Interview Reflection

Initially I was not looking forward to doing this interview. I was planning on asking the questions and getting brief answers and getting this assignment over with. I picked my Aunt because it was easy access and figured it would be cut and dry. However once the interview began I realized how wrong I was. When I read the questions for the first time I could not pinpoint one question that I thought would result in an interesting response so I decided to ask all the possible questions, then went back to certain topics that showed possibility.
The two questions that evoked the most interesting responses from my aunt were what were the expectations and opportunities she had at my age and what was the work place like when she started. I found these the most interesting because I find it interesting to see how beliefs, values, and expectations have changed so drastically in just a few decades. It is interesting to see the parallels and differences she experienced at my age.
As I had expected the opportunities were limited for my aunt when she was in college. Women were expected to attend college and receive a higher education. However, women were also expected to become a teacher or nurse, or perform some other “pink collar” jobs that were deemed feminine and acceptable for women of that time. My aunt went against the norm and majored in chemistry-which was predominately males. The year she graduated there were only 10 women out of 50 chemistry majors.
College was seen as a time for women to meet men and to prepare for marriage after college. My aunt however, said she thought she would never get married. It’s not that she did not want to but it was just not something she saw in her near future, she was focused on school. But her junior year she met my uncle and obviously changed her mind since she has been married to him for 20 some odd years. I cannot imagine going to college and one of the main goals being to find a husband. I know even today that happens since college tends to occur within these prime reproductive and biological years. This reminds me of how my friends have reacted to the women in college, especially in the South. Not all but many of the women are “bred” still to be southern bells, and go to college to find a suitable husband. I remember hearing also that now some of the colleges are offering a major in homemaking. Not that there is a problem with any of that but especially today, and the increasing costs of college I cannot imagine attending college to find a husband.
Another interesting aspect to my aunt’s interview was speaking of her first job as a chemist. Her first job was as a research chemist at American Hoechst. She told me when she went in for the interview she consciously removed her engagement ring since she knew if the company knew she was getting married they would not hire her. The company would worry she was going to need to take time off for the wedding and god forbid she would want to eventually have kids, than they would have to pay for maternity leave. Once she got the job she felt because she was a woman in a man’s career she was expected to work much harder as well as put up with men hitting on her in the workplace, which was acceptable! Once a man patted her on the butt, and she turned around and told him if he ever did that again she would break every bone in his hand. You would think obviously intelligent men would be able to look past the fact of gender and work equally, but even to this day she feels she still has to work harder to be seen and heard.
I find it courageous and a sign of great strength to be able to fight so many societal expectations. I cannot imagine having to try and excel through college and into the workforce while fighting men’s stigma of women, even though it still occurs today. It is amazing how successful she came out of the whole experience as well. I am glad I did this interview with my aunt it allowed me to take a glimpse into her past and really see what makes her who she is today.