Randal Skipper Interview, History 150 Spring 2017, Conducted by Chelsea Skipper, March 23rd 2017.

1. Overview: I conducted this interview with my father via phone call. There was some technical difficulties but all in all it came together. Leading up to the interview my interviewee has a very busy schedule so finding a time he was available was  quite difficult.I used my cell phone for the phone call and recorded our interview on my laptop.

2.Biography: My interviewee was my father Randal Skipper he has been the president of many large businesses over the past 30 years. He has most definitely seen a social change of gender in the workplace. He currently is the EVP of BAE Systems and see’s women making huge strides in the company and they are receiving growing opportunities.

3.Research: Before my interview i made sure to do my research before so i had a better idea of my topic. I focused on gender roles changing in major corporations, so i wanted to see the growing opportunities becoming available for women in the workplace. Wall street journal is beginning to conduct “diversity workshops” to encourage equality in the workplace. This is really important for women’s growing executive roles in companies, to ensure equal treatment. Also i found a very eye opening statistic “only 24% of CEO’s are women” that is a shocking number. Women should be looked at equally to men not lesser, on a positive note women are being put in more and more leadership roles. Women’s role in the workplace is changing and they’re presence is growing.

Interviewee RS: Randal Skipper

Interviewer CS: Chelsea Skipper

CS: Hi i’m Chelsea Skipper i interview Randal Skipper, Do you mind if this video is made public?

RS: No

CS: So i’m pretty much just going to ask you a series of questions, answer them in as much detail as you want. So the first question is Can you describe what it’s like being in charge of companies over the years?

RS: Sure, I have been in this industry for over  25 years prominently in the technology industry, and in many selling roles to managing 2 billion dollar accounts over the years a pretty radical change in the way people are treated within corporations. 10 years ago not much emphasis on equality, over the last 10 years emphasis on diversity and diversity training in terms of treating people equally within the corporation and that equal opportunity is provided for all individuals. Much heavier emphasis on management and diversity training. Getting people better and equal view on  their employment path.

CS: Okay great what are some of the changes you see in the hiring process over the past 20 years?

RS: Well for my company, i currently where i am at i BAE systems which is a 26 billion dollar business and i manage a billion dollar piece of that business for us we have diversity training were hiring both male and females and making sure we have a balanced workforce and providing equal opportunities around sales organization wanna make sure we’re not just hiring males and hire females as well actually evidence is showing that women are showing better results based on performance and their experience in corporations. I think the big change has been around diversity and providing equal opportunities for all cultures and male or female and all ethnic, religion you might have. Its changed alot and this has happened in the last 10 years.

CS: Great, So with hiring more women has women’s roles in the workplace majorly changed in your eyes and in your experience do they have a larger role?

RS: Absolutely i can give you a great example of a women i had hired as a sales rep back 7 years ago this individual came on and out performed was the top salesperson for the company and then she was promoted to a management role and now she just got manager of the year for BAE systems which is  huge honor. She’s clearly demonstrated her ability to grow in the company i think from my perspective there isn’t enough women in the workplace especially around security and technology i think the women that are in my industry right now are phenomenal, they have done great things and will continue to do great things so i’m a big believer i just wish we had more women be able to interview and get into our industry. I’m a big promoter and in my business i require that when we are looking for roles of sales that we are interviewing not just males but a female and a male i’ve actually instituted that in my work and we look from their perspective.

CS: That actually brings me to my next question are there certain requirements for how many women are hired or interviewed for positions?

RS: Yeah i mean that’s exactly right we have put in place it is now a requirement and we are continuing to grow our female executives and they are continuing to grow our diversity in the workforce is very important, i think we are going to continue to have that focus within my company and future companies. There is a big change underway when it comes to women in the workforce.

CS: Okay great! What’s the biggest shift in the women’s role in the workplace that you have personally seen

RS: What’s the biggest shift?

CS: Yeah the biggests shift.

RS: I think the biggest shift is just that you’re starting to see more women in higher level executive positions, which i think is terrific. Um you’re seeing women leading companies and again i think we are going to see more and more of that so i think. The trend is you are going to have more executive level positions for women, specifically i guess in my industry but i think i see it across the board in almost all industries.

CS: Great, okay Can you describe the treatment and respect of women in the workplace?

RS:I’m sorry i didn’t get that!

CS: Can you describe the treatment and respect of women in the workplace? Can you hear me?

RS: I still i’m sorry can you repeat it one more time?

CS: Yeah,  Can you describe the treatment and respect of women in the workplace?

RS:I mean as i said the respect they’re getting is more and more and i think it the awareness and the ability that they are demonstrating and i think we are just going to see more and more of it as we go forward.

CS: Do you think women are taken as seriously as men i higher up positions?

RS: Absolutely like i said i’ve seen more of that i’m a big believer in that, i don’t discriminate between you know races or whether you’re female or male it’s based on your ability especially more so now that’s become more of a natural thing people don’t even think about it. Again from my perspective i see a huge change of the way of the industry.

CS: Okay last question? How does your company accommodate child care of your employees and has that changed over time.

RS: Great questions we have a program in place for childcare, we pay for part of that service.We  are even considering having an on premise child care center in some of our bigger locations. SO i do see that becoming more of a thing more and more. Also more and more men are staying at home and women going to work i see a lot of role reversal starting to happen in business i think companies need to be in tune with that now in today’s world both parents really need to work and we have to be able to provide child care services so that doesn’t become a problem

CS: Alright well great , thank you for taking time to answer my questions you had some great answers and thanks for being a part of my project!

RS: well thank you for having me a part of your project i really enjoyed it, and let me know if i can be a help with any other input down the road, thanks chels!

CS: Alright, thank you.

Overview: Over all I really enjoyed the interview process, i thought the conversation flowed really well and I learned a lot. We ran into a view glitches here and there but I think in the end it all came together. I enjoyed going off script and really listening to how he answered my questions. This process was a really good learning experience, and i would like to more things like this in the future.