Working "5 to 9"

The Monday after Valentine's Day, Fox's critically acclaimed House, M.D. aired an episode rather removed from its usual medical drama. Instead of concentrating on a mysteriously sick patient and a laundry list of diagnostic hypotheses, "5 to 9" gave a glimpse into the hectic, stressful, and impressive life of Lisa Cuddy, hospital administrator extraordinaire. Dean of Medicine at Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital, where the show is set, Cuddy is also a single mom and often a rational foil to the eponymous doctor of the series. Fictional she may be, but I imagine that the warzone Cuddy is shown confronting — replete with hostile employees, domestic worries, and ridiculous amounts of paperwork — is a daily reality for many women. Most are likely deprived of the libidinous snark of one blue-eyed, cane-wielding Dr. House, but the truth of the matter is, female scientists, doctors, and administrators must hurdle multiple obstacles to succeed in their respective positions.

The interesting aspect of "5 to 9" is that screenwriter Thomas Moran chose to emphasize Cuddy's gender rather than neutralize it — she is cursed as a "bitch" several times throughout the episode. Indeed, only one of the antagonists she has to face is another woman; the rest are men (notably, pretty boy Robert Chase does not make a prolonged appearance).

I can't say this is the first time I've seen an illustration of the "glass ceiling" or encountered a woman frustrated with perceived sexual discrimination. Just the other week, I was taking the shuttle to the lab where I work when I overheard a woman behind me explaining why she had switched fields. Biology has been far friendlier to women than chemistry, she argued. She believed that there was a prevalence of Asian and Indian women, who are apparently accustomed to gender bias, as compared with Caucasians in chemistry. I was indignant, but her opinion made me wonder: what really is, and determines, the gender and ethnicity breakdown across science-oriented fields, not only in research but also in industry, publishing, patent law, or venture capitalism?

Last summer, I was a member of a community-oriented program for undergraduate researchers. We were invited to one panel event that featured three women (all with PhDs, established scientific careers, and children) speaking about their "off the bench" experiences. While describing the responsibilities of a typical week, one rattled off a huge list of conflicts that required her to be in multiple countries at once. An extremely successful couple based at Harvard Medical School once proclaimed there's no good time to have a child — you have to emulate Nike and just do it.

These real-life women with their real-life professional careers represent the progress that has been made in the way of attaining gender equality over the past several decades. The significance of that improvement cannot be denied. The question now is whether attitudes have changed about the presence of women in the workplace as well as their role at home. The American College of Healthcare Executives (ACHE) conducts a study every five years comparing the career attainments of male and female healthcare executives. In their most recent 2006 report (sample size: 837 individuals), ACHE found that, compared to previous years, there was comparable mobility within an organization for both sexes, more females had achieved CEO status, and there were high levels of career satisfaction overall. However, women on average still earned 18% less than men (a gap similar to what had been observed since 1990) while 31% of women versus 1% of men believed they served as their children's primary caregiver.¹

Another survey study conducted two years earlier explored professional and quality-of-life issues for female pediatric surgeons. It found that while most of the 95 respondents were satisfied with their careers, they desired role models and more mentorship.²

"5 to 9" is one of the few instances wherein I've seen such a role model — albeit a fictional one — appear, and be represented candidly by the media. In this episode, Cuddy ultimately prevails over the challenges she faces, and her strength and independence are made that much more evident because of her success. She doesn't make it look easy, though, which is the point: despite having to constantly check her watch, receive urgent calls, and resolve trivial disputes, she maintains her integrity and her devotion to her work and personal life. At the end of the day, she finds time to be with her family — a happy ending that suggests the possibility of accomplishment under duress, recognizes the compromises one has to make to achieve such ambition, and lauds those compromises.

Image Credit: http://wikimedia.org

References:

1. American College of Healthcare Executives. A Comparison of the Career Attainments of Men and Women Healthcare Executives (2006).

2. Caniano, D. et al. Keys to career satisfaction: insights from a survey of women pediatric surgeons. Journal of Pediatric Surgery 39, 984–990 (2004).