Working with Females VS Males

[PennNurse]

Before becoming an RN, and all throughout nursing school I was a computer technition for 8 years. I worked in a male dominated field,* where 90% of the 8 years resulted in me being the only female hired at that time.

I am now at my first job after nursing school and work with mostly females on a med-surg floor. I am not trying to be sexist in any way shape or form, but there are vast differences between working with a group of females and a group of males. The mob mentality is one of the differences. When one of the women start complaining about something, all of the other ones join in and make it a good 10 minute complain fest. Honestly, thats fine, but they seem to complain over trivial things. Like someone leaving a paper in the printer (no personal pt info on it) or forgetting to turn a light off. Just things that I would normally rectify and move on with my day. I literally stand like a deer in headlights when this happens because I can't think of anything to add to the conversation.

Now, a lot of these women have been working there for 2+ years, so maybe when I am at that point I will be doing the saaaaame exact thing. There is a chance they have been dealing with these things for a while and are just fed up. And I am in no means saying that men can't do these things as well, I just never experienced it in my work place for 8 years.

This is just one of the differences. There are also nice ones. I am always fed when I go to work hahahaha. They bring in tons of food and everyone shares it, and I don't have to initiate a card or flowers when something tragic happens with a coworker anymore.

Anyone have anything to add to this topic. Anything that can help me adjust without feeling like an idiot. Or anyone who has experienced this as well?

[macawake, MSN]

I am not trying to be sexist in any way shape or form, but there are vast differences between working with a group of females and a group of males. The mob mentality is one of the differences. When one of the women start complaining about something, all of the other ones join in and make it a good 10 minute complain fest. Honestly, thats fine, but they seem to complain over trivial things. Like someone leaving a paper in the printer (no personal pt info on it) or forgetting to turn a light off. Just things that I would normally rectify and move on with my day. I literally stand like a deer in headlights when this happens because I can't think of anything to add to the conversation.

Anyone have anything to add to this topic. Anything that can help me adjust without feeling like an idiot.

While I'll take your word for the claim that you're not trying to be sexist or misogynistic, when you describe a group of people as displaying "mob mentality", that's not at all flattering.

I would personally never hang around for ten minutes of griping regarding whether someone turned a light off in a timely manner, so my advice to you is that if this happens; simply leave. There's not really much to add to that particular conversation. If it really bothered me I might say that I don't consider forgetting a light or a piece of paper a capital offense, but most likely I'd just leave.

In a previous job I worked as a lone female for ~10 years, as a new nurse I worked briefly in an almost all-female group and I currently work in a group that's approximately 60% female and 40% male. If I had to choose based on gender alone, I think that I'd go with the mixed/somewhat balanced group but at the end of the day what matters the most to me is my coworkers personalities, skills and professionalism, rather than their sex. Some people I really enjoy working with and others I tolerate because I have to. For me in my various places of employment, both categories have been represented by both genders.

A while back I had a discussion with a female coworker who expressed that she generally very much preferred working with men. She and I get along just fine and I felt it was appropriate to share an observation I've made and that I thought that she perhaps was unaware of. I asked her if she realizes that she behaves quite differently around male coworkers than she does around her female counterparts. She is much more animated and at the same time more easygoing and less argumentative around men, than women. Her instinctive reaction was to reject this but after a while she asked me if I really meant this. I told her yes, that really is what I've observed.

Now I'm not saying that's what you're doing OP (since I don't know you at all), it's just food for thought. None of us are a separate/neutral entity. We are a part of a group's particular dynamic and we do contribute to that dynamic to some degree.

[quazar]

A while back I had a discussion with a female coworker who expressed that she generally very much preferred working with men. She and I get along just fine and I felt it was appropriate to share an observation I've made and that I thought that she perhaps was unaware of. I asked her if she realizes that she behaves quite differently around male coworkers than she does around her female counterparts. She is much more animated and at the same time more easygoing and less argumentative around men, than women. Her instinctive reaction was to reject this but after a while she asked me if I really meant this. I told her yes, that really is what I've observed.

This is fascinating to me. I honestly prefer working with men, but have never even considered this angle. How obtuse of me. Omg now I'm making geometry puns. I'll just see myself out.....

[SmilingBluEyes]

OH boy you stepped into it now....