* Home * My Feed * Saved The Telegraph (BUTTON) * News * Politics * World * Sport * Technology * Business * Money * Opinion * Obituaries * Travel * Culture * Lifestyle * Women * Family * Health and Fitness * Fashion * Luxury * Cars * Free Mobile App * Jobs * Financial Solutions * Rewards * Events * Dating * Offers * Shop * Garden Shop * Bookshop * Tickets * Puzzles * Fantasy Football * Voucher Codes * Work at The Telegraph * Telegraph Corporate * Search * Video * Rewards * Subscribe now * My Account My details My newsletters Logout Upgrade to Premium * Search * Video * Rewards * Subscribe - 30 days free * Login * Register * Search * Video * Rewards * My Account My details My newsletters Logout The Telegraph * Home * News * Sport * Business (BUTTON) ALL SECTIONS * Lifestyle * Women * Politics * Work * Sex * Life * Women Mean Business * Columnists * Facebook Group * Telegraph Dating (BUTTON) More * Telegraph * Lifestyle * Women * Work How to cope with working in a male-dominated office - and get promoted * * * * Save Louisa advises a reader who feels isolated as the only woman manager at work Louisa advises a reader who feels isolated as the only woman manager at work Credit: Alamy * Louisa Symington-Mills, Telegraph Women careers agony aunt 1 December 2015 • 9:30am (BUTTON) Follow Follow the author of this article * Louisa Symington-Mills I graduated from university four years ago with a business degree and am now a junior manager for a fast-growing IT company. I've been promoted twice in the last year. However the company is staffed almost entirely by men and I’m the only female in a managerial role, so I feel incredibly out of place. Although I get on well with my colleagues, I'm constantly self-conscious. I’m proud of my career progress and enjoy the responsibility, but I can't help thinking I should leave and move to a different sector where I would feel more comfortable. Help! Working in a profession dominated heavily by the opposite sex can be a daunting experience – whether you’re male or female. It’s well understood that men and women react differently to their working environment, resulting in behavioural and emotional variations - which can create challenges for both. Our society remains driven by our perception of gender roles and stereotypes. This informs how we see men who work in traditionally 'female sectors' (such as nursing) and women in 'male roles'. And the effect of these influences can feel multiplied when it’s a question of one versus many. You’ve landed a great job in an exciting business that offers you managerial responsibility at a comparatively early stage in your career – a fantastic achievement. For all your success at work, it’s also absolutely logical you feel strained as a result of your experience of being one of a very few women - and indeed the only woman at managerial level. "Women in male-dominated occupations have less healthy patterns of cortisol - a hormone linked to stress response and immune function". Earlier this year, Indiana University measured the cortisol patterns of women working in office environments where men made up 85 per cent or more of the staff. The research found women in male-dominated occupations have less healthy patterns of cortisol - a hormone linked both to stress response and immune function - throughout the day. The resulting impact on personal health and wellbeing shouldn’t be taken lightly. Just this week, a new study found that one in three young women, aged 18 to 30, think men are better suited to being an IT technician compared to 10 per cent of older women, aged 31 and over. So if the vast majority of your peer group think you aren’t suited to working in a male-dominated industry, it’s understandable you might be questioning it too. These are your challenges at the moment. You must prioritise your health and happiness You must prioritise your health and happiness Credit: Alamy Here’s what’s working in your favour: you’re great at your work; you enjoy your role; you get on well with your colleagues; the job is exciting and has potential. You’re in a strong position; you have a very useful and transferable degree, and are currently gaining great experience by working for a fast-growing business that’s allowing you to shine early on in your career. In spite of the complexity of what you’re feeling, I believe your question is reasonably straightforward to answer. If the positive enjoyment your feel for your job and career path outweighs the negative anxiety you feel as a result of being in a gender minority – and my sense from reading your letter is that this is the case – then you should persevere with the role you have. If, on the other hand you feel your wellbeing is being compromised and your situation is creating stress which is proving increasingly hard to manage, then you must prioritise your health and happiness. "Assertiveness is a mindset as much as a skill, so keep in mind why you were hired and promoted". If you stay, then here some tips and strategies you can use to give yourself the confidence to move onwards and upwards at work: Stop the self-doubt: Your self-confidence is being undermined because you’re acutely aware of how you differ from your colleagues. You need to embrace and accept these differences, and focus instead on reminding yourself of all your positive attributes in order to reinforce your confidence. Assertiveness is a mindset as much as a skill, so keep in mind why you were hired and promoted. Be yourself: It may be tempting to feel you have to change yourself and your working or management style to fit in with others around you. But don’t – it’s a sure-fire way to undermining your own happiness at work in the long term. Instead, make sure you’re playing to your strengths and focus on being authentic. Add to your skills: Being confident professionally will really help support your conviction in yourself, and will enhance your managerial authority. Think about your senior colleagues at work and whether there is any training or further education you can organise yourself that would cement your knowledge or soft skills, then sign yourself up. Find a mentor or sponsor at work Find a mentor or sponsor at work Credit: Alamy Find a sponsor: This is someone senior and influential at your firm who will endorse you, look out for you, and generally shout about your talent and potential to whoever will listen. A sponsor should help you focus your ambition and make the most of the career opportunity ahead of you, and studies have shown they can be particularly helpful to women in male-dominated workplaces. Push for change: You have a growing profile in a small and innovative business, so use your influence to persuade your senior management of the benefits of recruiting a more diverse workforce – it’s not as unrealistic a proposition as it may sound. Present a case for implementing diversity targets to your management team, and explore how your firm can broaden its recruitment strategy to ensure the business is attracting a diverse workforce according to gender, racial and educational background. Good luck. Louisa Symington-Mills works in private equity as a COO and is founder and CEO of Citymothers and Cityfathers, networks of more than 6,000 parents in City careers. She is The Telegraph's careers agony aunt. Email your work and business questions to: work.advice@telegraph.co.uk Louisa cannot print answers to every single question submitted, but she does read all your emails. Please note that by submitting your question to Louisa, you are giving your permission for her to use your question as the basis of her column, published online at Wonder Women. All questions will be kept anonymous and key details, facts and figures may change to protect your identity. 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