Being around alot of women....Pros and Cons

That Guy, BSN, RN, EMT-B · Aug 5, 2010

Well I can tell you one thing. Dont date anyone in your class or that you work with on the floor. Ask me how both of those went :banghead:

rayk1021 · Aug 5, 2010

Well I can tell you one thing. Dont date anyone in your class or that you work with on the floor. Ask me how both of those went :banghead:

Too funny!! no need to ask, been there! OP, Imagine having 5 wives, 14 sisters, and 3 girlfriends who hate men. That's what you are in for.

GtownhoyasDC · Aug 5, 2010

Well, how did it turn out for you ,That Guy?

If it's bad enough, I'll take your advice, (reluctantly if they're hot..)

I hope if I do run into any females while I'm in nursing, it'll be while i'm a CNA, or someone who isn't in my classes...

GtownhoyasDC · Aug 5, 2010

Too funny!! no need to ask, been there! OP, Imagine having 5 wives, 14 sisters, and 3 girlfriends who hate men. That's what you are in for.

Wow. Some people have all the luck... :lol2:

ismee_c · Aug 5, 2010

I am a woman, and I am completely dreading being surrounded by other females. In groups made of only women or with very high % women, there is a horribly well known tendency towards cattiness and unhealthy levels of competition. The presence of a few males does little to dampen the effect. Tons of lit on it; leads stuff like massively high eating disorder rates at competitve women only high schools & colleges. You, however (as a male) may be untouched by the one-up-manship over status, grades, connections, references, possessions, looks, weight, clothes, work experience, etc. On the otherhand, you and other non-participants may be cast as unwilling jurors whose role is deciding which girl is prettiest/smartest/funniest/hottest/etc. I am really hoping there are a decent number of men, and other women who have no interest in all that

KristeyK · Aug 5, 2010

I am SOOOO not looking forward to the potential drama. I'm used to working in fields that are predominantly women- so you'd think I'd be used to it. HA HA HA. I used to work as a supervisor in a department that had 48 people. Only two of them were men when I first came into the department. EEEEEEEK! HOLY CATFIGHT BATMAN!!! Within 6 months of being there, I managed to talk ten guys with more seniority than some of the "girls" into bidding into my department. One of them was dumb enough to start dating a coworker- so yeah- DO NOT DATE YOUR CLASSMATES! lol. That relationship ended so badly it made Jerry Springer look like a normal person's show. HA HA HA

iPink, BSN, RN · Aug 5, 2010

Working with all women concerns me too. While in college, I had a part-time job as a Teacher's Assistant in a Cerebral Palsy school. We only had one guy in the whole school. The bickering that went on was ridiculous. I vowed never to work with all women again. LOL. Well, 9 years later and I'm trying to get into nursing, which is heavily dominated by women. But, I'm older and much mature now and will have to try to create a pleasant working environment.

mariposabella · Aug 5, 2010

I agree with the other women. Its not fun at all working with a lot of women. Women are too catty and theres always drama.

bonn_bai · Aug 5, 2010

Another one here...working with other women tends to suck big time. I've thought about that quite a lot - why would I do this to myself?! But in the end I'm hoping that nursing is a job I can just "do", without needing to heavily interact with people who tend to create drama. I know I'll interact with other female nurses, but I'm hoping there's enough work to be done that I can excuse myself from the gossip and the cattiness. Women have control and insecurity issues, and they tend to take every little thing personally. A guy - you can say something straight up to a guy and he won't take it personally. Oh, and another thing - women don't understand that you leave your personal life at home when you go to work! Not only do you hear way too much about women's home lives, but you constantly have to be careful what you say and do around certain women because they are quick to turn on you.

Good luck!

HouTx, BSN, MSN, EdD · Aug 5, 2010

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Tons of lit on it; leads stuff like massively high eating disorder rates at competitve women only high schools & colleges. You, however (as a male) may be untouched by the one-up-manship over status, grades, connections, references, possessions, looks, weight, clothes, work experience, etc. On the otherhand, you and other non-participants may be cast as unwilling jurors whose role is deciding which girl is prettiest/smartest/funniest/hottest/etc.
snip

I would be very interested in a reference that supports the above information. Actually, the research I am familar with on gender-limited (male only & female only) educational systems reveals that women are much more collegial, socially relaxed and more focused on academics in female-only environments. In mixed gender classes, males dominate and have been found to receive much more attention from the (male or female) instructor . On the other hand, male-only classes tend to develop rigid social heirarchies and the 'alpha' males frequently engage in bullying behavior toward the others, especially those who are felt to be less 'manly'.... the presence of females in the class has a civilizing effect and make life easier for the male students that are lower on the social heirarchy. A good site for literature in this area is http://www.aauw.org/learn/research/

To the OP - Healthcare is unique in that it is 80% female, and probably will stay that way in the future unless your generation is remarkably different from previous ones. You are very wise to realize that this will pose some unique challenges. Good Luck on your education and future career.

bonn_bai · Aug 5, 2010

I have also heard that girl/women-only classes/schools show girls doing much better academically, especially in math and science classes.

"Unique challenges" - that is a good way of putting it. We know these challenges will be there, so hopefully we can mentally prepare ourselves to not be part of the problem but rather be good examples of how to act.