher up in the chain when both were standing  in the line to use a stall (I am not making this up). 

If the number of women in technology increase, this facility would come under attack. Lesser number of people would be waiting in a line in the men's room. And the opposite would happen. Women would start bonding in the women's room and the existing bro-nnection would get some competition. However one of my other friends (a girl) says that even though there is a line in the women's room, they would be busy looking at the mirror/getting fresher thereby having no time to actually talk to each other and make connections. So, the bro-nnection should not face any serious competition. 

I would presume that in industries dominated by women , women face similar issues and the attendant advantages. Hence, here is my little blog advocating equal numbers on each floor.