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I am tech – Real stories from women in technology

mixpanel.com

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Re: I am tech – Real stories from women in technology

#31

Post by tdavis »

kefka wrote: post #5

Why should I care about more social justice demagoguery? I couldn't care less if you have a penis, testicles, breasts, vagina, uterus, or whatever combinations of said organs this unique little butterfly has. "What have you done, and what are you working on?" are important to me. And auxiliary to that would be "What life happenings lead you to addressing those questions?". I'm also curious how they learned the skills…

Kids, this isn't hard. Just apply a little logic. Statements like "all I care about is what you have done/created/accomplished" is predicated on the notion that everyone is already equal. That we all have the same access to opportunity, encouragement, resources, etc. Whether through malice or simple disinterest, you've managed to hold onto a basic assumption that would be exceedingly trivial for you to disprove.

And that's why programs like this are still necessary. Because it isn't about you. Nobody gives the tiniest shit that you "couldn't care less" (which is obviously untrue given your blatant condescension, but whatever). Is there gender discrimination in technology? Yes, obviously. You can't turn around without running into research supporting it.

We could all continue to imagine there isn't; that our personal metrics for measuring the worth of another human being is the source of truth for an entire industry or society. As someone who suffers no discrimination, it's the most convenient thing for me! But, hard as it is to believe, some people actually lose in this scenario. And apparently they're still upset about it!

Whether through gender discrimination that continues to limit a woman's choice in career and within her own body, or the systemic racism that has managed to convince many that black people simply want to be poor and shot by police, we (the U.S.) as a society have no shortage of willfully-ignorant assumptions about equality. How about doing us all a favor by becoming a little less ignorant? It doesn't hurt, I promise.

Re: I am tech – Real stories from women in technology

#32

Post by kelukelugames »

zorpner wrote: post #25
eonw wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

that's all fine and dandy, but no one is bitching about the fact we have very very very few men working in the child care industry, for instance... better start subsidizing their jobs too? men and women were both given the same choice of universities and classes in high school. the tech sector did not turn its back on women or minorities, they turned their back on it. now that its profitable they want a piece of that…

It's exhausting to keep having this same conversation over and over, but I suppose that's the purpose of comments like yours. Look at the graduation rates for women and minorities from CS programs; then look at the industry participation rates, particularly over time and particularly with reference to seniority. They're not turning their back on tech, they're being driven out.

It is exhausting and frustrating. We need to store copy pasta for these conversation. Maybe I will compile a list.

Re: I am tech – Real stories from women in technology

#33

Post by michaelmrose »

jkot wrote: post #13
kefka wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Great idea... So they should start hiring women who don't have the skills over others (who happen to be male) that do. Wonderful suggestion. But I'm sure they can fake-make a few Social Media fluff positions for women to fill. It's what GitHub did.

Why so angry? If company in Bengalore can have 70% women engineers, it should not be a problem for well funded startup in US.

Men make up 75% of the IT workforce and 82% of computer science graduates. If women aren't even studying the field it makes it a tad harder to hire them don't you think?

People should aspire to hire the best people in their field not the "right" gender, color, sexual orientation etc. Anything else is bigotry under the flag of diversity.

Also if you can do a little basic math you should be able to see that the average company will be no more diverse than the labor pool. For every company that is 50/50 other companies will have even less than the average.

Re: I am tech – Real stories from women in technology

#34

Post by exstudent2 »

pdabbadabba wrote: post #21
eonw wrote: post #15

i am still struggling to understand how this is important, and why we should care. men have struggles just the same, this is like reverse sexism.

The reason others are concerned about this while you are not is that many people regard this proposition as wildly incorrect: > men have struggles just the same Yes, men and women both have struggles. But many believe (including myself) that women face many more challenges by virtue of being women, than men do by virtue of being men. Women are more likely to be sexualized in work (and any other) environments, their r…

> But many believe (including myself) that women face many more challenges by virtue of being women, than men do by virtue of being men.

That's absolutely a position you can only take because of your own privilege. Lower income men face arguably the worst discrimination available in the US since they are way over represented in our prisons.

I don't think trying to determine which of the sexes has it "worse" is in anyway a winning proposition or something anyone should be doing.

Re: I am tech – Real stories from women in technology

#35

Post by vezzy-fnord »

EC1 wrote: post #17
jkot wrote: post #9

Hm, company behind such project could be a bit more diverse. Here is picture of their team: https://mixpanel.com/jobs/

What if that's their perfect team? Stop trying to force diversity for the sake of diversity. Some companies/teams are diverse, some aren't.

Pretty sure the parent poster's point is that it's a very common rhetorical tactic amongst some proponents of postmodern social justice to expect perfect equilibrium between nation-wide population demographics and particular company staffs, then criticize the company for not following this unrealistic expectation.

They were mocking it.

Re: I am tech – Real stories from women in technology

#37

Post by htns »

zorpner wrote: post #25
eonw wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

that's all fine and dandy, but no one is bitching about the fact we have very very very few men working in the child care industry, for instance... better start subsidizing their jobs too? men and women were both given the same choice of universities and classes in high school. the tech sector did not turn its back on women or minorities, they turned their back on it. now that its profitable they want a piece of that…

It's exhausting to keep having this same conversation over and over, but I suppose that's the purpose of comments like yours. Look at the graduation rates for women and minorities from CS programs; then look at the industry participation rates, particularly over time and particularly with reference to seniority. They're not turning their back on tech, they're being driven out.

Looking at women's CS graduation rates means nothing if you don't look at overall graduation rates. I have yet to see any proof that women are really being driven out from CS rather than being driven into some other field.

Re: I am tech – Real stories from women in technology

#38

Post by michaelmrose »

Mz wrote: post #23
jonnybgood wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You're correct. Something else that's noticable here is that they're all white women.

Just a quick preview of one video indicates they aren't all white. A lot are, but not all.

You mean the demographics of the videos match the actual demographics of tech companies shocking

Re: I am tech – Real stories from women in technology

#39

Post by cpeterso »

eonw wrote: post #15

i am still struggling to understand how this is important, and why we should care. men have struggles just the same, this is like reverse sexism.

These woman made videos to share their experiences as women in tech. Men are free to organize and make their own videos too. No one is stopping anyone.

Re: I am tech – Real stories from women in technology

#40

Post by jameshart »

eonw wrote: post #24
pdabbadabba wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The reason others are concerned about this while you are not is that many people regard this proposition as wildly incorrect: > men have struggles just the same Yes, men and women both have struggles. But many believe (including myself) that women face many more challenges by virtue of being women, than men do by virtue of being men. Women are more likely to be sexualized in work (and any other) environments, their r…

that's all fine and dandy, but no one is bitching about the fact we have very very very few men working in the child care industry, for instance... better start subsidizing their jobs too? men and women were both given the same choice of universities and classes in high school. the tech sector did not turn its back on women or minorities, they turned their back on it. now that its profitable they want a piece of that…

Yes, people are bitching about the lack of men in childcare. Go seek out child development communities online and see them wrestling with the problem! See men who try to et into childcare complain that they are assumed to be incapable of working in early-years education because they might be a pedophile! It's a huge problem, and one we should get upset about. On teaching and child development forums these exact issues are discussed.

But this is hacker news. A site for people in the tech industry, not the childcare industry. We can and should care about representation and participation and opportunity in our industry. We can do something about it here.

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