THE FAIRER SEX

Short Stories on Male Privilege

No. 5

The Glass Ceiling

'The glass ceiling will go away when women

help other women to break through that ceiling.'

- Indra Nooyi

It was the BBC's 'Power List', an annual event in which women in positions of power are used to allege that women cannot attain positions of power because they are women. Nicola Sturgeon could not become First Minister of Scotland. Teresa May could not become Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. Angela Merkel could not become Chancellor of Germany. Magdalena Andersson could not become Prime Minister of Sweden. Mette Frederiksen could not become Prime Minister of Denmark. Jacinda Ardern could not become Prime Minister of New Zealand. Christine Lagarde could not become President of the European Central Bank. Ursula von der Leyen could not become President of the European Commission. Mary Barra could not become CEO of General Motors. Carly Fiorina could not become CEO at Hewlett Packard. Susan Wojcicki could not become CEO of YouTube. Mary Beard could not become Professor of Classics at Cambridge University. Sally Kornbluth could not become President of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Sharon White could not become Chair of the John Lewis Partnership. Claudine Gay could not become President of Harvard University.

Anne Mensuk could not become Chief Engineer at Enginex Engineering. She proved this, by becoming Chief Engineer at Enginex Engineering. And in this position, which she'd been excluded from, while being promoted into it, she pursued her ruling passion: to increase the number of women in senior roles.

A supervisor in gas-turbine development was needed; the Promotions Committee was now meeting to identify appropriate candidates. The Committee consisted of three persons: Anne Mensuk, Chief Engineer; Andrea Dworkin, Head of HR; and Samuel Simp, Head of Gender Equity.

Three coffee mugs were on the table. Two of them said: 'property of a feminist'; the third: 'property of a male feminist'.

The committee members agreed that gender equity was of the utmost importance; that Enginex Engineering must be re-imagined as a meritocracy; and that a meritocracy meant fifty per cent women.

The committee members expressed disappointment that promotions were still made from within the company; for the directors had not yet re-imagined this policy. The committee members recognised that they'd have to work within this policy, at least for the time being. The committee members accepted that because engineers were ninety per cent male, re-imagining the selection criteria would be difficult.

The committee members sifted through the hundred-odd leadership profiles that all employees - if they were interested in promotion - were required to complete. The committee members expressed concern that these leadership profiles were ninety-five per cent male. The committee members agreed that this was more evidence, if any were needed, that women were being kept down.

Andrea Dworkin proposed individual tutoring for leadership roles, which, as part of the Company's level-playing-field policy, would be open to female employees only. The other two committee members acknowledged this suggestion, and all three of them agreed to take the idea up at other forums.

The committee members reached agreement on objective criteria: that is to say, the behaviours that constitute 'leadership'. Membership of organisations that promote gender equity in science, technology, engineering and mathematics was leadership behaviour. Women in Engineering. Society of Women Engineers. STEMettes. Robogals. Scientista. Girls in Tech. League of Women Scientists. Knowledge of gas turbines, while a useful concomitant, was not an essential prerequisite for the supervisory role in gas-turbine development.

The committee members identified twenty appropriately qualified candidates. As avowed on the HR website under 'employees seeking promotion', ten male engineers and ten female engineers were duly selected. This was part of the company's 'level-playing-field' policy.

After one month the applications process closed, and the Promotions Committee met to select applicants for interview.

The Committee members noted that ten engineers from the original twenty had applied. The Committee members regretted that, of the ten male engineers eight had applied; but that of the ten female engineers only two had applied. The Committee members recognised, therefore, the need to make the playing field level again. From the ten male engineers, two were selected; and from the two female engineers, two were selected. The playing field was again level.

The day of the interviews arrived.

The first candidate was Nathaniel Wopsle, an engineer from the project planning office. Initially he'd not applied; in fact Anne Mensuk was somewhat annoyed to find he'd filed no leadership profile. She had persuaded him to apply, albeit with some effort, by reassuring him. 'You're an ideal candidate', she'd told him. 'You've got great leadership potential.'

A knock was followed by a summons; and a twitching face peered round the door. With some encouragement, a timorous creature was induced to scurry across to the chair, where it awaited permission to sit down. Permission given, it sat there with right knee buzzing up and down. The right-hand's middle finger picked away at the left-hand's thumb.

Anne Mensuk asked Nathaniel Wopsle to begin the interview with a brief description of his career to date; at which there followed two minutes of rambling, stumbling, mumbling and bumbling, from which snatches of coherence would emerge now and then, but from which no coherent narrative was discernible.

Andrea Dworkin and Samuel Simp looked at each other in puzzlement. But Anne Mensuk appeared satisfied.

Anne Mensuk proceeded to the most important question of all, when considering suitability for a role in gas-turbine development.

'Are you a feminist?' she asked.

'Well . . . I'm not sure', replied the timorous creature. 'Should I be?'

'Yes, you should!' shouted Andrea Dworkin, banging her fist on the table, at which Nathaniel Wopsle's posterior briefly lifted a couple of inches.

