"You're in administration are you?"

[ImJustMadAboutSaffron]

Waiting for a train and a guy started chatting to me to pass the time. Told me he had a 51 year old son so he must be in his 70s. When he discovered I work at a university he asked me the question in the subject line.

I asked him what made him say that and he just shrugged. I didn't say so, but I suspect it's because I'm a woman and also his generation.

Unreasonable to be wryly amused/slightly miffed? Not the first time it's happened and always men that say it.

Not that I'm saying there's anything wrong with working in administration either btw.

I could see myself doing the same. If you told me you "worked" at a university. I'm used to faculty members saying they "teach" at such and such school

Yes this.

If someone told me 'I work at ABC Primary' then I'd think admin, cook, lunch supervisor, cleaner, caretaker. If they were a teacher there they'd say they were a teacher. Same for a uni.

I also know several people that purposefully minimise their role by saying 'I work at xyz', knowing the assumption would be they're one of the hundreds of entry level staff in the call centre or whatever... because coming out with their actual job title would make them sound like a knob.

@Lipsandlashes that’s unfair and the classic way people out women down when they object to being dismissed as admin or PAs. It doesn’t mean there’s anything ring with those tiles, just that the assumption that women must be working those roles that can be offensive.

There are many more administrative staff than lecturers in any given University. Most admin staff are female. Older women (not sure how old you are but I think you implied you were of an older age group, unless I'm misremembering) are more likely to be admin than academic. I don't think there is anything offensive about it, but then I am a Uni admin...

I had this off a guy at a checkout. I was like I work at a uni. He said oh nice admin?

When I said no I'm the manager he got all funny with me and stopped chatting. I'm a SAHM now and I've noticed people are generally more comfortable with that. Doughnuts

I had this same situation the other day. I met a man on a dog walker, he asked where I worked and I replied that I worked at the local water company. “Oh in admin or a secretary?”… “umm no, an engineer”. He, like your man then didn’t know what to say so I purposefully kept walking with him for a bit in awkward silence, loving it 🤣

I'm an HE administrator (the kind that earns more than lecturers) and when I say I work for a University, everyone always assumes I'm an academic. Maybe it's the glasses.

I've not implied anything about my age but for the record I'm 42.

I knew a (young-ish) man once who kept referring to how I was "at college". Here, that doesn't mean "sixth form college" and it doesn't mean uni, like it does in the USA. Round here it means you are doing a very basic further educational course, probably to supplement a modest handful of GCSEs.

I was, in fact, doing a full-on 4 year long honours law degree at a very famous university. Not to boast, just to make the point.

When they say "oh, admin?"
Say "what makes you assume that?"

re hospital of course they can win - they could ask if you are staff there, or just plain, what is it you do then working till this time or any number of none assuming questions.

I get this - DH and I are co-directors in our main company, but he has .01% more of it than me for admin purposes, mostly as he is the key consultant and I am back up and errr everything else. In our new venture he is Tech Director and I am MD, recent open day for new business with suppliers/clients and I served the coffee and chatted... DH did the presentation and I went in at the end for questions and discussions, the number of suprised male faces.... I loved it played them at their own game, got to have lots of chats over the coffee and winkle out some real thoughts.

That's exactly what I did say. The guy just shrugged!

I've had exactly the same but from a woman. When I told her I worked in the head office of a major UK retailer (household name) she said 'oh is it just admin then?'

It wasn't 'just admin' but I guess that was my perceived potential as a young woman.

I find the less specific someone is about their job, the more likely it is to be lower status so he wasn't wrong to assume admin from a general answer about where you work.
Perhaps it's you who is being a bit ageist?

I get this a lot
People press various options to get through to me on the phone
So they will press say "service department" and get me. Then they say "can I speak to service?"
"Yes, that's me"
"Oh I thought I had come through to reception"

It's ALWAYS men. Because I'm female and can't possibly know about cars

I used to get asked if I was the Director's PA. Er.....no. I'm the Director.

"if you phrased it as 'I work at a university', rather than I'm a professor/lecturer, it possibly does sound like you are not an academic, but in a support role."

Exactly. If people knowing your exact job is so important to you, you should be clear about it!
If someone says 'I work for a law firm' I tend to think they're not a lawyer, otherwise they would have said so.

@demotedreally "Happens to me quite a bit too. I say,yes I am - as the chief executive. It is a government administration business, but they don't mean that, they mean my little wifey part time job."

That's pretty judgmental and rude to people who work in admin. Wifey part time job is particularly awful.

Good for you for not being a mere administrator.

"It's also very annoying when you ask someone 'what do you do?' and they answer with where they work."

Why? Do you need to know their supposed 'rank' or something?
And if someone answers with admin they will immediately be asked 'where' anyway.

What's your areas of specialities ? Do you enjoy academia ?

Tbh if someone told me they "worked in a university" I would assume some sort of administrative/managerial/back office type role. Otherwise I'd expect them to say "I'm an academic/lecturer/professor" etc

"Why do you think that I think I'm "better" than other university employees because I'm a lecturer?"

Because you're so offended at being taken for a different type of university employee. It's the whole point of your thread after all.

I was in a very male dominated career field for a long time and whenever I told people what I did they were often surprised but never negative or disbelieving. Sometimes there were a lot of questions like why did you choose that but I always just threw it out there upfront.
This approach allowed me to prevent confusion or assumptions right off the bat but also to let people work through their own realization that they had internalized gender expectations.

As I said, my post and discussion was about the assumption that women are administrators than what I do for a job. It just happened to be me this person was talking to at the time. And, we were discussing proximity to and distance walked to the station rather than job roles. That part of the conversation was incidental.

"Where do you work?"
"At the university"

I was also asked if I work at the "main one" which is another discussion altogether!

Try reading the whole thread. In particular the last sentence of the OP. I always tell my students to read it again if they don't grasp the argument...

But if OP had been mistaken for a person who does a job she considers high status, she wouldn't be complaining would she?