DeBoer, Kathleen.   Gender and Competition: How Men and Women Approach Work and Play Differently. Coaches Choice Books, 2004.

The chapter entitled "The Results of Competitive Achievement" is written from a woman's perspective who is working as an administrator in the male dominated field of college athletics.   While she is the boss of various people, this article focuses on her experiences as leading both male and female coworkers.   The topics included in her discussion range from the differing approaches she consciously takes with males and females, being either "one of the girls," or being "one of the guys,"   to dealing with dress code and the feminist dilemma of having to accept the patriarchal setting in which she works.   Through first hand experience and a witty commentary on her workplace, the author provides insight for women who face or will face the predicament of being a successful white-collar working woman.   Self-identified as a feminist, the author reveals the inner struggle she has with her politics and her work life.   While it is never explained as an easy task, she incorporates the ways she both conforms and fights against the system; thus, the article provides insight on a balancing act that inevitably shares both failure and success. - B.H.

This article is highly recommended.   DeBoer provides detailed personal accounts of her experience as the only woman in a male-dominated leadership position, working among female assistants.   She speaks of the connection she felt with the other women, but also discusses how these women never treated her in the same way as her male managerial counterparts, and of the ways she felt obligated to treat her female assistants differently than the men did.     In addition, she comments upon the compliments she received from her male counterparts for being "one of the boys."   Her ideas directly relate to feminist theories of intersecting identities, specifically Trinh T. Minh-ha's theory of the "inappropriate other."   DeBoer also highlights the different ways men and women view and function in hierarchies, the necessity for women managing women to learn under a model of female leadership, and the importance of her body image within her workplace.   Overall, this article is applicable to a wide range of feminist theories about women in competition or communion, and the pressures women feel as the minority in male-dominated leadership positions. -B.G.