Ok, so I will try and keep this straightforward and as to the point as possible, however there are some things that I must say to give you a full picture.

I work in an engineering consulting office, everyone that knows the engineering world is aware of the lack of women in the field. Even more to the point, I work in the municipal section (water/wastewater). I have a colleague, who we will call Ashley. Ashley is a married mother of two, she is about 10 years older than me, and has recently become a citizen of the USA. She started here about 2 years before me. She and I are both aiming to take our Professional Engineers Exam this month, and she and I are on approximately equal footing as far as status in the office goes.

Now to the differences:

  1. Ability - Technically I don't think it is a stretch to say I am more well versed and capable in multiple drafting/designing platforms and undertake more advanced designs and more hectic schedules than Ashley. She generally works on one type of project, and that is it, I take on all the other types of designs and projects.

  2. Pay - It came to my attention that I was being grossly underpaid (never given a raise that was above inflation, I was essentially making less than I did when I started, due to inflation). I checked vs. Ashley, and she was making 20% more than me! I went to my boss, and asked for a raise. That is when he told me this little nugget: Ashley was approached by MANAGEMENT when they thought she was being underpaid and they gave her a raise. What? When were they thinking of approaching me?

  3. Work Area - Our office has 3 distinct styles of offices, small cubicles, large cubicles, and offices. I work in the small cubicle as I don't have my professional license, but Ashley works in a large cubicle, and has since I started here, yet she does not have a professional license either. It will be interesting to me that if I pass my license test, and she doesn't if they keep the situation as is, or if they make us swap.

  4. Professional Attire - I was told at the start of my employment that we were to dress professionally, and wear slacks and a collared shirt. Well I have followed this dress code, and wear slacks, collared shirt, tie and dress shoes every day. Ashley takes to wearing sweat shirts, jeans and sneakers almost every day.

  5. Work Load - As far as undesirable jobs, going in the field (into manholes gross!) and doing night studies (in the rain, middle of the night) there is no question who management gets to do this, me. I have zero doubt it is because I am a man, and she is a woman, there is nothing else that separates us, besides her larger office, and larger pay check.

Ok that is my rant, I guess since we are all MRA's here we can see just how privileged I am, and just how poorly and unfairly Ashley is treated. I am not looking for advice, just to remind you all, that even though we are often times told how privileged we are, that there is anecdotal evidence that this is not the case. I will be asking for a larger office when I get my license, and for a raise. I do not have a problem asking, but I will not be bringing this up with my employers until I have a license, especially if she does not. I suppose that part of this is that they feel the need to coddle a special employee (female in the male dominated work force) but that is still sexism.

Cheers!