Utopia Talk / Politics / Open offices are sexist

Victim Member	Tue May 08 07:15:29 http://www...exism-of-your-open-plan-office 05.07.18 The Subtle Sexism Of Your Open Plan Office A remarkable new study documents the experiences of women in an open office designed by men. There are many reasons to hate open offices: They’re loud, prone to thieves, and, most of all, lack any kind of privacy. But a new research paper reveals yet another knock against them: They’re subtly sexist. Researchers Alison Hirst of Anglia Ruskin University and Christina Schwabenland of the University of Bedfordshire studied the process of a local government moving its 1,100 employees from a series of traditional offices to one big open office over the course of three years in the U.K. The new office had all the markings of a typical open plan office–glass everywhere, identical desks for everyone, and collaborative group spaces–and was designed with the intention of breaking down hierarchies and encouraging employees to engage with each other more. As the researchers wrote in their paper, which was published in published in Gender, Work and Organization, “it was designed to enchant rather than control overtly, and to encourage movement rather than fixity.” To understand how people adjusted to the new office, Hirst interviewed 27 women and 13 men for one to two hours over the course of three years, with two intensive periods of observation and interviews and many other visits. Besides interviews, Hirst also participated in some of the office’s culture, having lunch and informal coffee breaks with employees and attending meetings. While some female employees felt like the new office space promoted equality, others had the opposite reaction. The researchers found that many women became hyper-aware of being constantly watched and their appearance constantly evaluated; multiple women told them that “there isn’t anywhere that you don’t feel watched.” Of the men Hirst interviewed, there was no evidence they felt similarly or changed their actions as a result of the lack of privacy. The architect of the new office, who was kept anonymous, anticipated that people might feel uncomfortable with the heavily glass office at first, but in interviews with the researchers, he said he thought people would get used to it. “I think it’s like going to a nudist beach. You know, first you’re a little bit worried that everyone’s looking at you, but then you think, hang on, everybody else is naked, no one’s looking at each other,” he told the researchers. “I think that’s what’ll happen, they’ll get on with it.” The only problem is that sociological research of nudist beaches has shown that people do continue to watch each other–“men in particular, often in groups, look obsessively at women,” the researchers write. This kind of all-glass, no-privacy environment leads to a subtle kind of sexism, where women are always being watched and thus judged on their appearances, causing anxiety for many employees. One woman named Pat told the researchers that the men on her team used to “mark” the attractiveness of young women coming into the office for interviews. “Visibility enabled these men to judge and rank women according to their sexual attractiveness, just like men on the nudist beaches,” the researchers write. Some women would avoid visiting parts of the office where they weren’t expected: “You just don’t, do you? Right, this is going to sound extremely sexist but remember I do work with a lot of men,” a woman named Wendy told the researchers. “If you were a female, that would definitely get a comment from all the men because they would notice you.” For Wendy, the design of the office, despite the architects’ intention of promoting freedom of movement, actually inhibited it. Conscious of male eyes, some women began to dress differently. Without an architectural layout that indicated their place in the office hierarchy, they began to rely on their clothing to signal to other people whether they were important or not. One woman told the researchers that she started wearing jackets and stopped wearing cardigans because the latter would indicate that she was in admin. Others began to wear more makeup or dress up more, conscious that people were looking at them all the time. Fascinatingly, the study did not start out as an examination of gender specifically–it was meant as an examination of how workplace culture shifts when office design changes radically. It was only when Hirst, who conducted interviews on-site and spent a lot of time observing the workplace, began to feel pressure to dress in a more feminine way herself that she began to wonder about it. “She was surprised by the unusual amount of care she took over her own appearance, a degree of self-consciousness that she found burdensome as time progressed,” the researchers write. “To ‘fit in’ with the modern, clean aesthetic of the building itself and a dress code that was widely adopted, she departed from her usual preference for wearing jeans and no makeup; adopting a smart trouser suit and putting on makeup.” Not only were women’s physical appearances up for judging, the open office also meant there was no private space where workers could go if they were emotionally distressed or needed to conduct a private conversation. “If you’re upset about something, there’s nowhere to go,” one woman told the researchers. “Where can you go? All you can do is go to the ladies, so there’s nowhere that you can go and speak to somebody on a one-to-one basis where you can’t be observed.” The uniformity of the spaces had another effect on one woman who was going through menopause–she felt like she couldn’t have a fan on her desk to help with hot flashes because everyone would have noticed: “I just have to sort of work through it,” she told the researchers. Perhaps it’s no coincidence that all the designers of the workspace were men. Would the design have been different if there were any women on the team? Are the experiences of these women limited to this particular open-office design, or do others suffer the same kind of anxiety? We want to hear from you. To share your experience, either as a designer or as an occupant, email CoDTips@fastcompany.com.
