Curs: Masculinity vs Femininity

As a young Dutch engineer, I once applied for a junior management job with an American engineering company, which had recently settled in Flanders, the Dutch-speaking part of Belgium. I felt well qualified: with a degree from the senior technical university of the country, good grades, a record of active participation in student associations, and three years’ experience as an engineer with a well-known, although somewhat sleepy Dutch company.

I had written a short letter indicating my interest and providing some vital personal data. I was invited to appear in person, and after a long train ride, I sat facing the American plant manager. I behaved politely and modestly, as I knew an applicant should, and waited for the other man to ask the usual questions which would enable him to find out how qualified I was. To my surprise he asked very few things that I thought should be discussed. Instead, he wanted to know some highly detailed facts about my experience in tool design, using English words I did not know, and the relevance of which escaped me. Those were the things I could learn within a week once I worked there. After half an hour of painful misunderstandings, he said ‘Sorry – we need a first class man.’ And I was out in the street. (Hofstede, 1997 : 79)