4 Ways to Live out Your Feminine Genius in a Male-dominated Workplace
“Blessed are you who believed that what was spoken to you by the Lord would be fulfilled” (Luke 1:45).
In the first chapter of Luke, Elizabeth shares with Mary the joy of the Incarnation, drawing on the wisdom and power of docility toward the Holy Spirit and the inherent feminine gift of receptivity, including the openness to and bearing of life. Often, when we consider the virtues of docility, receptivity, and openness to the will of the Lord, we consider them virtues that require a surrender of power or agency. I would argue, however, that these virtues are powerful tools that provide us with the agency to radically change the world around us.
During the beginning of my career in corporate health care, I spent several years working in cybersecurity, where there may have been eight women in our 80-person department. It was a unique experience because of the respect and honor that was given to the women on our teams, specifically regarding how we could contribute interpersonally and administratively to our business partners and end users.
Still, because of this fraternal, male-dominant group of engineers and military veterans, there were moments of crude and boyish humor that aren't typically characteristic of a female employee. I was not immune from experiencing workplace banter and sometimes harsh jokes.
Women who share my experience of working in a male-dominated workplace can likely also share about the hurdles women must overcome to claim their seat at the table. However, our feminine strengths can make the workplace more whole and human, complementing our male counterparts and creating a more well-rounded work environment.
Here are four tips to help you live out your feminine genius in a male-dominated workplace:
1. Practice Listening to the Heart of Your Co-workers
In a conference room filled with men, I could perceive each man’s desire to be heard and acknowledged for his work. Whether they know it or not, men (like women) have an inherent desire to know and be known by their Creator, which orients their hearts toward a desire to share.
In her essay “Fundamental Principles of Women’s Education,” St. Edith Stein wrote that women “have ears for the softest and most imperceptible little voices.” In that conference room, I was able to hear the imperceptible little voices that spoke across the table—not only the information each man was sharing but also the heart that was sharing it.
Women, and especially women of faith, can tap into the listening ears that hear not only what a person says but the entire soul that says it. It is a gift that is often overlooked but that enhances the humanity of each person when put to use.
2. Share the Spirit of Joy
In his encyclical “Laborem Exercens,” Pope St. John Paul II wrote, “[Work] is not only good in the sense that it is useful or something to enjoy; it is also good as being something worthy, that is to say, something that corresponds to man's dignity, that expresses this dignity and increases it.”
Our dignity is actually expressed through the work that we do. This is a cause for joy! We can share our God-given gifts, desires, and strengths with our co-workers through the realization of our dignity in the work we perform each day.
This joy is best expressed through a disposition of gratitude. As St. Gianna Beretta Molla, a working wife, mom, and Catholic saint, said, “The secret to happiness is to live moment by moment and thank God for what he is sending us everyday in his goodness.” Share the joy you inherited through your baptism and relationship with Jesus Christ by announcing your gratitude for your work and peers. So often the workplace defaults to a negative mentality. Your secret power can be to reveal the good in the work you perform moment by moment.
3. Humanize Your Work Environment
When you enter your workday, whether in your home office or on site, you are fully human, not a machine. In the past, we’ve been told to “leave home at the door,” but our pandemic experience has shown us that home and work cannot be divorced.
With this in mind, create an environment that invites others, including your male colleagues, to bring all of themselves—their whole personhood—into the workplace. Create a collaborative work environment that is flexible and compassionate. When life creeps into the workday, acknowledge that it is OK.
“The soul of woman,” St. Edith Stein wrote, “must be expansive and open to all human beings, it must be quiet so that no small weak flame will be extinguished by stormy winds; warm so as not to benumb fragile buds … empty of itself, in order that extraneous life may have room in it; finally, mistress of itself and also of its body, so that the entire person is readily at the disposal of every call.”
We are not only workers but humans with dignity. Our feminine genius can bring this understanding into the culture of our male-dominated workplace.
4. Believe What Was Spoken to You by the Lord Through Discernment
Remember the power in Elizabeth and Mary’s receptivity to the Holy Spirit in the Gospel of Luke and how the Spirit moves through their relationships and decision-making. St. Ignatius of Loyola created a “retreat in daily life” that can help you remain in union with God, especially in an environment that can make you feel isolated or undervalued as a female minority.
There’s a reason you made the decision to work on your team, even with the odds stacked against you. You were at peace when you made this decision (assuming it was not made under coercion of some kind). Remember this in times of desolation or when you question, “Why am I here?”. Think back to the time that initially set you on fire for your work.
Like Esther, we have been made “for a time like this” (Esther 4:14). The gifts you share, including the ones that are uniquely feminine, are needed, especially to help create a more human work environment in your male-dominated workplace.
Mindy Edgington is a fiery, Midwestern Catholic convert from St. Louis, Missouri. By day, Mindy works for a Catholic health care system in group purchasing and IT contracting. Outside of work, she is a Court Appointed Special Advocate for children in foster care, Bible study leader at her local parish, and avid reader who is proud of her library card. She now lives in Omaha, NE with her husband, Octavio, who is currently in law school at Creighton University. They're accompanied by their hound dog, Brody. You can follow her on Instagram @mindy.edgington.