I welcome whatever brings more women to programming. I think the field would only flourish with more gender diversity.
At the end of the article they suggest there might be a larger trend at play because anecdotally all workshops are very succesful. So women are interested but maybe intimidated; or not drawn enough to try programming on their own.
I could really care less about penises and vaginas when I'm working through a math or engineering problem and I'm absolutely not alone. I've done a tonne of workshops and conferences and the sex of the other students hasn't even popped onto the radar. Either my professional circle is full of Unicorns, or the issue of requiring a dedicated space to foster female solidarity in the face of insufferable male 'intimidation' is one of political invention.
I tend to view intentional partitioning of communities, rather than inclusive interaction, as counter-productive.
and ~50% of your participants are female? if so, congratulations, you're doing better than most of the tech events I've attended.
My experience has been that (a) women are a minority in almost all computer communities and events, and (b) how large a minority they are correlates strongly to how much effort is made to encourage their participation. Activities like the Boston Python Workshop are effective
I didn't say anything about the ratio, the male/female distribution is irrelevant and would posit that anyone harboring feelings of self doubt or insecurity about their skills will find tech conferences or workshops intimidating, irregardless of their sex. My first GoogleI/O, for instance, was nerve wracking and I barely spoke with anyone on technical matters - even armed with a CS degree and (admittedly miniscule) male genitalia. Feelings are not fact, a little courage and interaction can go a long way.
oh, sure. The under-representation of women is just one, particularly visible, way in which we're losing out on potential talented contributors.
If you can figure out ways to help newcomers participate in conferences despite feeling intimidated, that's also a great way to deepen the talent pool.
The simple fact that these workshops fill up so quickly with women who are excited by the structure is evidence that they are good for the overall programming community,
and therefore, productive.
I suspect if you run a workshop for men only, even the men would wonder why. This is evidence that men don't need men-only workshops.
It would be great if they had an event like this for men who want to learn from the beginning, too. Obviously the same rules should go. Women could come, as guests of the men.
I see you had the bravery to make that statement without resorting to a one-time account, so your karma isn't effected. Bravo!
Now here's my answer: This isn't about sexism. It's about the way a group of men behave when they are working in / learning a field of study where the overwhelming majority have, in the past, been men. It creates a lot of needless tension for the women in the group.
Women stand a far better chance of learning to program when they are in a non-intimidating environment where they don't have to put up with a bunch of condescending jerks (take your pick): staring at them, competing with them, putting them in "their place", patronizing them. And this is not because they are women, but because enough of the guys are jerks. Reverse the roles, and this would be just as true.
I see you had the bravery to make that statement without resorting to a one-time account, so your karma isn't effected. Bravo!
Nothing I said was worthy of sarcasm. I would sincerely enjoy the opportunity to learn python from the ground up with that level of support and mentoring. And yes, it's a little disconcerting that some conferences would keep me out based on my anatomy.
In the face of such support generated by this event, is it so bad to hope for an analogous event aimed at my demographic?
When my husband joined a parent group, it was through an event aimed at seeking out and welcoming full-time dads. The group gained a few cool guys, the guys gained things to do with their little ones, everyone won.
>Women stand a far better chance of learning to program when they are in a non-intimidating environment where they don't have to put up with a bunch of condescending jerks (take your pick): staring at them, competing with them, putting them in "their place", patronizing them.
Hidden in that is the subtle assumption that women need to be protected. Particularly in the clause "competing with them," I find protectionism evident.
Now, I'm not saying these groups shouldn't exist, or that they're wrong, or that a group of mostly men can and often does create a hostile environment for women.
But your phrasing makes me uncomfortable, internally, as if I feel you're not quite leery enough of how much you're using sexism to combat sexism.
There is nothing wrong with that, it is very pragmatic and a good chunk of the 'ism' reasoning behind affirmative action (which I generally support). But "Reverse the roles, and this would be just as true" is essentially saying "If men were women and women were men, we'd still be playing with standard gender roles, so it's fair!" which doesn't quite compute.
Men are already the majority of programmers so this wouldn't be necessary, just reactionary (and you know it, too). I have no problem with workshops for men for skills which are traditionally dominated by women, since in many cases it makes for a more comfortable environment for men to start out in. I've seen men-only parenting classes and craft groups; there are probably others. Why is it so horrible to encourage people to try nontraditional hobbies and skills?
I was asking "Troll_Whisperer" about his hypothetical inverse event aimed at Men. I was not expecting a good answer because I was sure he had not thought through the idea in a meaningful way.
At the end of the article they suggest there might be a larger trend at play because anecdotally all workshops are very succesful. So women are interested but maybe intimidated; or not drawn enough to try programming on their own.
More of these workshops I say.