Men Rule and Women….are ignored?
I (27f) have been working in nuclear medicine for almost 5 years. I have seriously enjoyed my work and have been at my current job around 4 years. I have worked with the same people the entire time- 4 men, all older than 50. I am the only woman in the department and it is exhausting.
The men are all pals. They talk and heehaw around everyday- and that’s totally fine. I don’t expect to be friends with them given the age gaps and gender differences. I do make an effort at some kind of relationship with them by bringing in cakes for birthdays and attempting conversation. I think they do their best to reciprocate that to me, too.
I work very hard to be efficient, and I am just as good at the job as they are- I can run circles around them. One of my coworkers is particularly lazy and is an utter asshole in general but he is one of the most well liked technologists by Cardiologists and the like. In fact, whenever a Cardiologist or surgeon comes into the department I am completely ignored and dismissed- when they come in, they want to talk to the men only. I guess they assume I am of no help, I really don’t know what the reason is. This has been bothering me for quite some time. I thought at first it was the kind of situation where you have to “earn” their respect, but I have been here long enough now that that no longer stands as an excuse.
I guess I’m wondering if anyone else has come across this kind of dismissive behavior by higher ups (primarily Cardiologists) in your Nuc med departments? Any tips on what I can do to improve this behavior besides getting a boob job and dyeing my hair blonde? Thank you in advance.