Those facts are not in dispute, and no one who has not been inside this world has any idea how normalized this misogynist culture is, especially for a firm like Goldman, which has always prided itself on its "classy" reputation.
GS is a large firm, and has a very high profile. It's not a surprise that it's under fire for having an environment like this.
This didn't end with the 1990s. Even now, in 2012, lots of smaller broker-dealers and hedge funds have events that stretch (and cross) the boundaries of HR-acceptability. For those who object to this kind of environment, it's a real dilemma. Filing a lawsuit, or even an HR grievance, can be a severely career-limiting move - after all, what executive wants to promote a person who has a back history of suing their employers?
Another factor may be the fact that Goldman Sachs, and investment banking more generally, requires sacrifices that, even to me (a college intern nearly 10 years ago) seems completely ridiculous.
Investment banks expect their employees to make their work far and away their first priority in life. Working hours are often 8am to 1am, not for any real purpose but just to compete on who is more committed. Weekends? What are those?
Yes, the pay is extremely high. But the vast majority of the partners at Goldman Sachs have sacrificed everything important in life -- family, friends, relationships, marriages, children, hobbies -- just to make tens of millions of dollars per year. It takes a certain kind of poor prioritization to commit to such a career and I'm not surprised that more men than women choose to participate.
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[ 3.7 ms ] story [ 18.9 ms ] threadGS is a large firm, and has a very high profile. It's not a surprise that it's under fire for having an environment like this.
This didn't end with the 1990s. Even now, in 2012, lots of smaller broker-dealers and hedge funds have events that stretch (and cross) the boundaries of HR-acceptability. For those who object to this kind of environment, it's a real dilemma. Filing a lawsuit, or even an HR grievance, can be a severely career-limiting move - after all, what executive wants to promote a person who has a back history of suing their employers?
Investment banks expect their employees to make their work far and away their first priority in life. Working hours are often 8am to 1am, not for any real purpose but just to compete on who is more committed. Weekends? What are those?
Yes, the pay is extremely high. But the vast majority of the partners at Goldman Sachs have sacrificed everything important in life -- family, friends, relationships, marriages, children, hobbies -- just to make tens of millions of dollars per year. It takes a certain kind of poor prioritization to commit to such a career and I'm not surprised that more men than women choose to participate.