Women working in a male-dominated industry

[Anonymous]

Getting back to your original question BZGirl. It might to behoove you to have the mindset that you don’t have any “triple whammy” or anything else going against you. Here’s my take:

1. Landscape Architect – What a great way to make a living. Can you imagine yourself as an architect or a civil? That world is just way too orthogonal and rigid for me.
2. Woman – Someone that most mature men enjoy and appreciate as colleagues. Not all straight men want to work in a testosterone filled jock-ish type environment.  
3. Young – What can I say?

 

Stop psyching yourself out. If you’ve prepared yourself to sit with allied professionals you shouldn’t feel like you have any disadvantages. Screw those old farts. Here’s a tip I got from an old book on selling that I’ve adapted to fit my needs. The next time you’re sitting at meeting full of a bunch of middle-aged architects and engineers, picture them in your mind as though they’re all sitting there in the conference room butt-naked. Mentally it has an incredible equalizing affect. Sometimes I imagine before a presentation that I’m naked as well and it puts a warm smile on my face, which helps me connect with the people.

[Yona R. Owens]

I’ve just finished reading all the posts. I think some history is in order. Try Women in Landscape Architecture: Essays on History and Practice edited by Louise Mozingo and Linda Jewell.

 

Also, if you can find A Century of Women, there’s a chapter in there by Sally Schauman who, among other things, established the MLA Program at the University of Washington and served as Chair of the Department for 12 years. The chapter is called, “Landscape Architecture: A Gendered Past, A Feminist Future.”

 

Hope this helps!

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks I’m sure they’re both good reads, but I don’t need a history lesson to know that women like Sally didn’t get where they are today by being intimidated by a room full of hairy-backs in winged tipped shoes. I’ll bet she’d probably give the same advice I have given, just in a more eloquent way.

[Yona R. Owens]

Craig,

I meant the suggestion to read some history to the group as a whole. Sometimes learning that there have been others before is an inspiration. I can’t speak for Sally Schauman but she can speak for herself a bit. I interviewed her in 2008 at: http://www.lib.ncsu.edu/specialcollections/lewisclarke/sally_schaum…

As for some advice to BZ from Southern “little lady” me, no matter what career field I’ve worked in over the years, I’ve just never assumed that I’m any less of a person than the guy sitting next to me. I also make sure my credentials are superb, my facts immaculate and I bust out laughing a lot.

Hope this helps!

[Anonymous]

Well, I guess YOU just gave the same advice, but in a much more eloquent way. You’re the type of woman I’ve been describing all along. Maybe I’m just too heavy handed and it doesn’t come across the same way.

 

If it’s worth anything to you ladies, the “Good Old Boy” Network is still alive, but not well here in the Northeast.

 

Thanks for the post Yona.

[enrico gaggia]

Zaha Adid en Institute du Monde Arabe de paris! 🙂

Expo: Architecture

[MLCC]

VERY interesting topic !  (And a hot one, apparently, too).

 

I definitely agree with your sentiments BZ. I too am a (relatively) young LA, working in the south, and have long experienced discrimination, both outside the office in the field and in meetings, but also inside the office unfortunately. I have worked in my office for 11 years now, and given 200%, nights, weekends, you name it. Within the past 2 years I have witnessed 3 men get promoted, each of whom has less than 1/2 the years of experience that I do, and are not licensed. hmmm. Yeah, it exists.

[Author]

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