This week’s reading focuses mostly on plagiarism. This is nothing new to me, as I have heard the same stuff about it since I was in middle school. I have never plagiarized and never will, especially because it is so easy to get caught now-a-days. PWOnline states the main guideline when it comes to plagiarism is “Give credit where credit is due.” This is obviously the best way to put it, because you should never steal anyone else’s work. The plagiarism section in the reading seemed to be just repetitive. Everyone knows the rules when it comes to plagiarism, whether or not they chose to do it. The reading states plagiarism is “Unacknowledged borrowing of others’ writing.” Whether you used someone’s exact words, or co-create work with a friend, it is plagiarism. Many people talk about ‘accidental plagiarism’, which means that you don’t intent to steal someone else’s work. I feel that sometimes people don’t actually realize they are plagiarizing, and may miss a citation or two. This has happened to me a few times without even recognizing it from the start. I believe that small mistakes like this usually go unnoticed by either the teacher or student, and no problem arises. If a teacher were to catch this type of ‘accidental plagiarism’, I would think that they would talk with the student to fix it rather than making a big deal of it. I understand there is a lot of controversy surrounding ‘accidental plagiarism’, but I still tend to think that it exists, because all people make mistakes.

I now want to turn to the section about gender in the workplace before I start to ramble on about plagiarism. There is obviously a lot surrounding this topic, so I will just give my take on it. I understand the fact that women hold fewer leadership roles in business. I think that the personality differences between men and women account for this statistic. Women, IN GENERAL, tend to be more emotional, which can affect decision making in tough times. Men tend to be able to handle stress better, which is why leadership skills are more associated with them. I also feel that our history as Americans has a lot to do with this. In the past, men were expected to buy the house, feed the family, and go to work. In today’s society, women are starting to make a name for themselves in the workplace, but I still believe the mentality of men being stronger and wiser still lingers. This may be because every president has been a man, so people just associate them with being able to be a leader. This is a very controversial issue, and I could go on for days, so I’ll leave it with just one last statement. Men may still control the workplace in many different aspects, but there is no doubt that women have made some large strides within the past decade.