re if they're starting from an assumption that women are stupid - what about if what they started out with was "just" the usual cultural bias, reinforced by learning that women they encountered were less intelligent than they were? Even noticing cultural bias is hard enough, getting rid of it is even harder. Even if you "know better" and want to do better, learned (and generally accepted) attitudes and behavior are unreasonably resilient. If they get reinforced by practical experience instead, even realizing they are wrong becomes unlikely.
the best they deserve is to be written off and ignored It's a bit hard to ignore a good fraction of your co-workers. Or your new boss. Re-education seems the better option for entirely selfish reasons already.
As to the class-ism: Point, but: If I look at who is disadvantaged in Germany, and who my co-workers are and were, it's easier to get a position as an IT consultant if you are e.g. of Turkish descent than get one as a secretary, book-keeper or HR person. Support position incumbents at the company I work at (and those I worked at before) are members of the preferred class, if overwhelmingly female. You don't have to be stupid to take these jobs, but certainly lacking job-related ambition and not caring about self-earned income much.
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Date: 2013-06-29 20:54 (UTC)re - what about if what they started out with was "just" the usual cultural bias, reinforced by learning that women they encountered were less intelligent than they were?
Even noticing cultural bias is hard enough, getting rid of it is even harder. Even if you "know better" and want to do better, learned (and generally accepted) attitudes and behavior are unreasonably resilient. If they get reinforced by practical experience instead, even realizing they are wrong becomes unlikely.
It's a bit hard to ignore a good fraction of your co-workers. Or your new boss. Re-education seems the better option for entirely selfish reasons already.
As to the class-ism: Point, but: If I look at who is disadvantaged in Germany, and who my co-workers are and were, it's easier to get a position as an IT consultant if you are e.g. of Turkish descent than get one as a secretary, book-keeper or HR person. Support position incumbents at the company I work at (and those I worked at before) are members of the preferred class, if overwhelmingly female. You don't have to be stupid to take these jobs, but certainly lacking job-related ambition and not caring about self-earned income much.