
Why don't more women work in IT? - twampss
http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2009/feb/04/women-it-naomi-alderman
======
tjic
I'm sure that there are women out there who are better programmers than I am
(probably thousands of them!), but - as Camille Paglia argues - the bellcurve
of female drive and talent is narrower than the bellcurve of male drive and
talent. There are a lot of great sociobiological reasons for this - for
example, something like 90% of women reproduce, but just 50% of guys do. Guys
are driven to find and conquer hard challenges in part to gain access to
fertile women. This translates into behaviors like studying programming for
years, working long days, etc.

Also, it's hard not to believe that a larger percentage of men have the
mathematical / analytical mindset that is a prerequisite for most IT jobs.

The politically correct will worry at this question for decades, because
they're incapable of seeing the answers that are right in front of their
noses.

~~~
cchooper
IT does not require particularly long hours most of the time, and it certainly
doesn't require years of study (many IT professionals have never studied it at
all). At the same time, many jobs with long hours and years of study have more
than 7% female participation.

~~~
gravitycop
_many IT professionals have never studied it at all_

These IT professionals have never coded at home? They have never read even
_part_ of a single book on coding?

~~~
cchooper
Not all IT professionals are programmers. Not all coders do it for fun.

~~~
tjic
> Not all coders do it for fun.

These are the ones I try not to hire.

------
Jem
How apt. I'd just finished a blog entry on the sexism I suffer, and have
always suffered, as a woman in IT.

"Sociobiological reasons" aside, women in IT are leered at and heckled; their
accomplishments are looked over in favour of male colleagues. Others in IT
make assumptions and generalisations about their female counterparts without
even realising they're doing it.

Women who don't have the mental strength to overcome this eventually get out
of the industry (or avoid getting in to it in the first place.)

~~~
indiejade
I agree that it can be massively frustrating as a female in this industry.

True story: last year, I had an interview with Nasa Ames Research. A recruiter
had called me up and said he had some Linux-oriented position for which they
were hiring.

So I made it out to the interview, was interviewed by a couple of people, and
alas, given a Microsoft machine during the last part of the interview. I was
then ridiculed because I couldn't remember off the top of my head how to get
to the default C:\\\command-prompt on Microsoft Windows because I have been
working almost exclusively on Unix variant machines for the past 4 or 5 years.
I eventually got it, but almost felt like the interviewer put me in a position
where I was made to look and feel stupid, despite the fact that the recruiter
had told me that I was interviewing for a Unix-type position.

I was not hired. The recruiter told me it was because I don't have a car.
(This info was NOT in the job description or requirements, and I'm pretty sure
it is _illegal_ to deny somebody employment for not owning a car -- should I
sue?). I suspect the real reason I wasn't hired was because I am a female. I
suspect if I were to attempt to "fight it," I'd also lose because I'm female
(well, maybe only during the last Administration's reign). :)

All in all, I was out almost a full day of my time, public transportation
costs, and down a whole lot of hope for females in this industry.

P.S. This is the real deal <http://oss.zentu.net/?q=node/27>

~~~
tjic
> given a Microsoft machine... the interviewer put me in a position where I
> was made to look and feel stupid, despite the fact that the recruiter had
> told me that I was interviewing for a Unix-type position.

Yeah, maybe.

...but do you think that had anything to do with you being female?

Do you honestly think that male interview candidates were given linux boxes,
and they kept a windows box on a shelf in the closet JUST to trip up female
candidates?

I suggest that the problem was that either the recruiter was an idiot, or that
you applied for a government job.

~~~
indiejade
If interviewers would like potential employees to bring their own
(built/customized/configured) laptops to interviews in order to demonstrate
competence in a specific area, they should _specifically_ state so.

Edit: recruiters tend to mess up the communication process.

------
indiejade
Maybe because nobody will hire them?