Sam Adams Member	Tue May 08 07:26:17 So this is what seb wastes uk tax dollars on.
Rugian Member	Tue May 08 07:40:06 I mean, this is pretty dumb. But if MeToo is what it takes to kill open offices, then I'm for it.
hood Member	Tue May 08 08:00:16 So, women felt more watched? Was there any actual evidence?
obaminated Member	Tue May 08 09:37:13 Men and women probably can't work together if women can't accept that men will eye ball them. That is how men are wired, to look for acceptable and attractive mates. Just from a broad point of view, men and women have only been working together for a 50 or 60 years or so. So we really haven't figured out how/if we can do it without there being some form of sexual interest involved. One example, why do we allow women to wear make up to work? The sole purpose of a woman putting on make up is to increase their attractiveness to the opposite sex. So what do they expect to happen when they increase their attractiveness and then go into a pool of men?
Allahuakbar Member	Tue May 08 09:39:45 "One example, why do we allow women to wear make up to work? The sole purpose of a woman putting on make up is to increase their attractiveness to the opposite sex. So what do they expect to happen when they increase their attractiveness and then go into a pool of men?" Very good observation, very good.
obaminated Member	Tue May 08 09:40:14 It also works the same way, women also look for mates of course and men dress to impress the opposite sex. But obviously, if we deem this a problem, it is more on the male side because males are more inclined to be aggressive about showing their intentions while females tend to be more coy.
Mexicantardnado Member	Tue May 08 09:40:36 "The sole purpose of a woman putting on make up is to increase their attractiveness to the opposite sex." Duuuuuur I duuur kno duuur women duuuur so duuuuur well...duuur
Nimatzo iChihuaha	Wed May 09 02:08:05 That make up has that effect, doesn’t mean that is the purpose (adaptational or not). She could be wearing it to get the attention of a specific male. At work it is more plausibe that it’s part of the intra sexual competition on the daily basis. But it is unlikely that women wear make up in order to attract every male they run across in their path. Side effects, that the user should be aware of.
Nekran Member	Wed May 09 02:59:52 Women are expected to look good at work. It's simply not socially accepted for them to just throw on the first clean pants and t-shirt they come across and leave for work, like I do. Also a lot of women wear make-up because they like it. There need not be any males involved.
Nimatzo iChihuaha	Wed May 09 04:38:30 And that expectation is largely driven by other women, not men.
Nekran Member	Wed May 09 08:56:32 I'd say by both. It's not all that relevant either way though, the expectation is there. In my college days I was all "if anything, women have an advantage", because they did in my environment. They could get away with more things (like handing in assignments late and shit) and were often treated more gently. But ever since I got to working, I've noticed how people only care about what women look like. Pretty much all of my male colleagues would prefer getting a hot incompetent new colleague, over a plain competent one, which baffles me. And the other women are indeed also super judgemental about the looks of a new woman in the office. That's just people for you though, I suppose.
hood Member	Wed May 09 09:10:18 "Pretty much all of my male colleagues would prefer getting a hot incompetent new colleague" Those ones are great. ... In other departments.
obaminated Member	Mon May 14 10:24:52 My point is sexual harassment exists and women "peacocking" themselves at work is a factor contributing to men making passes at them. So it isnt a one sided issue.
Cthulhu Tentacle Rapist	Mon May 14 17:21:52 This study is sexist because the made sure to interview a lot more women than men. What did they do? Keep brining in more women until they got the answer they wanted?
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