Professional women's workplace experiences and career progression

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I had the great pleasure to do a telephone interview with Stephanie located in Baltimore Maryland. She is the Director of Nursing at a private Facility and I spoke with her on her off day. When the conversation stated I just lead right in to what I wanted to know. I wanted to know how she had chosen this field and Stephanie explained that being in nursing was not actually her first choice. When she was in her freshman year of college she wanted to be a 1st grade teacher. Stephanie then went on to tell me about a family member that became ill and needed nursing assistance almost on a 24/7 basis. This experience with those nurses intrigued her; they were so giving and understanding. Stephanie stated that she felt she could be better utilized by switching into nursing which was not an easy task at the time.

For centuries Stephanie and others that preceded her have all taken part in a traditional profession for women, even in times of war woman have been known to be that care provider of sorts. Stephanie stated that her profession was met with encouragement, her family was very excited to see hoe war she would go with nursing, and helped her in any way that they could during her education and training. At Stephanie's current job she is the last authority. The structure is pretty standard otherwise. You have the staff, department supervisors, etc. And yes, there are women in supervisory positions; it is equally proportioned with men in her facility she explained. Stephanie explained that she felt resistance the first couple of years on the job at this facility, due to her age and the fact that her predecessor was a male. She is no longer having any issues with resistance, everyone works well together, they know the change of command, and are not afraid to reach out to her if the situation calls for it.

Stephanie explained that she has been fortunate to not ever blatantly have to deal with sexual harassment. Though she has shared that when she was younger and in school, it often felt that she was not as respected for her knowledge and abilities as her male counterparts were. She also explained that she has not experienced any discrimination based on the simple fact of being a woman that she can think of, however when she applied for her current job and had to go before the predominantly male born it did feel to her that she had to give more effort to appear competent for the job. Everyone is treated fairly in Stephanie's facility; she explains that she works hard to make sure that everyone feels like they are appreciated, and that there are no people there to change the peaceful, environment that they have.

Stephanie is very happy with her current position and does not feel the need to advance or change her job, position, or field. The only thing that Stephanie stated that she does not like about her current position is the fact that funding for some programs are tight and make it difficult to have materials, higher additional staff etc. Stephanie does not have any children at this time and is not married. Stephanie stated that the best advice that she could give would be to be persistent, don't give up, and surround yourself with positive people. She also stated that nursing is not for everyone makes sure that it is a profession that you really love and enjoy. It is always easy to get out of bed in the morning and go to work when you love what you do.