Is this out of line? Or should I not say anything?

[Starfish]

I would like some advice before I send the following email to a work colleague. The basic situation is that the guy I am writing to has not renewed another employee's contract for very flimsy reasons. Basically, I think that it's because this employee was the only woman in his department and hence didn't 'fit in'. I think that this is setting a very bad precedent, so want to say something before it becomes an issue. Or should I not say anything? Part of me doesn't want to be labelled as trouble maker, but another part of doesn't want to sit back and let something unjust happen. The industry is tertiary education.

This is what I want to write:
"This doesn’t really concern me directly, and I doubt that you are doing this deliberately, but basically here it is: It is not my place to say who you hire to work in your department, and I admit that I don’t really know the reasons behind you not re-hiring M, but I think that in the long term it is really detrimental to your department to have no female staff at all. As you are no doubt aware, there are only a small number of girls who enroll in your major or take your subjects, however a lot of these end up getting top marks and being very good students. Yet they have no one within the department to look up to as a role model or as a mentor. As long as you continue to organise things like golf games and call it staff development, this will always be the case, which I think is a bad thing in the long term. Just something to think about…"

Am I stepping out line by doing this? The manager in question has been known to make comments such as "girls are only good at admin", etc, so this is not really an isolated incident. Any thoughts??

[helle]

Personally I don't think you should get involved. I think it's up to the person involved to fight her own battle, iykwim.
Not to mention if I was the boss of somewhere I wouldn't like to be told how to run something by my staff after I've already made the choice... and if I was male management i'd probably like it even less ><;

[Enchanted]

I would stay out of it. It's up to the person concerned to take it up with the person who hasn't renewed their contract.
I think it will cause unnecessary drama for you if you send it.

[RhiChiChi]

Personally I don't think you should get involved. I think it's up to the person involved to fight her own battle, iykwim.
Not to mention if I was the boss of somewhere I wouldn't like to be told how to run something by my staff after I've already made the choice... and if I was male management i'd probably like it even less ><;

Yeah, I agree with Helle. I think it is inappropriate for you to be involved, particularly since you are not involved in the hiring process of that department. If the person is not happy with the decision for not re-hiring then they should seek the appropriate channels for either reconsideration or a complaint.

[Teeki]

I'm with helle and enchanted, I'd probably steer clear of the situation. I think if you did have clear evidence as to why her contract was not renewed, and it did affect you, I'd speak to his or your line manager. At least that way if it is found there's an issue to be resolved, it'll be coming from someone who can do something about it you know?

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[Nai]

It is a HR issue and if you are really concerned I would put in a request for them to investigate. You are not to know if it was a performance issue so I would be keeping out of it and referring it to someone who should be looking at it.

[sloane]

personally, i'd leave it alone. if you were involved in the hiring process then it would have been appropriate to raise it (and if i were going to say something, i'd try to avoid doing it by email) but if you're not involved then it really is up to them to say something. HR should be on top of this & there's always a chance that there were other issues you don't know about.

[MamaPan]

I agree w what Nai said. There may well be other reasons and you dont want to get into the middle of things without the full story. You could talk to HR (esp re the other comments he has made..)

[NaeNae]

yep I would do what Nai said too .... stay out of it hun you might end up causing yourself some trouble.

[Starfish]

Thanks for your advice. I might wait for a while and see what happens.

I may not have made myself clear before - it is not really about this woman that was not rehired, but the general exclusive environment iykwim?? I just want to alert this manager to something that he most likely hasn't considered before it becomes an issue. But maybe this is not the way to go about it...

[Taurean]

I totally agree with the others - unless you're in HR then that is definitely not your job. It wouldn't hurt to send an email to HR or chat to a HR rep about your concerns though.

[Just Me]

I agree with Nai - take it up with HR and let them look into it especially if you think it might be a gender discrimination issue. I would worry that maybe there are issues at play here that you can't see - like budget cuts and other things. If she was only a temp, there might not have been money to renew her contract or the job description may have changed.

Sorry Starfish - posted at the same time as you. I can understand your concerns about gender discrimination and most workplaces take it very seriously. Have a chat to HR because they might be able to look into ways that they can become a more inclusive work environment.

[sloane]

it is tough to watch & to feel that you're working in a bit of a 'boy's club' but in my experience, saying something to the manager will only make him defensive (and probably reinforce his stupid opinion of women)....if anything, you could have a chat to HR but unless there's a lot of momentum behind it (i.e. other people thinking the same) it's probably not going to change much

[HotI]

As you are no doubt aware, there are only a small number of girls who enroll in your major or take your subjects, however a lot of these end up getting top marks and being very good students.

If the students are tertiary students then call them women, not girls.

[Heaven]

Yep, I agree, stay out of it.

[black_rose]

I was in tertiary education before being a sahm. My advice is to refer your concerns to hr but make sure your name is kept out of it. I have seen depts filled with mates, places filled without interviews and only certain types of people.
Where I worked they finally put their foot down and put systems in place. I found that the environment can be very petty and stressful when everyone is on a yearly contract.

[LionsandBears]

I'd back off and talk to HR about your concerns if there is a HR department. I wouldnt do it in writing either. I'd be making an appt/ having a coffee chat.

If you were going to write something, I'd rewrite it. The language is very passive and gives an impression of being weak and insecure. The use of the terms "girls" also undos what you're trying to achieve. I'd remove all the prefacing about it being none of your business, because you're basically giving him his argument back to you.

If you bring it up with HR or whomever, do it directly. ie, "I notice you have no/few women in the department." leave silence to get them to fill in. "Is it standard recruiting practice to exclude women from the department?" Or you could write "It concerns me how few women are in the department. What is the company's recruitment policy?" "How do we get more women in the department?" etc etc.

I admire what you're trying to do, but you need a more assertive way to go about it. Also, you may want to develop more political savvy. Machiavelli's The Prince is worth studying.

[Liviam]

Definetly wouldn't get involved. If you are concerned lodge an inquiry request with HR.