This was a very refreshing change to read from the normal articles which all concentrate on "how to get more women into CS". I think you hit the nail on the head when you said that all these events and questions are just so backwards.
On being a girl in computer science - a confession
301–305 of 305 posts
Re: On being a girl in computer science - a confession
#302Earlier quoted context omitted.
what if "woman in CS" programs can help to get woman with intellect and passion into CS?
I've been in the software industry for a several decades (I have a grey beard if that helps). I have never encountered any man that I felt had a gender bias against women in computing, other than if he was an ass in real life. My wife is also a software engineer - and she has never had an issue (to the best of my knowledge). What I find frustrating is that some people choose to identify themselves as a gender. Gender…
I think it makes perfect sense to use any of your identifying properties to identify yourself, including gender. I think that disassociating with your gender in a society that obviously doesn't can probably be downright detrimental.
Do you apply this logic to other social groups as well? Any noun? Perhaps being a "software engineer" doesn't make sense if you are already a person.
Women are underrepresented in computer science for a fact, and I have personally experienced little to support either that it is the result of systemic exclusion, a bias against women or otherwise. I don't need several decades of experience in the industry, though, to say that, hey, I will never know the cause by simply evaluating my personal experience. Humble up and don't form a view on a subject if all you have to go by is any kind of anecdotal experience.
As for opposing feminism, do you have any ideas of the implications that movement has on women's rights worldwide? I have no idea what your position on things like birth control, women's suffrage and genital mutilation, or whether you think this is an ongoing battle or not, but I hope you'll agree that at least some good has come out of it.
Re: On being a girl in computer science - a confession
#303Earlier quoted context omitted.
Except that doesn't make sense. Given the assumption that it's a meritocracy, then qualified women won't be turned away. If women are being turned away, then they should be being turned away at a rate equal to men, relative to their applicant pool. If there are less women applying in the first place, then the problem exists in the educational\ preparatory stages of one's career. The solution should be directed there,…
> Given the assumption that it's a meritocracy, then qualified women won't be turned away. I'm saying that the assumption that it's a meritocracy is incorrect. > If there are less women applying in the first place, then the problem exists in the educational\ preparatory stages of one's career. Education doesn't change the fact that ambitious women don't want to be in the 10-20% minority in an engineering company. Hel…
>ambitious women don't want to be in the 10-20% minority in an engineering company //
Because they're sexist. If you don't discriminate on sex then entering an engineering company you're in the 100% majority of people.
So are women saying "I'm not going in that company it's got people in it". That would be silly. So, they must be discriminating against the companies simply because of the sex of the workers.
That leaves you with the point that you have to alter your hiring process because women want to be sexist ...
So ignore meritocracy and kowtow to sexism?
Re: On being a girl in computer science - a confession
#304Earlier quoted context omitted.
Wanting to be treated equally is hardly asking for red carpet treatment.
I'm sure my aunt had her own stories about chauvinism, etc. But that didn't stop her from what she wanted to do. And during her time, it was much worse for women. I'm not implying that it's good today, but if she could do it then I'm sure other women can--and I want to see them do it. My point is that she didn't care what other people thought, she forged her own path and became a success. Not so different than anyone…
Arguing that one person was able to do it is a slap in the face to those that have tried and failed and did nothing differently. Like anyone's success, it is highly dependent on luck (and this luck is partially someone determining your worth). As it stands, there are still many barriers that need to be broken.
Re: On being a girl in computer science - a confession
#305Earlier quoted context omitted.
>African immigrants to America are a high-achieving group, outperforming whites in income. So they manage to beat the stereotypes while African-Americans do not. Isn't that an argument FOR survivor-ship bias? How do the ethnic asians that immigrated a century ago stack up against the newly immigrated ones?
hmmm, so would you suppose that children of African immigrants (the Obamas of the world) run into the negative stereotypes of our society and start to fall in socioeconomic standing towards the level of African Americans?
Suppose is too strong a word. I find the hypothesis worthy of serious consideration though.