Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Why is Russia so good at encouraging women into tech?

bbc.co.uk

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

281–290 of 359 posts

Re: Why is Russia so good at encouraging women into tech?

#281

Post by nommm-nommm »

madengr wrote: post #270
nommm-nommm wrote: post #236

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What exactly is your definition of "middle class" and "upper middle class?" "Should have no problem getting $1M by age 55" is totally not just "middle class." by my definition its "rich as fuck." and I'm saying that as someone who grew up poor and is now "rich as fuck." We can save ~70% of our take home salary and have enough spending cash to, literary, do whatever the fuck we want without ever worrying about the cos…

> What exactly is your definition of "middle class" and "upper middle class?" Upper middle class is retirement and educational savings, and not living paycheck to paycheck. I believe it's 70% of households could not come up with $1k within 2 weeks. 90% could not miss a paycheck without skipping bills. Middle class these days is living pay-check to paycheck. That used to be working poor. The working poor will rely on…

>Upper middle class is retirement and educational savings, and not living paycheck to paycheck.

For the love of God! Give me a break! If you can't somehow manage to do that while making over $100k you are living way way way above your means, period. You can live over your means at any income level and adding more income doesn't solve that problem.

Sure, maybe if I owned two Beemers, a Cadillac, a boat, and a second home I'd be unable to do that.

>I believe it's 70% of households could not come up with $1k within 2 weeks. 90% could not miss a paycheck without skipping bills.

That says more about spending habits than is does income.

>as long as the investment difference can be liquidated to pay it off at 15 years (or in early 50s.

Your can never know your investment returns.

>Can't be done debt free with any major, much less STEM course load.

So what? I went into debt for an education and it wasn't a bad thing. Its my opinion that downright giving your kids money is a bad thing. I made my choices accordingly. I would be a total loser nowadays if my parents gave me money, for my education or otherwise. Its also in my opinion that parents obsessing over saving money for college is a big cause of rising tuition.

Re: Why is Russia so good at encouraging women into tech?

#282

Post by true_religion »

humanrebar wrote: post #212
Pharylon wrote: post #126

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, because each one of us is an island, and we're not influenced by society at all as it is. I have a two year old and I can tell you fighting against pinky-princess girl culture is a battle. As a parent, it's you vs basically the rest of society that sends a million little cues about what girls are supposed to do. I had this conversation with my daughter the other morning: Daughter: I want to be a boy when I grow…

Agreed. They (i.e., Disney and Viacom) do have princesses-types doing actiony stuff thinking it's the same thing. And encouraging women to lean in. They don't typically write those females to think like a someone in engineering, exploration, or security, though. Boys watch Batman be Batman, train hard, think ahead, get beat up, but still be heroic. Girls watch, what, the girl from Brave do action hero things and figh…

I guess the question is where are boys getting the idea to become engineers?

I suspect it's not television or other media, but rather personal role models in their life.

Unfortunately with society as it is now, having a role model who isn't your gender (and also isn't your relative), mentor you is largely untennable.

Re: Why is Russia so good at encouraging women into tech?

#283

Post by [deleted] »

humanrebar wrote: post #212
Pharylon wrote: post #126

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, because each one of us is an island, and we're not influenced by society at all as it is. I have a two year old and I can tell you fighting against pinky-princess girl culture is a battle. As a parent, it's you vs basically the rest of society that sends a million little cues about what girls are supposed to do. I had this conversation with my daughter the other morning: Daughter: I want to be a boy when I grow…

Agreed. They (i.e., Disney and Viacom) do have princesses-types doing actiony stuff thinking it's the same thing. And encouraging women to lean in. They don't typically write those females to think like a someone in engineering, exploration, or security, though. Boys watch Batman be Batman, train hard, think ahead, get beat up, but still be heroic. Girls watch, what, the girl from Brave do action hero things and figh…

[deleted]

Re: Why is Russia so good at encouraging women into tech?

