I am so sick of the phrase "women in tech".
As a Woman in Tech, I Realized: These Are Not My People
151–160 of 228 posts
Re: As a Woman in Tech, I Realized: These Are Not My People
#152Earlier quoted context omitted.
This isn't censorship, this is HN readers saying they're not so interested in the memo that they need to have another post about it every hour.
There is a difference between flagging and not upvoting. If it is upvoted enough to reach first page then it means there are HN readers who are interested.
Users flag stories they think shouldn't be on Hacker News. It may be because there's a zillion stories and opinions already and a particular one doesn't contain significant new information, or because a particular discussion is mostly uncivil, divisive, and damaging to the community.
We've turned the flags off on this one and ask that users please take care to post civilly and substantively.
Re: As a Woman in Tech, I Realized: These Are Not My People
#153I somewhat regret reading this article. She says she realized tech wasn't for her when she realized doing IT in her off-hours was unpalatable. Here's my question: Why? Why doesn't she like working on technical hobbies outside of work? That might prove more interesting. As for myself, her sentiment seems in line with the kids in HS who called my type the nerds/geeks/other term for loser. I also think that's where soci…
She says she realized tech wasn't for her when she realized doing IT in her off-hours was unpalatable. Here's my question: Why? Because she is actually extremely competitive, something typically thought of as a male trait: Which meant that I was never going to be as good at that job as the guys around me. She didn't want a job where she was going to be considered second rate. She wanted to be in a job where she would…
> She didn't want a job where she was going to be considered second rate. She wanted to be in a job where she would be "the best" and get accolades for it, etc. She realized she didn't love tech enough to have the biggest bragging rights, so she went someplace where she could outcompete others.
That's the opposite of extremely competitive. Extremely competitive people don't go into the easy lane and the certainly aren't worried about putting in extra time to be the best. Extremely competitive people will seek out challenges and put in a lot more training effort.
Re: As a Woman in Tech, I Realized: These Are Not My People
#154Why is this flagged? I think it provides a great perspective, and it's not from a privileged white bro.
One reason users flag stories is because the discussion is rife with things like "privileged white bro" being tossed around without consideration. If we're going to hope for a reasonable discussion, we have to comment thoughtfully and substantively.
Re: As a Woman in Tech, I Realized: These Are Not My People
#155Earlier quoted context omitted.
She says she realized tech wasn't for her when she realized doing IT in her off-hours was unpalatable. Here's my question: Why? Because she is actually extremely competitive, something typically thought of as a male trait: Which meant that I was never going to be as good at that job as the guys around me. She didn't want a job where she was going to be considered second rate. She wanted to be in a job where she would…
> She didn't want a job where she was going to be considered second rate. She wanted to be in a job where she would be "the best" and get accolades for it, etc. She realized she didn't love tech enough to have the biggest bragging rights, so she went someplace where she could outcompete others. That's the opposite of extremely competitive. Extremely competitive people don't go into the easy lane and the certainly are…
[deleted]
Re: As a Woman in Tech, I Realized: These Are Not My People
#156As a trans woman in tech, who was also raised in a very gender normative environment (i.e. I was expected to conform to gender norms for boys as a child), I certainly see her point. I got into technology a child mostly because that what I could do within the environment's "boy" social role. Fast forward a couple of decades, and relative to pretty much all cis women of the same age, I have many more years of experienc…
[deleted]
Re: As a Woman in Tech, I Realized: These Are Not My People
#157Earlier quoted context omitted.
No, it doesn't. It makes you one-dimensional and particularly poor at building products for others unlike yourself. The sooner the tech industry realizes that this sort of person is not an asset and that having too many of them around just drives others away, the better off it'll be.
>It makes you one-dimensional and particularly poor at building products for others unlike yourself. So they're possibly better at writing backend code. Let's make an effort to keep them employed by finding positions they can succeed in instead of purging people at the first sign of personality traits we don't like (that they may not have been able to control in the first place).
Amen. Linux and much of all the open source code in most language ecosystems that people rely on are usually written by such people. Purging them is akin to purging the giants whose shoulders many product engineers stand on.
Re: As a Woman in Tech, I Realized: These Are Not My People
#158Earlier quoted context omitted.
She said the harassment came from clients not co-workers.
Yes but the point is she was ok with it. Which is not what a large population of females feel like...
Oh please, do tell me how you are so in tune with how a "large population of females"(weird wording btw?) feel.
I've been in that position and I felt the same as the author in this particular regard. Obviously sexist clients made me angry to deal with in the moment, but they're the same as any other type of asshole when you come right down to it. And sleep time is too precious to waste thinking about assholes.
I still loved my job and coworkers and would recommend it to other women. Sure sexism exists, but it exists everywhere. Why miss out on a good gig because bad customers exist?
Re: As a Woman in Tech, I Realized: These Are Not My People
#159Earlier quoted context omitted.
No one said you have to be obsessive, but it helps.
No, it doesn't. It makes you one-dimensional and particularly poor at building products for others unlike yourself. The sooner the tech industry realizes that this sort of person is not an asset and that having too many of them around just drives others away, the better off it'll be.
This is the sort of convenient take on things that incites immediate curiosity. Forced to its conclusion, you're arguing that people who code for fun in their spare time don't see any substantial increase in their chances of success as an engineer at all. Do you think that's true?
I would agree with your original comment that you don't have to be obsessive, but without further substantial reasoning, xienze's position sounds like the more reasonable one here.
Re: As a Woman in Tech, I Realized: These Are Not My People
#160The idea that you've got to be some sort of obsessive wretch with no life outside of tech in order to successfully fill a role at a tech company is nothing but a pernicious myth. So is the idea that you've got to be some ridiculous super-genius. All you have to do is be reasonably smart and capable of learning on the job. When interviewers at tech companies mistakenly believe that every successful candidate has to be…
[deleted]