Where are the Female Programmers?(blog.overclocked.com)
blog.overclocked.com
Where are the Female Programmers?
http://blog.overclocked.com/2012/07/01/where-are-the-female-programmers/
2 comments
I graduated in 2003 with a computer science degree. I was one of two females out of 60 in my program. Neither myself or my other female counterpart continued on programming for very long after graduating. Why? Its simple after 4 yrs of basically communicating only with a computer we needed the human interaction element that is missing from programming. Women love to talk to real people, end of story.
Huh.
That doesn't ring true to me. Professional software development is inherently a collaborative process. Yes, there are portion of the day or week when the primary interaction is the human struggling with the computer to bend the machine to the human will, but the process of defining the product, the architecture, and the implementation -- even in a small company -- is work that involves interpersonal interaction.
I don't know any software developer who doesn't need to -- and benefit from -- talking to real people on a daily basis. The successful programmers are the ones who can actually do this without burning bridges and making enemies.
So: I'd love to hear more about your experience, because it's a pretty far cry from anything I've seen.
That doesn't ring true to me. Professional software development is inherently a collaborative process. Yes, there are portion of the day or week when the primary interaction is the human struggling with the computer to bend the machine to the human will, but the process of defining the product, the architecture, and the implementation -- even in a small company -- is work that involves interpersonal interaction.
I don't know any software developer who doesn't need to -- and benefit from -- talking to real people on a daily basis. The successful programmers are the ones who can actually do this without burning bridges and making enemies.
So: I'd love to hear more about your experience, because it's a pretty far cry from anything I've seen.
One possible answer: "looking for another career".
Seriously, after you move around a few times and keep seeing the same things happen, you might decide it's unfixable and move on.
Seriously, after you move around a few times and keep seeing the same things happen, you might decide it's unfixable and move on.
What kinds of things have you seen that you think would send people out of the industry? I'm not disagreeing--I'm curious.
Well, in general, and I know this is circular, but ... a lack of people who think like me. Basically, you'll just be there, doing your thing in your natural way, and it will clash with someone important sooner or later. This will hold you back. This can be really stupid stuff like communication styles (or the fact that you talk your way through things while your coworkers don't).
At that point you can jump to another venue and hope for improvement, or try to alter your behavior to be less than genuine. Basically, start acting like someone else at work. The acting thing wears thin sooner or later.
I can dig up a citation for that last claim if you like. I've also written a bunch of my own posts about these topics over the past year or so. http://rachelbythebay.com/w/2011/06/04/fireandforget/ is one of them.
At that point you can jump to another venue and hope for improvement, or try to alter your behavior to be less than genuine. Basically, start acting like someone else at work. The acting thing wears thin sooner or later.
I can dig up a citation for that last claim if you like. I've also written a bunch of my own posts about these topics over the past year or so. http://rachelbythebay.com/w/2011/06/04/fireandforget/ is one of them.
Thanks for the link to your blog, and this post. The irony of this post is that I have never worked anywhere where the developers did not think the codebase was a pile of crap. That's pretty much what a codebase is. See also, http://www.osnews.com/story/19266/WTFs_m
That's not male or female developers, that's all developers. However, I am interested in the "Fire and Forget" meme applied to software management. I'm going to noodle on that some more.
That's not male or female developers, that's all developers. However, I am interested in the "Fire and Forget" meme applied to software management. I'm going to noodle on that some more.
I remember reading about this case not so long ago http://geekfeminism.wikia.com/wiki/Noirin_Shirley_ApacheCon_...
Wow. Thanks for posting that. It's definitely not the topic I was raising here, but it's an important one all on its own. I recently read this blog post (and its comments): http://makemeasammich.org/2012/06/28/a-brief-history-the-bad...
This discussion becomes one of predator and prey, and can women ever be safe in a world or a profession where men have enough power for the predators to proceed unfettered.
To my original point, it is certainly possible that by virtue of the dynamic that the profession is already dominated by men, women stay out of it purely for concern of their own safety, and the rise of 'brogrammer' culture certainly reinforces this ( see http://www.cnn.com/2012/05/07/tech/web/brogrammers/index.htm... ), but I'm not persuaded that's actually the necessary-and-sufficient condition. I think the brogrammer culture is overstated, and women have taken down many male-dominated fields, opening them (and public opinion) to a better way.
Personally, I hope progamming is next in that queue, because I, for one, am tired of working with all white (and indian, and chinese) guys.
This discussion becomes one of predator and prey, and can women ever be safe in a world or a profession where men have enough power for the predators to proceed unfettered.
To my original point, it is certainly possible that by virtue of the dynamic that the profession is already dominated by men, women stay out of it purely for concern of their own safety, and the rise of 'brogrammer' culture certainly reinforces this ( see http://www.cnn.com/2012/05/07/tech/web/brogrammers/index.htm... ), but I'm not persuaded that's actually the necessary-and-sufficient condition. I think the brogrammer culture is overstated, and women have taken down many male-dominated fields, opening them (and public opinion) to a better way.
Personally, I hope progamming is next in that queue, because I, for one, am tired of working with all white (and indian, and chinese) guys.