Why Women Should Do “Men’s” Jobs女人為啥該干“男人”的活兒

杜磊譯

Pink versus blue. Skirts versus trousers. Netball versus basketball. Do you ever think the divisions between girls and boys are a bit silly？ 粉色對(duì)藍(lán)色，裙子對(duì)褲子，無(wú)擋板籃球?qū)@球。你有沒(méi)有想過(guò)這樣區(qū)分女孩和男孩其實(shí)有點(diǎn)兒蠢？

If youve started thinking about your career， youll probably have noticed that the same things happens in the workplace. There are certain jobs youre just not supposed to do if youre a girl. And thats just the way things are， right？

Wrong！ A lot is happening today to get women into male-dominated areas of work. This International Womens Day， we look at four areas of work where things are tough for women right now—but where change is happening. We also look at why we need women in all areas of work. And dont miss our key resources to help you begin your way along that career path.

Science and research

The situation today

Have you heard of STEM？ STEM means science， technology， engineering and maths. It covers a whole range of jobs， from scientists who research cures for diseases， to engineers who design things like buildings， roads and bridges. These jobs are highly skilled， important for scientific progress， and help us make money as a country. Theyre also very rewarding for the people who do them.

But of every eight people in a STEM job， only one is a woman. And this is hardly surprising. Go all the way back to A-level1， and youll find that of all the STEM subjects， only biology has more female students than male.

Why we need more women in science

Designers and engineers create things we all use， whether male or female. Because most things are designed by men， studies suggest that some offices are too cold for women， seatbelts are less safe for them， and tools are harder for women to use.

The lack of women in STEM jobs is also becoming a national problem. The government is worried there simply wont be enough scientists and engineers in the future. This could affect the whole economy because， as a country， we can sell our technology and skills to other countries. STEM jobs also create more work further down the line， such as for construction workers who build roads and bridges.

The police

The situation today

In March 2015， the percentage of female police officers stood at 28%. This compares with 22% nine years earlier in 2006. And the percentage has not always risen over this period. In fact， it peaked in 2010 before falling， before flatlining over the next three years.

Its not just a numbers problem. Women often face sexism from male colleagues， from name-calling to sexual harrassment. And because men outnumber women so dramatically， women are often in the minority， leaving them at risk when abuse takes place.

Why we need more women in the police force

The police are there for the whole community—and that includes women！ When women experience crime like abuse by their partners， rape or anything else that is very personal， they dont always feel comfortable talking to a man. If women police officers arent available to talk to， this might mean they dont come forward at all.

Because crime is often to do with sex， or violence by men against women， a woman police officer might be more understanding or more approachable. Studies also suggest that women tend to trust other women more than men.

Women can also be more understanding. Often， when a person comes forward to report an incident， such as a problem at home or an issue with nuisance neighbours， it can seem trivial to others even if its a cause of major upset for the victim. Women are often better at listening and at understanding other peoples problems， while men are more likely to be dismissive.

The law

The situation today

Actually， more women study law at university than men. In 2014， nearly a third of students accepted onto a law degree were female， and nearly half of all working solicitors were women.

The problem is not that theres big difference in the number of men and women working in the law. Its that the higher up you go， the less likely you are to see women in the top jobs.

When researchers surveyed over 100 law firms in 2014， they found that only two employed as many as women as men as “partners”—that is， senior managers who own part of the business. And in only five firms did women make up more than a third of partners.

If you look at the countrys law courts， you see a similar story. Only around a quarter of judges are women， while in the UKs highest court—the Supreme Court—only one of the 12 judges is female.

This means that as it stands， although there are likely to be plenty of other women around you at university and work， youre less likely to be promoted into a high-up job as a woman in the legal profession.

Why we need more women in the law

Lawyers deal with a lot of people. This includes the people they are representing， other lawyers， and judges. That makes soft skills such as the ability to communicate， persuade and negotiate， one of their most valuable assets. They also need to be understanding and see other points of view.

These are skills which women tend to have more than men—yet the higher up the legal system you go， the harder they are to find.

Finance

The situation today

Youve heard of the City2？ “Financial services” is all about making money from money by investing it in companies that are expected to rise in value. Financial services has a reputation for being a bit of a boys club. As in the legal world， the problem gets worse the higher up you go.

Whats more， the industry is lagging behind others in hiring more women， and conditions are much worse than for men. For women in the industry， average pay is half that of men， and bonuses （one-off rewards made when you perform well） are much lower as well. Women know about this， and it is putting them off going into the industry.

