A colleague wrote recently about
her new employees:
All,
I work for a
company that accepts college students as paid summer interns and also as
6-month term Co-Ops. The students we accept are majors in
Chemistry, Chemical Engineering and Biology. They are sophomore
and junior level students.
We are having
problems with the attire of many of the young ladies who come to us. The
young men have so far not presented any problems. The problems are
these:
1.
The student has
accepted an internship or Co-Op with us that involves working in chemistry
laboratory. I am sure they have all taken a college level chemistry
class, probably several. Yet they show up on the first day with cloth
sneakers, sandals, leggings that expose half their bare leg, etc. When
told that this is not proper lab attire, they are confused and reply that they
have nothing of the sort we consider proper. We require pants (or a
skirt ) that covers the entire leg and a shoe that covers their entire foot
and is leather or fake leather. We even buy them an appropriate shoe,
they just have to have something that will get them by for the 5 or 6 days it
takes for the company-provided shoe to come in. It is sometimes a real
struggle - they don't have a shoe that will get them by, they have absolutely
no appropriate pants (or so they say), when the ordered shoe comes in they for
some reason "forget" to wear it into the lab, I could go on and on.
2.
Attire that is
simply not appropriate for the business environment. Very short skirts,
overly sheer tops, crop tops that expose the belly, extremely high heels,
etc. A Human Resources colleague of mine describes it as "hooker
attire". Maybe a little exaggerated, but you get the idea. Our
company has on at least one occasion sent an intern home to change clothing,
and there are many other instances where we SHOULD have sent someone home.
These young ladies
are majoring in a hard subjects and get good grades or we would not accept
them as interns or Co-Ops. I do not think they realize how bad they make
themselves look when employers have to speak with them about their
attire. I also think they do not realize how hard previous generations
of women have fought for women to be taken seriously in the workplace.
Their dress does not advance that cause.
I am going to
suggest that my company send out information to potential interns on dress
requirements especially for chemical laboratories. Academic institutions
can certainly help provide guidance on this too. I think parents used to
do this, but I believe that is over.
Thank you for
listening. Yes, I am old and growing increasingly grumpy. And I
wear slip-resistant shoes that cover my entire foot and look rather dorky
because I choose to work in a chemistry laboratory.
Certified
Chemical Hygiene Officer (CCHO)
Safety
and Chemical Hygiene Specialist
West
Pharmaceutical Services
Find West
on Twitter and LinkedIn.
"Peifer, Patricia" <Patricia.Peifer**At_Symbol_Here**WESTPHARMA..COM>
wrote:
All,
I work for a company that accepts college students as
paid summer interns and also as 6-month term Co-Ops. The
students we accept are majors in Chemistry, Chemical Engineering and Biology.
They are sophomore and junior level students.
We are having problems with the attire of many of the young
ladies who come to us. The young men have so far not presented any
problems. The problems are these:
1. The student
has accepted an internship or Co-Op with us that involves working in chemistry
laboratory. I am sure they have all taken a college level chemistry
class, probably several. Yet they show up on the first day with cloth
sneakers, sandals, leggings that expose half their bare leg, etc. When
told that this is not proper lab attire, they are confused and reply that they
have nothing of the sort we consider proper. We require pants (or a
skirt ) that covers the entire leg and a shoe that covers their entire foot
and is leather or fake leather. We even buy them an appropriate shoe,
they just have to have something that will get them by for the 5 or 6 days it
takes for the company-provided shoe to come in. It is sometimes a real
struggle - they don't have a shoe that will get them by, they have absolutely
no appropriate pants (or so they say), when the ordered shoe comes in they for
some reason "forget" to wear it into the lab, I could go on and on.
2. Attire that
is simply not appropriate for the business environment. Very short
skirts, overly sheer tops, crop tops that expose the belly, extremely high
heels, etc. A Human Resources colleague of mine describes it as "hooker
attire". Maybe a little exaggerated, but you get the idea. Our
company has on at least one occasion sent an intern home to change clothing,
and there are many other instances where we SHOULD have sent someone home.
These young ladies are majoring in a hard subjects and get
good grades or we would not accept them as interns or Co-Ops. I do not
think they realize how bad they make themselves look when employers have to
speak with them about their attire. I also think they do not realize how
hard previous generations of women have fought for women to be taken seriously
in the workplace. Their dress does not advance that
cause.
I am going to suggest that my company send out information to
potential interns on dress requirements especially for chemical
laboratories. Academic institutions can certainly help provide guidance
on this too. I think parents used to do this, but I believe that is
over.
Thank you for listening. Yes, I am old and growing
increasingly grumpy. And I wear slip-resistant shoes that cover my
entire foot and look rather dorky because I choose to work in a chemistry
laboratory.
Pat Peifer, CCHO
Safety and Chemical Hygiene Specialist
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