

Google: Teach Girls Coding, Get $2,500; Teach Boys, Get $0 - asaddhamani
http://tech.slashdot.org/story/14/04/10/1235219/google-teach-girls-coding-get-2500-teach-boys-get-0

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n00shie
Why are we so OBSESSED with getting more women into the programming business,
and creating an artificial population balance when the natural tendency shows
otherwise?

We just need to make sure that there aren't active forces PREVENTING a group
of the population from getting into the field.

Providing extra rewards and incentives for minorities to do the same job as
the majority is fundamentally discriminatory towards the majority, and at the
same time, further promotes gender, racial and other biases towards the
minority (which I believe these rewards and incentives intended to diminish in
the first place). Thoughts like "oh, she only got this job because she is a
woman" will inevitably surface in the minds of other workers, even if they
don't say it out loud.

Here is the only solution: drop all rewards that are based on race, gender, or
other non-merit based makers. Level the playing field. Make it exactly the
same for everyone to ensure a fair assessment of their skills. Then we can
have real equality.

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edgarallenbro
I am generally anti-feminist, but I support this.

There is a serious lack of women in the tech industry, and it isn't (as some
in the slashdot comments suggest) solvable just by encouraging that companies
hire more women. Companies can't hire more women if there simply aren't that
many women applying because they don't exist in the field. Encouraging more
women to get into the tech industry at a young age is the right approach, IMO.

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collyw
If they don't want to do it, why do we need to encourage them to change their
mind?

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alxjrvs
Because most of them do not think it is an option. They aren't told they can
succeed in STEM careers.

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collyw
I have never heard anyone tell a female that they won't succeed in STEM
subjects.

I hear a lot (relatively) about encouraging more women into tech. Why? So they
train up and decide they don't like it after a couple of years and quit?

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infocollector
H: Google has a shortage of JS devs and women.

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Justsignedup
the numbers are still highly disproportionate. you should see the scholarships
available for female golf payers...