#284

Post by PerfectDlite »

maxxxxx wrote: post #11

They had female fighter pilots in world war 2 and the first female astronauts. That was long before anybody in the west could even think of that possibility. Not sure if it's a Russian thing or communism. East Germany also had more female engineers and scientists.

JFYI, first female pilot was from Turkey.

Re: Why is Russia so good at encouraging women into tech?

#285

Post by wobbleblob »

ahuth wrote: post #142
wobbleblob wrote: post #133

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> They do tech because it provides a way of getting a good life. In the West, where conditions are less harsh, women don't feel the need to go into tech to get a good life. But does it now? All of 'the West' isn't Silicon Valley. I live in 'the west', Western Europe to be exact, and while I probably make more than a plumber or a shoe salesperson, I'd say someone with a medicine, law or business degree tends to make a…

Hard to say that people in medicine, law, or business have easier conditions than you do. What do you do, that's in worse conditions than those fields?

I'm not claiming the job is "easier". Making a website isn't exactly brain surgery. I'm saying the reward is higher in terms of your income and status in society.

Re: Why is Russia so good at encouraging women into tech?

#286

Post by true_religion »

JBlue42 wrote: post #222
tashoecraft wrote: post #178

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Anecdotal from female friends who have started down the path to PHD in stem fields, you basically have to forgo having children until you are in your 30's. The current path of ~10 years of schooling through women's 'best' biological time to have a child is, I imagine, a reason for some of the discrepancy between male and female post undergrad.

It's not even that niche though is it? A lot of the women I work with have started having kids in their mid-30s. In the US, I think overall people are marrying later and having kids later, IIRC.

You can, but then you would have complications. My friends in their later 30s are having more trouble conceiving and bringing children to term.

On the other hand, my friends who had children in their early-20s had no issues.

Re: Why is Russia so good at encouraging women into tech?

#288

Post by wobbleblob »

BrandonMarc wrote: post #187
ahuth wrote: post #142

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hard to say that people in medicine, law, or business have easier conditions than you do. What do you do, that's in worse conditions than those fields?

Indeed. Medicine and law require far more schooling / apprenticeship before the rewards start to overcome the difficulties (such as debt), often far more than even 5-6 years. All 3 can easily require being on-call at inconvenient times, and definitely require well above 40 hours a week.

Yeah, but are you looking at this from the Silicon Valley point of view, where a computer programmer can expect a 6 figure income straight out of college? Because that's far from the norm in the parts of 'the West' where I live.

Re: Why is Russia so good at encouraging women into tech?

#289

Post by true_religion »

reitanqild wrote: post #246
tptacek wrote: post #128

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In case this needs to be spelled out for you, and I apologize if it doesn't, but the subtext of there being a unique gender disparity in tech not shared by thematically similar STEM fields, let alone STEM in general, is that the causal agent is misogyny.

I'm aware that you are a celebrity here and I'm a nobody. And I agree with you in a lot of things, including that we should make workplaces more inclusive. But being right does not entitle you to be rude, passive agressive, using various tricks to silence everyone. Think about this: if someone else behaved like you are doing now (edit: in this whole thread) - and wasn't a celebrity or otherwise safe - they might very…

Until you mentioned the posters 'celebrity' status, I hadn't even read their username.

Usernames, and personalities, are very de-emphasized on HN.

I'm also uncertain what issue you have with their behaviour?

Re: Why is Russia so good at encouraging women into tech?

#290

Post by branchless »

mynegation wrote: post #235
branchless wrote: post #173

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Socialist countries (whether in theory or in practice) tend to put more of an emphasis on equal rights.

Too bad you were downvoted, because it is actually true. People here probably confuse the good civil rights (which socialist countries in Eastern Europe did not have) with the equality of rights. USSR constitutions actually had an article of every citizen being guaranteed the right to work.

HN capitalism zealots care not for facts
Post reply on HN