April 10, 2007
IBM official to discuss men's, women's work styles
CARBONDALE, Ill. — All things being equal, why do men and women approach work differently?
An executive project manager at IBM will give an entertaining and enlightening look into this common workplace issue during a presentation this month.
Becky Schmieding's presentation, titled "So Do You Really Understand the Opposite Sex," is set for 6:30 p.m. Thursday, April 19 in room A111 in the Engineering Building. The presentation, sponsored by the SIUC chapter of Society of Women Engineers, is free and open to the public.
Janie G. Blanks, a senior in civil engineering from Bonnie and president of the SIUC society, said the majority of today's workforce could relate to Schmieding's message.
"What she has to say can be applied to anybody who works with the opposite sex," Blanks said. "She has great insights into why people do what they do. It's fascinating."
An award-winning speaker and project manager with almost 30 years of experience, Schmieding's presentation examines why men and women do things differently. She also addresses why each sex might gravitate to certain positions and how they each approach work differently.
Schmieding is an IBM-certified executive project manager who has helped develop software and hardware systems for the company since starting there in 1978. She has held a variety of jobs at IBM, including management and providing technical and marketing support for the company's Asia Pacific Marketing. She currently works as a project manager for a product development team working on cell-based products. She is the author of several technical articles.