Press review

Hello everybody!

I was reading an article some time ago in the online edition of “Business spotlight” and it talks about gender stereotypes, especially at work.

I thought you might be interested because we’ll all be part of the working life and we’ll be confronted with this topic. Therefore, I think it is important to be aware of the existing gender issues.

Basically, what it says is that there are differences between how women and men are treated in negotiations, or generally in working life.

It is also said that success at work is usually associated with male traits of aggression, but if women show these behaviours, they are seen as disagreeable. Negotiating is harder for women, because the traits needed for negotiating go against the expectations of feminine behaviour.

The author also mentions that studies show that when women negotiate on behalf of others, they do not face a sexist backlash. Being demanding and assertive on behalf of others is seen as protective and caring, which are qualities typically associated with women. A successful female negotiator needs to combine positive male characteristics with positive female stereotypes.

It is also mentioned in the text that Catherine Tinsley, who is an expert on gender issues offers advice on how to act in business, so that women feel treated equally. One of those would be, highlighting their multiple roles, for example, employee, manager, mother or community worker.

What surprised me most was that paradoxically, political correctness prevents women and men from discussing the existing gender problems, because in my mind it is a very important issue, which we have to talk about.

What do you think about this topic? Are there still gender issues in working life?

Roberta. 

traits – Charakterzug

backlash – Gegenreaktion

assertive – durchsetzungsstark

negotiator – Verhandlungsführer

paradoxically - seltsamerweise

Fair Trade

Hello everybody!

In our last English lesson, we were talking about the brand or the logo “Fair Trade”. For me personally it is very important that products are fair trade, cruelty free or anything that assures that people and animals haven’t been harmed or exploited.

However, there are split opinions on the logo fair trade, because they are a brand and do more marketing than what they proclaim.

I value every move or action against people and animal exploitation, therefore I support the “Fair Trade” Logo. Of course, as everything else, it has some aspects which you could criticize. If no one criticize something, everything would stay the same. Therefore, it is important, that things are spoken out but as many others, I wouldn’t say it is completely wrong to promote this brand. It is a step in the right direction.

Roberta.

Free trade game

Hello everybody!

I thought that the experiment, which we were allowed to take part at today, really deserves a blog entry. That is why I decided to write about it in the following lines.

We played a game where our class was split up in two unequal groups. Two thirds of my classmates and I were playing the role of a developing country and the other part was a wealthy country. We were asked to produce bread and cars, which had different productions spans in each country. In the first round we were only allowed to trade with our group. Unfortunately, that didn't go well. Almost no one was able to trade with anything, because everyone had a lack of cars and a surplus of bread.

In the second round we were allowed to trade "internationally", so there was no limitation to only our country. Because the development country specialized on the bread production, considering that it was the most efficient for us, we had a shortage of cars. The other ones fabricated both products relatively equally. Therefore, we couldn’t really trade with them.

It was very interesting to see how trading changes, when you do it across the border.

Our little experiment showed how globalisation should not work out. If everyone has specialized on the products they can make most efficiently, global trade would have worked out way better.

Thanks for reading my entry!

Roberta.

School trip to Cornwall

Hello everybody!

I haven’t been posting anything for a really long time. But I am coming back with some exciting news!

My class has planned to visit the beautiful city of Cornwall around June. We are going to stay at a host family but I am a bit concerned about staying at someone else’s place. First of all, I am eating a plant-based diet. For someone who isn’t vegan it’s pretty hard to always cook separately for me and I really don’t want extra treatment or to be a burden for someone. On the other hand, I am a convinced vegan and wouldn’t ever eat meat or dairy again. Therefore, it would be amazing to be in a vegan or at least vegetarian household during that time.

For me personally it is so important to enjoy and spent some time together, because in my opinion it would be bizarre to not even talk to my host family. Although, I am an introverted and shy person I am really looking forward to that!

Since I have been a little child, I was always interested in history and culture. That’s one of the reasons why I would love to experience another country’s culture and find beautiful hidden spots in a completely different area.

Also, I am sure that it will be an experience, that will make a lasting impression!