Gender Politics in the Age of Dot-coms.(Brief Article)

Years ago, when the Internet was new, people said it would do a lot of things. It would make face-to-face communication obsolete. It would make it possible to live in Bali and work in Brussels. And by replacing real offices with faceless virtual ones, the Net would erase the inequalities of the bricks-and-mortar workplace and create a gender- neutral business environment. Of course, all this sounds pretty naive now. Face-to-face communication is as important as it's ever been. And the Internet certainly hasn't erased the boundaries of color, gender and ethnicity.

The Internet has without doubt changed things for working women--in many ways, at least temporarily, for the worse. Until a few months ago, I worked at a European Internet start-up. I originally took the job because I liked the idea of working with open-minded, entrepreneurial types who were creating new business paradigms. Almost immediately, however, I was confronted with a harsh reality of Europe's New Economy: many start-ups were filled with people from the Old Economy, namely investment bankers and management consultants. They often came from cultures that aren't particularly female-friendly, and they brought those cultures with them. Testosterone levels were high. Team spirit was minimal. The possibility for flexible work was trumped by an Old Economy, knee-jerk preference for face time. "A lot of people simply carry over old work practices to new jobs," says Jayne Buxton, co- founder of flametree.co.uk, which deals with work-life issues. "When you mix old habits with new pressures, you get an extremely stressful combination."

Compounding the problem, young companies often don't have the time or resources to make sure everyone is being treated fairly and used efficiently, let alone worry about mentoring and work-family policies. Many don't yet have experienced managers or clear reporting chains in place. Until last spring's market correction, human-resources executives at start-ups spent most of their time maniacally looking for new hires. This doesn't amount to sexism per se, but it can create chaos and cliquishness that makes it impossible for people to work to their potential. (After a few months of battling this sort of chaos, I realized that my talents would be better utilized elsewhere.) "The problem has less to do with gender than inexperience," ...