So... Tina's an asshole/jerk/bitch, but where's the sexism?! (I'm not disputing sexism in Susan Fowler's case.)
The comments about the tank top were blatant sexism. The rest just seemed like terrible management.
Sexism at Uber from Female Management
51–60 of 234 posts
Re: Sexism at Uber from Female Management
#52Earlier quoted context omitted.
Or stop promoting engineers to management roles they aren't educated for or socially prepared for.
What exactly do you mean by "socially prepared for"?
A lot of engineers have never held a position of leadership in any respect. As well, they're stereotypically tech-focused, rather than people-focused.
This makes them less prepared for the stress and less in-tune with the emotions of others, i.e socially unprepared to be leaders.
Re: Sexism at Uber from Female Management
#53This particular situation would be tough at any company as they would be reluctant to let "Tina" go as it would scew their numbers even worse given the ratio of female/male eng. in management roles. Also a person with that type of attitude is very likely to retaliate against the company.
Re: Sexism at Uber from Female Management
#54Earlier quoted context omitted.
But that results in MBA culture! ::nerd shudders:: It's a source of constant amazement to me that people who will drill incessantly on red-black trees won't put in a modicum of effort to learn even a little bit about the inherently more complicated business of managing people.
Well, you can test an engineer to see if they understand red-black trees fairly easily. How do you test if a manager is a narcissist or a psycopath? And is it even legal to do so?
You're asking the wrong questions/ missing the bigger picture. Plus personality disorders are not always negative[0].
The underlying condition is "culture." Companies higher people with similar values that'll fit right in and "go with the flow." Now, how do we make it so the culture of fledgling companies does not turn into a frat house?
Restricting the freedoms of these types to start business will not work.
[0]https://hbr.org/2017/03/the-type-of-narcissist-that-can-make...
Re: Sexism at Uber from Female Management
#55Earlier quoted context omitted.
>it seems clear to me this is not an example of sexism. >she was asked not to wear a tank-top to work She was not "asked not to wear a tank top to work". Her manager directly linked her (sane) clothing choices to the implication of promiscuity and its impact on her career, with an anecdote about one of her previous coworkers social habits and underwear. That's inexcusable. The employee's email is not "openly hostile…
"Don't wear revealing/sexy clothing" seems to be a common requirement at many jobs, and not sexist at all - though clearly it would be tailored specifically to the (inappropriate) clothes an individual is wearing.
I work in the financial sector. In the summer months especially, it is common to see women dressed in sleeveless tops. I would argue that sexualizing one's peers is much more unprofessional than dressing for comfort.
Re: Sexism at Uber from Female Management
#56While reading the account, it seems the Manager is from India perhaps? Edit: I am an Indian and it is a big deal in India to wear "revealing clothes", albeit I have no idea what a tank top is neither do I care Just FYI do you don't assume that I am a sexist and downvote me.
Which racist thought made you reach that conclusion?
I am an Indian and I hear these things daily, "you are wearing a top which discloses too much of your body" blah blah bullshit even in the 2017.
Note: I don't understand HN's algorithm, apparently, I can downvote every comment except yours :D
Re: Sexism at Uber from Female Management
#57How do you know (asking seriously, since I work alone 99% of the time) when somebody is sexist (or any other ist) or if he/she is just a generally unpleasant person?
Also, I got to say that if I'm in the same room with a woman who has a very visible cleavage I will look into the ceiling to avoid even the vague notion that I'm looking into their breasts.
Re: Sexism at Uber from Female Management
#58Perhaps I'm missing something, but I don't see anything that the manager is doing wrong. We can debate whether the manager is effective at her job, but it seems clear to me this is not an example of sexism. The only citation I can find relevant to the claim of sexism is that she was asked not to wear a tank-top to work. It may very well be that a tank-top is inappropriate attire at Uber's workplace. At IBM and many o…
>it seems clear to me this is not an example of sexism. >she was asked not to wear a tank-top to work She was not "asked not to wear a tank top to work". Her manager directly linked her (sane) clothing choices to the implication of promiscuity and its impact on her career, with an anecdote about one of her previous coworkers social habits and underwear. That's inexcusable. The employee's email is not "openly hostile…
I've re-read this, and re-reviewed the definition of sexism which is quite broad.
I think the case could be made that the manager was actually displaying sexism towards Mark. How? By believing/saying that his decisions would be motivated by what kind of top the author was wearing. This is clearly an old stereotype of males and pretty much definition sexism.
Her manager also comes of as an ass in this article; not sure what's true though.
Re: Sexism at Uber from Female Management
#59Perhaps I'm missing something, but I don't see anything that the manager is doing wrong. We can debate whether the manager is effective at her job, but it seems clear to me this is not an example of sexism. The only citation I can find relevant to the claim of sexism is that she was asked not to wear a tank-top to work. It may very well be that a tank-top is inappropriate attire at Uber's workplace. At IBM and many o…
"Perhaps I'm missing something, but I don't see anything that the manager is doing wrong"
If that's the case, then never, ever go into management.
Re: Sexism at Uber from Female Management
#60Earlier quoted context omitted.
During my exit from a previous employer over a CEO whose sexual misconduct makes Uber look like the ACLU, one of our investors gave me the advice that "the CEO sets the culture". The context there was that if the CEO and I didn't see eye to eye on something, that was never going to change while this person was CEO. In the time since, I've found that advice to be so reliably true that it's one of the core things I use…
What do you make of his promise to "fundamentally change" his behaviour?
I think we'll see - and I'm hoping that he does - but people with power overall tend to have a very bad habit of making empty promises in the face of criticism.