These characteristics are personal, not gender-based. You have to find ways to make things workthat's just part of living within a society of other people. I'm very aggressive in making the system work and in pointing out where it doesn't work. You need the support of your management, and part of that is your credibility and reputation. NASA is an exciting place to work.
Many more opportunities exist and are provided more quickly.
I moved from bioengineering to digital control systems, then into facility control systems, and eventually I did a purely structural job. I have crossed the line because that's where my skills are, but in a job like this you have to have a broad enough background to make intuitive decisions. It's not inherent in NASA that women aren't going to reach levels of management. More women are reaching higher levels in the agency and are in the pool to be consid ered for higher positions, partly because women are getting the education they need. The advice of NASA's professional women is that if you choose NASA for your career, choose it for the right reasons the challenge, excitement, and opportunities, but not for the money.