Impact of Gender – Week 5

What has been a pretty interesting observation so far is that there are only 2 males in the whole staff of AARP FL. Between the two teams that I work with (Outreach and Engagement and Communications and Advocacy), there is only one male. The one male, Christopher Turner, an Associate State Director (ASD), mentions very often in meetings that he is always reminded about how he is the only male. He never mentions it as a bad thing, actually quite the contrary. Chris started in September and since I arrived at AARP, he always mentions how he gets new perspectives from the women on the team. Whether it be conversations about innovation within our work or talking about our personal lives, Chris states he gets something new out of it. 

The idea of a glass ceiling and women being unable to reach higher positions within the organization is unheard of. My four supervisors are women, with two of them starting off as interns and later becoming an Assistant Program Manager and Associate State Director for Communications. What is interesting is that age did not play a factor into how these women were perceived by others in the organization. Isabella, who started as an intern the same age I did, worked with AARP since and is now in her late 20s as an Assistant Program Manager. Colleen, who interned at AARP in her late 30s, worked with AARP since and is now ASD for Communications. 

It has been interesting being in an environment that is dominated by women. The highest position in the FL as State Director is held by a male, Jeff Johnson. He leans heavily on my supervisor, Dionne (Director of State Operations), for insight on the teams and to collaborate on many projects to ensure that the community and the teams are doing well. It is interesting how many studies suggest that a diverse environment increases productivity and collaboration yet is rarely seen in many workplaces. Seeing the collaboration between all genders within the organization has been very insightful to be a part of.