Queen Bees of the Workplace

"The very women who have complained for decades about unequal treatment now perpetuate many of the same problems by turning on their own"(Wall Street Journal).

Image from the movie Devil Wears Prada

    For women in the workplace, getting a job might not be the toughest part. "Queen bee syndrome," although it sounds like something that would have been used in middle school, is actually a term that refers to when, as this article states, "women who achieved success in male-dominated environments
at times...oppose the rise of other women." The word that stands out to me here is "oppose," meaning to attempt to prevent something. In a world where men seem to have the upper hand in many fields of business, it seems that women in positions of power should want to help to make women more prevalent in the workplace, rather than wanting to prevent it. I have seen examples of this in many movies, including Devil Wears Prada (as pictured), but was unaware of how common it was in the real world, as well. A 2007 survey of 1,000 American workers, released by the San Francisco-based Employment Law Alliance, reported that of 45% of those who said they were bullied at the office, 40% were bullied by women. Another survey of 1,000 women workers, taken in 2011, found that 95% said to have been undermined by another woman during their career.
    The main reason that I think this happens is because, especially in a male-dominated work place, women are afraid of losing their jobs due to the fact that they may be one of the only women in a position of power. In some ways, this reminds me of Mr. Bolos' presentation in which we discussed why we still have inequality. One of the reasons was efforts of the powerful, which has to do with the fact that powerful people have the means to sway things in their direction. Women in positions of power have the means to undermine other women, and as awful as it may sound, they will use this to make sure that other women do not gain the same amount of power as they have. In my opinion, us girls have to stick together, but unfortunately, there are some queen bees out there who apparently don't agree with that motto. What do you think the reason for "Queen Bee Syndrome" is?