You won’t find anything, anywhere on this subject! You might know better, though, If you know something please leave a comment. The question I am asking is this:

Does the gender profile of employees and volunteers at cat and animal shelters have any impact on various aspects of the running of the organization and is this something that might be investigated?

Rescue cat yawns – Photo by Amber Dubya

The first question is, is there a gender bias in animal rescue generally; is the average rescue center mainly staffed by women? Or is it a 50/50 mix? Or do men manage and women volunteer? I don’t know because there is no information. The Northeast Animal Shelter has 11 staff, 10 of which are females (I have presumed that ‘Randi’ is female). It is located in Salem, USA. Is this typical?

I am not going to succumb to stereotyping. Many women have male characteristics and many men have female characteristics. That is normal. There is a large middle ground.

However, the gender profile of an organisation or type of business does usually have an impact on the way the individual business, and the whole sector, is run.

The classic and unfortunate example is the banking sector mainly managed by male humans of a macho and ambitious kind. Look at the mess they made for the rest of us.

Nursing is dominated by females because of their nurturing skills. I would expect there to be more women working at cat rescue that men. If that is true might it have an impact on the overall running of the entire business sector. And might a more balanced staff profile be beneficial?

Take banking again. If there were more women in very senior positions in the banking sector, it is highly likely that there would have been less risk taking with our money. Banking would probably have been more cautious, old-style banking. We need a return to old-style banking, it is argued.

Likewise there may be advantages to placing appropriately qualified men in certain positions in the animal welfare world where the innate skills of the male human could be employed to good effect. For example, taking bold initiatives to create a wide ranging team network of shelters to share detailed information. If this is already in place please tell me.

I am not saying that more men in animal welfare (if there is a dearth of men presently) would be beneficial. I don’t know. It may make things worse. I am simply asking the question.

Stereotypically, the male human is said to be more self-confident and rebellious than the more passive and accepting female human.

I am not going to make any proposals or arguments on this delicate subject. I’ll just ask the question, which I believe is worth asking.

There is a lot of talk in the UK and probably in the USA and other countries about, for example:

• appointing more female judges
• appointing more female politicians (MPs)
• appointing more women to the boardroom.

This is a recognition of the value of striking a balance between the sexes in the work place so both can bring their skills and serve all citizens in a balanced way.

The same could be said about the cat rescue business perhaps. I recognise that in the USA women have greater access to senior positions, thankfully. Well that is the impression I have.

Can someone enlighten me on this rarely discussed subject?

Flickr profile of photographer