to wonder why women need special classes...

[TheLostWinchesterWife]

...in bricklaying, plumbing, woodwork and decorating effects! Just browsing through the local college prospectus and in starter courses there they are. Specialist decorating effects, intro to woodworking skills, basic plumbing and intro to bricklaying then after listing them all they are repeated but specified For Women.
Do they have lighter bricks for our dainty little hands? Do we use hearts and flowers and fluffy bunnies for decorating effects while the men use ox bollocks as rollers ?
It smacks of let's let the little ladies think they can do these man things. Arent they funny little creatures? fnaar fnaar fnaar snort!
Maybe its less intimidating or they have them for that reason but it seems so patronising.
Rant over.

**probably

EBearHug

Me too. That was back in the 80s.

I was going to agree with Someone further back. It's about the learning environment. You can battle sexism once you have learned your skill

This: (McNewPants2012)

"After you have the qualification you have a lifetime to sort gender battles out.

On a course, then all i want to do is concentrate and get the work done"

I don't agree, can't remember where all I've read about it

What a fantastic article! So I've been "groomed for assertiveness since birth"? Wonderful, I'll tell my therapist that I'm cured, I never had a problem and I don't need her help any more.

It's just more sexist rubbish reinforcing boundaries rather than removing them.

Maybe I just work in a more progressive environment than those observed in the study, but the areas of IT, sales and relationship management that I've been involved in women have made at least proportional contributions (in terms of numbers), if not more.

I currently work in a female-dominated environment and I would be interested to see what a study said about those situations.

The area of IT I work in, women certainly don't make a proportional contribution in terms of numbers - I have often been the only one, and certainly always a minority.

In my own field I am quite often the only woman on a course etc but that doesn't bother me at all because its an area I feel confident in.

I have seen Men only cooking and sowing courses (15 odd years ago) - I guess they were run for similar reasons.

Katiepoes - I find women only business groups rather dated personally. I have been to a session. Never again - I got nothing out of it that couldn't have got from a mixed group but then I am happy to learn from anybody though, not just other women. I truly don't see the point but if you do fine. I just think you are giving some men even more of a reason to look down on you. There is nothing crusading in that. I don't feel the need - I just don't do not see what benefits it adds.

To me women only business groups are like toddler groups. A bit like some mothers don't like toddler groups because they don't like the premise that we should all get on just because we are all mothers (mostly) and happen to have children the same age. I don't like women only groups because the only reason we are in the same group is because we are all women which doesn't really add anything for me. If we were all in it because we had the same interests or the same type of business or any issue more focussed than just our gender I could see the point but not just because I happen to be female.

This is getting off the point of the thread though. This isn't about business groups. Mixing for business is not the same as a learning situation.