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41 sats \ 13 replies \ @Undisciplined 26 May \ on: What is your country’s cultural code for work? earth
The idea that Americans attach their self-worth to their jobs is kind of male-centric.
Women tend to value work-life balance much more than men do. The general culture might be shifting in that direction, too.
Do you think that women take a back seat because they value pursuits outside of work or because they don’t fancy having to adapt themselves to emerge tops in male-dominated industries?
Personally, I think it’s great that Gen Z don’t devote their entire identities to work. The side hustle culture is strong amidst them. However, I don’t quite like how they expect things to be changed just because they happen to have the first mover advantage in regard to some emerging technologies haha
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I can only really speak to the American context, but there's a lot of evidence that women are very willing to sacrifice earning potential for their other priorities.
That's not exactly the same as not attaching self-worth to their career, but it's in the same direction. Women tend to have more similarly valued priorities, while men tend to focus on a top priority.
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Interesting. I will say that Singaporean ladies are as competitive and ambitious as their male counterparts. It’s encoded in our DNA. We even have a Singlish word for it: kiasu (scared to lose out). We exemplified FOMO before it was even a thing.
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That doesn't surprise. It's also true of my Chinese friends.
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You only spent a few weeks there but it has had a lasting impact on your worldview, huh?
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I didn't make any Chinese friends while I was there. Those friendships came from grad school.
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I see! Do you still keep in touch with them? Have they been Americanised?
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I'm absurdly bad about staying in touch with people. For the first year or so after finishing we did ok, but I haven't heard much since.
Most of them ended up back in China, whether or not that's what they were hoping for.
The visa system here stinks, unless you can get a permanent academic appointment. Otherwise, you only get a one year work visa and that's not a tenable situation to be in professionally.
I have had the benefit of having a hard-driving male mentor from The Bronx and a Jewish female mentor who was driven until they screwed her under my very eyes and stunted my career because I wouldn't throw her under the bus and make her lose her disability. I seriously learned work-life balance with this perspective.
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I'm not entirely sure where I got it from, because both of my parents were workaholics.
For some reason, it just never made sense to me that I should prioritize spending time at work over spending time with my friends and family.
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I am from the warrior class. Military all the way back to the Civil War. Except me. I became the pot smoking, acid dropping college student, but I still carry remnants of the loyalty/dedication bug.
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I just read this line in Simone’s book: it is family until it isn’t.
You must have felt helpless and indignant during that time - not a good recipe for mental health
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Definitely male centric
But there are many women who are childless and career focused. Prominent in Germany, USA and South Korea
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