Talk – Survival Behavior: How Women Get By in…
- by Holly Burton
Corporate Talk
Survival Behavior: How Women Get By in Male-Dominated Industries
Many a thinkpiece has been written about the differences between working men and women. Exploring topics from impostor syndrome to communication style, the not-so-subtle implication in many of these articles is clear: women's behavior is ill-informed, maladaptive, inscrutable or otherwise crazy.
However, many of those maligned behaviours are actually adaptive strategies women use to help them cope in work environments that are, at best, not designed with their success in mind, and, at worst, outwardly hostile and antagonistic.
This talk serves as an exploration of the various strategies, behaviors, and habits that women working in male-dominated fields develop and use to help them get by in industries where they are few and far between. We’ll cover:
- The concepts of genetic difference between the genders
- Various adaptive strategies women use to cope in male-dominated workplaces
- Parallels between women’s adaptive strategies and those of trauma survivors
- How to create space for women in these fields
Ultimately, this talk presents and illustrates working women's behavior, not as a curious particularity of a gender unfamiliar with certain fields, but in its correct social and biological context: As survival behavior.
About Holly
Holly is speaker, facilitator, consultant, and coach with expertise in leadership, career development, feminist theory, and the unique mix of issues that make it challenging for women to succeed in STEM fields.
Holly spent the first ten years of her career as a mining engineer in an industry that is only 17% female. She now coaches ambitious women that want to advance their careers and works with companies to develop programs to retain female talent.
Holly speaks regularly at organizations including EA Games, PayPal, HSBC, MDA Systems, DevOps Days Vancouver, Women in Mining BC, Disrupt HR, The BC Women in Energy Network, UBC Masters of Public Policy & Global Affairs, The Society for Canadian Women in Science and Technology (SCWIST), The Women in Leadership Foundation, and her own Women in Male-Dominated Industries.
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