Case 13
True to Myself
Ethney Gentry is for a midsized Tulsa-based oil company where she believes that the main reason as to why she is being hired was because of her gender. After having a meeting with Alexis, the first female manager at the company, she realizes that to get promoted at this company she may have to change the way she behaves. Alexis, who now goes by Alex to fit in with the boys, was in a similar situation when she started at the company and was passed over and ignored simply because she was a woman. It wasn’t until Alex began to interact with the men who ran the company on their level that she began to get promoted. Ethney is faced with a dilemma of whether she should change her personality around her coworkers in order to be promoted easier, or to remain the same as she has always been. If I was Ethney I would start off by just being myself in the business world and trying to connect with people on a personal level instead of changing my behavioral patterns. It might be a harder to get promoted in this industry though because it is typically male dominated as a lot of the work is strenuous. It has been awhile since Alex began working at the company so maybe some of the previous people who ignored her ideas in the past are no longer with the company which would make being promoted easier. Since Alex has already been a manager for the company I do not think that it will be as hard to get promoted within the company since she had already paved the way for females in the company. If I do notice that I am being treated differently I might change up my personality a little bit and see if I am actually being treated differently because of the way behave. I think that if I just be myself I can be successful in the company with Alex already paving the way. One strategy that Ethney could use to connect with her co-workers and supervisors is to suggest that the company implement some affinity groups so that everyone in the company can get to know each
Ethney Gentry is for a midsized Tulsa-based oil company where she believes that the main reason as to why she is being hired was because of her gender. After having a meeting with Alexis, the first female manager at the company, she realizes that to get promoted at this company she may have to change the way she behaves. Alexis, who now goes by Alex to fit in with the boys, was in a similar situation when she started at the company and was passed over and ignored simply because she was a woman. It wasn’t until Alex began to interact with the men who ran the company on their level that she began to get promoted. Ethney is faced with a dilemma of whether she should change her personality around her coworkers in order to be promoted easier, or to remain the same as she has always been. If I was Ethney I would start off by just being myself in the business world and trying to connect with people on a personal level instead of changing my behavioral patterns. It might be a harder to get promoted in this industry though because it is typically male dominated as a lot of the work is strenuous. It has been awhile since Alex began working at the company so maybe some of the previous people who ignored her ideas in the past are no longer with the company which would make being promoted easier. Since Alex has already been a manager for the company I do not think that it will be as hard to get promoted within the company since she had already paved the way for females in the company. If I do notice that I am being treated differently I might change up my personality a little bit and see if I am actually being treated differently because of the way behave. I think that if I just be myself I can be successful in the company with Alex already paving the way. One strategy that Ethney could use to connect with her co-workers and supervisors is to suggest that the company implement some affinity groups so that everyone in the company can get to know each