Why we need more women in finance

Financial services is often painted as full of testosterone， with boys competing with each other to make as much money as they can as quickly as they can. This certainly isnt a fair picture of the industry—but things could certainly be improved with more women on board.

Women are often less competitive than men， more level-headed and more responsible. Studies have shown that women are better with money than men at a household level， being less likely to take on debt or splash out unnecessarily. An industry based around financial decisions could certainly benefit from more of this！

This is reflected in the facts. Repeated studies show that the firms with most women on their boards made over a third more money.

Dont let your gender hold you back！

There may be a long way to go in all of these areas of work. But a lot has changed in recent years， and as more girls go into these careers， the fairer things will become. So if youre passionate， dont let your gender hold you back！

如果你開始考慮你的職業(yè)，可能會(huì)注意到工作場(chǎng)合也會(huì)發(fā)生同樣的情況。如果你是個(gè)女孩子，有些工作就不是你該做的。反正事情本來(lái)就這樣，對(duì)吧？

不對(duì)！如今很多事情都在發(fā)生變化，女性開始進(jìn)入男性主導(dǎo)的工作領(lǐng)域。值此國(guó)際婦女節(jié)，我們來(lái)看看目前女性處境艱難但卻正在發(fā)生變化的四個(gè)工作領(lǐng)域。我們還要了解一下所有工作領(lǐng)域都需要女性的原因。千萬(wàn)不要錯(cuò)過(guò)我們提供的重要信息，它們有助于你開啟職業(yè)之途。

科研界

現(xiàn)狀

你聽說(shuō)過(guò)STEM嗎？STEM是指科學(xué)、技術(shù)、工程和數(shù)學(xué)。它涵蓋了一系列工作，從研究疾病治療方法的科學(xué)家到設(shè)計(jì)建筑物、道路和橋梁等的工程師。這些工作對(duì)技能要求很高，對(duì)科學(xué)進(jìn)步很重要，也有助于國(guó)家創(chuàng)收，對(duì)于從事這類工作的人回報(bào)也很高。

但是，每8個(gè)從事STEM類工作的人中，女性只占1個(gè)。這一點(diǎn)并不奇怪。回過(guò)頭看看A-level課程，你會(huì)發(fā)現(xiàn)所有STEM科目中，只有生物學(xué)一門念的女生比男生多。

為什么我們需要更多女性從事科學(xué)工作

設(shè)計(jì)師和工程師設(shè)計(jì)制造了我們所有人都使用的東西，不管使用者是男還是女。研究表明，由于大多數(shù)東西是男性設(shè)計(jì)的，導(dǎo)致對(duì)女性來(lái)說(shuō)，有些辦公環(huán)境溫度過(guò)低，安全帶不那么安全，工具則難于使用。

婦女在STEM工作中的缺席也成為了一個(gè)全國(guó)性的問(wèn)題。政府擔(dān)心的是科學(xué)家和工程師在未來(lái)根本不夠用，這可能會(huì)影響到整個(gè)經(jīng)濟(jì)，因?yàn)槲覀兛梢試?guó)家名義向其他國(guó)家出售我們的技術(shù)和技能。STEM還會(huì)創(chuàng)造更多下游的工作機(jī)會(huì)，例如修路造橋的建筑工人。

警界

現(xiàn)狀

2015年3月，女警官的比例為28%。相比9年前的2006年，這項(xiàng)指標(biāo)為22%。這一比例在這段時(shí)間內(nèi)并不一直是上升的。事實(shí)上，它在2010年達(dá)到頂峰，之后開始下降，接下來(lái)的3年則趨于平穩(wěn)。

這不僅僅是個(gè)數(shù)字問(wèn)題。女性經(jīng)常面臨來(lái)自男性同事從辱罵到性騷擾的各類性別歧視。而且，由于男性數(shù)量遠(yuǎn)超女性，女性常常屬于少數(shù)人群，令她們成為受虐的一方。

為什么我們需要更多女性加入警察隊(duì)伍

警察為整個(gè)社會(huì)服務(wù)——包括女性！當(dāng)女性遭遇侵犯時(shí)，例如被伴侶虐待、強(qiáng)奸或其他非常隱私的事情，她們和男性警員溝通起來(lái)總會(huì)感到不方便。如果沒(méi)有女警員可以溝通，女性受害者可能根本就不會(huì)站出來(lái)報(bào)案。