'Well, er, yes, I suppose I'd call myself a feminist', said the timorous creature, attempting the assertive and commanding voice he'd need for a leadership role.

'If you headed gas-turbine development', said Samuel Simp, 'what measures would you put in place to ensure gender parity among your staff?'

'Well, erm, I think we should hire erm, the best person . . .'

Now a hiker on open moorland and menaced by storm clouds, Nathaniel Wopsle observed the gathering storm of opprobrium on Andrea Dworkin's face. Rather than stride toward the lightning, he turned aside at the first stile, to join the sheep in the neighbouring field.

'Well, erm, you could take it in turns', he said. 'Hire a man one time; next a woman; then a man; then a woman; then a man; then a woman; then a man; then a woman; then a man; then a man, erm, I mean woman; then a wom-'

'Thank you!' said Anne Mensuk. 'We get the picture.'

'You understand, don't you,' said Andrea Dworkin, 'that it's not just a case of hiring women - you also have to retain them. Remember, we want equality. Women must not be put off by workplace banter - they must be given special protection against sexist jokes and suggestive comments.'

There now followed a silence that lengthened and lengthened.

'What would you do?' asked Samuel Simp.

More silence.

After sixty seconds, Nathaniel Wopsle said: 'Can I go now?'

'Yes', said three voices in unison.

The Promotions Committee were in full consensus. Nathaniel Wopsle was a timid, pathetic creature; a hapless victim of the male obsession with hierarchy and dominance; a severe case of 'internalised toxic masculinity'. He was ruled out immediately.

They were now down to three candidates: two women and one man.

The second candidate was Henrietta Lukewarmer, an engineer from instrumentation.

She gave a précis of her career. She had a Master's degree in physics from the University of Bristol. She had worked in three different industries, all of which used different types of instrumentation: strain gauges, optical pyrometers; laser anemometers.

'One thing I noticed', said Andrea Dworkin, 'is that you didn't mention any membership of organisations furthering the interests of women.'

'No.'

'Well,' continued Andrea Dworkin, 'in the world of engineering - which is still a kind of men's club, after all - you must come across men who won't help you because they think that women don't belong in engineering. Sexism.'

Henrietta Lukewarmer frowned. 'No, I can't say I've ever experienced anything like that', she said. 'If anything, I'd say that men have been more helpful to me because I'm a woman.'

'Ah!!' said Andrea Dworkin, 'They help you because you're a woman, because they see you as less capable than men. Sexism.'

'How do you see your career progressing?' asked Anne Mensuk. 'There are hardly any women in the most senior positions, after all.'

'The way I see it', replied Henrietta Lukewarmer, 'a leadership position at the highest levels is not just a job - it's a calling; you must give it everything - not just your head, but also your heart. Working at that level should be an all-consuming passion. If you're not willing to live that way, then you shouldn't take the job.'

'Many women are still trapped by glass ceilings', interjected Andrea Dworkin. 'They cannot become chief engineers, for example.'

'I've always been a bit puzzled by claims like that', said Henrietta Lukewarmer. 'Many men are also trapped by glass ceilings - it's just that they can't argue it's because they're men; there'll be some other and rather opaque reason. Also, the pool of women who want punishing hours and crushing responsibility is a lot smaller than the pool of men who do - that's because men are far more career-focused than women; far more prepared to make personal sacrifices to get to the top. There's no reason at all why boardrooms should be fifty-fifty male-female - that argument's entirely bogus. It's Sunday evening, 7.00pm, say. You're nicely relaxed. Your boss calls, asking you to prepare some material for a meeting. It'll take you six hours to do that. And by the way, the meeting is next day at 9.00am. And if you don't do it, you'll be edged out. A lot of men would do a job like that. Not so many women. Alternatively, suppose we're twelve hours away from start-of-production, there's some big problem, and the manager responsible as got to go to his nine-year-old's birthday party. I tell you what, let's put a couple of hundred engineers and a couple of thousand factory workers on hold for a few hours. And all of the trucks bringing in components - well, they can just pull over to the side of the road and wait until the birthday party's over.'

'That's just a question of work-life balance', said Samuel Simp. 'If work-life balance were better, then more women would be in boardrooms.'

'Women got their maternity leave', said Henrietta Lukewarmer Now it's menopause that needs special consideration. After that it'll be time-of the-month time-off. It's not that we think women are any less capable, oh no. Women are strong. Women are resilient. Women need special consideration. You've just confirmed everything I suspected about what's going on around here. I want a promotion for reasons of merit. I don't want it because I'm a woman - that would erode my authority and credibility. I don't want people pointing at me, saying I only got it because I'm a woman. I don't call myself a feminist. I've never belonged to any women's advocacy group. I'm not even a female engineer. I'm an engineer who just happens to be female. Being female is not a qualification; it's not even an accomplishment. I think we'll end this interview, thank you.'

The Promotions Committee were in full consensus: the patriarchy had turned Henrietta Lukewarmer against her own sex. She was just as much a victim of the patriarchy as anyone else.

