Learning How to Study

I was recently asked by a beleaguered white male how do you support women at work. And what a great question, thanks for asking. Here are some quick ideas.

1.) Don’t sexualize her. Fun fact: women aren’t looking for a significant other at work.  They’re just trying to do their job. And they’re kinda confused why this needs to even be specified.

2.) Don’t tell her she is shrill, naggy, bossy, etc ad infinitum when she is doing her job.  It’s a gendered insult and you know it. Unless you also call men that insult seriously, don’t use it.  

3.) Assume she knows how to do her job unless she specifically says otherwise.

4.) Don’t tell her how to do her job unless she specifically asks, is in imminent danger, or you’re her actual manager.

5.) Hire women.  

6.) Maybe don’t talk golf quite so much.  Just a thought. It’d be a big help for me at least.  

7.) Actually all sports really.  There’s a beautiful wide world out there.  Explore it.

8.) Don’t interrupt her when she’s speaking.

9.) Don’t let other people interrupt her when she’s speaking.

10.) Support a pay transparency policy to end the wage gap.  Tell your female peers how much you make so they can ask for the same amount.  

11.) Understand that different people have different histories and canons.  For example a 24 year old female in 2019 probably didn’t grow up watching Adam Sandler films.  That isn’t a tragedy. She’s ok. It’s ok. We can still work together.

I do think/feel this way often. Mainly because I feel like I don’t do know to spread what I know. Someone told me I couldn’t be a scientist cause I don’t have a PhD only a bachelors at the moment and being a Masters candidate didn’t count cause it wasn’t completed. Right now I’m trying to get people to learn that you don’t have to have some ridiculous ass advance practice degree to be a scientist. You don’t even need a college degree to be a scientist. A scientist is someone who simply has a relentless curiosity and uses a systematic approach to assuaging it. Least per the Science Council I agree with that.

Ive always had an insatiable desire for knowledge and this blog has been a bit of an evolutionary footprint bearing what’s of most interest to me. Perhaps some people who are new to following me forget that my educational and career experience is so diverse I can and absolutely do consider myself not simply a scientist but specifically a medical sociologist.