因?yàn)榉缸锿c性或男性對(duì)女性的暴力有關(guān)，女警官可能更能理解受害者或更平易近人。研究還表明，女性更傾向于信任同性。

女性還更能理解他人。通常，當(dāng)一個(gè)人站出來(lái)報(bào)案，比如家里有麻煩或與鄰居產(chǎn)生糾紛，這在別人看來(lái)可能微不足道，但卻給當(dāng)事人造成了很大的困擾。這時(shí)候，女性往往更善于傾聽和理解他人的問(wèn)題，而男性則更容易對(duì)此不屑一顧。

法律界

現(xiàn)狀

實(shí)際上，在大學(xué)里學(xué)習(xí)法律的女性比男性多。2014年，授予法律學(xué)位的學(xué)生中，近三分之一是女性，所有職業(yè)律師中近一半是女性。

問(wèn)題并不是說(shuō)在法律界工作的男女人數(shù)有多大差別，而是越往上，就越不可能看到女性擔(dān)任高層職務(wù)。

2014年，研究人員對(duì)100多家律師事務(wù)所進(jìn)行了調(diào)查，他們發(fā)現(xiàn)只有2家律師事務(wù)所的“合伙人”（即擁有事務(wù)所部分所有權(quán)的高級(jí)管理人員）中男女人數(shù)持平，只有5家的合伙人中女性占三分之一以上。

如果再觀察一下國(guó)家的法院，會(huì)發(fā)現(xiàn)情況大同小異。只有大約四分之一的法官是女性，而在英國(guó)最高司法機(jī)關(guān)英國(guó)最高法院的12名法官中，女性只有1名。

這意味著，從目前情況看，盡管在大學(xué)和職場(chǎng)，你周圍可能有很多其他女性，但身為女性，不太可能被提升到業(yè)界高職位。

為什么我們需要更多女性從事法律工作

律師要和很多人打交道，包括其代理人、其他律師和法官。這使得諸如溝通、說(shuō)服和談判等軟技能成為他們最有價(jià)值的資本之一。他們還需善解人意，廣納其他觀點(diǎn)。

這些方面，女性往往比男性技高一籌——然而，法律體系中，位置越高，她們的身影就越難找得到。

金融界

現(xiàn)狀

聽說(shuō)過(guò)倫敦金融圈吧？“金融服務(wù)”就是把錢投資到那些有望升值的公司，從中生錢。金融服務(wù)業(yè)向來(lái)就有那么點(diǎn)兒男子俱樂(lè)部的名聲。就像在法律界一樣，越往上走，問(wèn)題越嚴(yán)重。

而且，這個(gè)行業(yè)在雇用更多女性方面落后于其他行業(yè)，給女性開出的條件比男性要差得多。這個(gè)行業(yè)的女性拿到的平均工資是男性的一半，獎(jiǎng)金（表現(xiàn)出色時(shí)獲得的一次性獎(jiǎng)勵(lì)）也要低得多。女性很明白這一點(diǎn)，所以她們失去了進(jìn)入該行業(yè)的興趣。

為什么我們需要更多女性從事金融工作

金融服務(wù)業(yè)常常被描繪為充滿睪丸素的行業(yè)，男性互相競(jìng)爭(zhēng)，竭盡全力以最快速度賺到最多的錢。當(dāng)然，這種行業(yè)狀況并不合理——但是，隨著更多女性的加盟，情況必會(huì)有所改善。

與男性相比，女性常常沒(méi)那么好勝，但頭腦更冷靜，責(zé)任心更強(qiáng)。研究已表明，在一家之中，女性處理財(cái)務(wù)比男性更得心應(yīng)手，不太可能讓家庭債臺(tái)高筑或揮霍無(wú)度。一個(gè)以財(cái)務(wù)決策為基礎(chǔ)的行業(yè)肯定會(huì)從中受益更多！

這是得到事實(shí)印證的。多項(xiàng)研究一再表明，董事會(huì)中女性占多數(shù)的公司賺的錢要多出三分之一。

別讓你的性別阻礙你！

以上這些工作領(lǐng)域可能都有很長(zhǎng)的路要走。但是，最近幾年發(fā)生了很多變化，并且隨著越來(lái)越多的女孩子從事這些職業(yè)，情況也會(huì)變得越來(lái)越公平。所以，如果你有激情，可不要讓你的性別阻礙了你！? □

（譯者單位：浙江大學(xué)）