Andrea Dworkin proposed some classes to re-educate women like Henrietta Lukewarmer.

They were now down to two candidates: one women and one man.

The third candidate was Peter Wrench, an engineer with fifteen years' experience in gas-turbine combustors.

A late-entering candidate from left-field, his interview came about by an indirect route because, strangely, he'd not been invited to apply. Rather, Nathaniel Wopsle came to his desk, stuttering something or other about it, assuming that he knew already. Peter Wrench then emailed the Technical Leadership Review Committee, asking if what he'd heard was correct. The result was HR's invitation to apply, with an apology for the 'unaccountable oversight'.

Peter Wrench described his career to date. A Master's in aeronautical engineering from Cranfield University. Five years at the Rolls-Royce engine plant in Derby, tackling NO_X-emissions via exhaust-gas recirculation. Four peer-reviewed papers published in the Journal of Gas turbines and Power. Eleven conference papers presented at locations as varied as Tokyo, Detroit and Sydney. Chair of the Gas Turbine Group at the Institution of Mechanical Engineers. Awarded the Gold Medal of Technical Merit by the Society of Automotive Engineers.

As with the other candidates, Anne Mensuk was keen to ascertain the most important credential of all, for a senior role in gas-turbine development.

'Are you a feminist?' she asked.

Peter Wrench forced his eyeballs to stay where they were, so strong was the up-turning torque.

'You might say that I'm an egalitarian feminist, but I prefer to dispense with the feminist because it's unnecessary. I prefer to say that I'm an egalitarian.'

'That's all very nice', said Samuel Simp, 'but there are hardly any women in senior roles, and you'd just be adding to the men. We don't want sexism in promotion decisions.'

'The best candidate should be hired, wholly irrespective of whether they're a man or woman. Just work hard, be dedicated, and put in the man-hours. Why don't you ask me some questions about gas turbines? I've no idea what feminism has got to do with gas turbines.'

'You might be a world expert in this gas turbines', said Anne Mensuk, 'but if you don't abide by our gender-equity policy, then you'd be underserving of this job. We don't want a misogynist in this position.'

'What do you mean by a misogynist?'

'Someone who does not believe in a fifty-fifty representation for men and women in all roles. We are re-imagining our organisation as a meritocracy.'

'If anything needs re-imagining it's this bloody lunacy. Why don't you re-imagine yourselves out of it?'

The interview continued in the same sour vein.

When Peter Wrench left the room, the Promotions Committee were in full consensus: he'd used the expression 'man hours', and this was wholly unacceptable. A disciplinary procedure would now be instituted. Quite on its own, this infraction was sufficient to invalidate the application.

They were now down to one candidate: a woman.

The fourth candidate was Joanne Chickenstalker, a quality-control engineer for dipsticks and petrol caps.

She gave a précis of her career. A recent graduate of Bogthorpe College, she was the only permanent hire in nearly a decade - the recession and consequent hiring-freeze only allowed annually renewable contracts; but Joanne Chickenstalker had so far outshone all others, that a special case had been made for her. Many engineers, most of whom were well-qualified men, were necessarily overlooked.

Anne Mensuk proceeded to the most important qualification of all, for any work with gas-turbines.

'Are you a feminist?'

'Absolutely. One hundred per cent. As a student I was a member of several feminist organisations. My goal has always been to show how women have no voice; that no-one listens to us; that we have no power. For example, I helped to get a men's rights group on campus shut down - they had their funding withdrawn.'

Anne Mensuk and Andrea Dworkin looked at each other and smiled. Samuel Simp rotated his coffee mug so that Joanne Chickenstalker could read its logo.

'One of your roles', said Samuel Simp, 'would be to help smash that glass ceiling'.

He looked up to the ceiling, and made the upward hammer-gesture.

'Yes, but it's not just about the glass ceiling', said Joanne Chickenstalker. 'There's also the question of the glass cliff.'

'We're all aware of that problem', said Andrea Dworkin. 'Let's imagine you promote a woman into a senior role. Now if she succeeds, then good for her - she's dealt a blow to the patriarchy. But if she fails, then that's the glass cliff - a stitch-up, in other words. Feminists have long recognised this problem. Women should be commended for succeeding, but you can't hold them accountable for failing.'

'As regards the nature of the work', continued Joanne Chickenstalker, 'It's obviously a very technical role, and I wouldn't say my experience so far has been particularly technical.'

Anne Mensuk was familiar with the self-deprecatory behaviour that women were forced to adopt in a patriarchy. The 'stereotype threat' is a predicament in which women often find themselves. Women are subject to negative stereotypes, rendering them more anxious about their performance, and which prevents them from reaching their full potential. The stereotype threat leads to a viscous cycle of diminished confidence and poor performance.

'Don't worry about technical ability', said Anne Mensuk, smiling from ear to ear. 'There are engineers here who'll provide all technical support you'll need for your leadership role. I'll see to that.'

(c) Cufwulf

Cufwulf@aol.com