Stop complaining about the lack of women in tech

This comment is almost shockingly horrible.

> The goal of getting women into tech should be to equalize the gender ratio of the people who actually _are_ in tech to that of the people who _want_ to be in tech.

That's a bad idea -- it would stigmatize those who entered the field by such a program that they were given their positions, rather then earning them. The same problem exists in race relations, where equality by law conceals equality by merit.

Women are fully qualified to take their place in science and tech -- that's well-understood -- but to force equal numbers would obscure the fact that women can easily earn their place in science and tech.

> Recent posts on the problems of gender inequality in the tech and science fields have continued to reinforce the idea that women are subordinate to men.

This seems to be one of the main points of this post, but I do not agree. By and large women are subordinate to men in the business world and women do encounter personal and institutionally oriented sexism in tech. Acknowledging and talking about living and dealing with that reality do not reinforce that sexism, that sexism already exists and is a prevalent force and women already know this because they live the experience. On that:

> The sad thing is the effect of repeating these issues on those people who are already affected by the issues themselves, i.e. women who are struggling for equality in the tech and science industries. Hearing that this is a problem, that their field isn’t fair, that men are not including them in the industry the way they should… these negative sentiments are being drilled into the minds of people who could actually change this for the better.

Isn't part of the problem that women are undermined in their attempts to make their working industry and business lives better? What efforts are taken and how they are hampered is directly linked to the current state of how people are treated in business and tech. Sharing that experience is one of the few ways that women can begin form the basis of action that changes communities for the better or creates communities for themselves.

I totally agree with the OP's points of action. However, there are limitations that are externally imposed by women who entered in tech and they have a right to know that. Others have a right to criticize and call out others for sexist rhetoric. On this the OP says:

> No more ‘calling people out’ for making mistakes unless we’re offering to help them fix it.

Someone who is receiving unfair treatment has absolutely no obligation to the person treating them unfairly to be nice to them, so I do not believe this can every be helpful advice where there is a power imbalance. For folks who are peers or part of the same peer group, calling out sexism is an important part of not letting that sexism perpetuate.

> Why do you think this ratio is currently around 25%?

I don't know, I can only guess. You can see my guess below.

> Do you think it's because women are inherently much less interested in tech? Or do you think it's because our society imposes stereotypes and values on women, and gives very "macho" impressions?

It's probably a combination of both, I'm not ruling out either case (or even getting close to ruling out either case).

I feel like too many people are ruling out the former entirely (or just not realizing it's a possibility altogether) which doesn't make sense. You have to keep both in mind, and realize that your goal isn't an absolute 50%, it's the natural ratio, which may of course change over time.

It's quite likely and the conclusion of this Norwegian documentary (well worth watching if only to see Sacha Baron Cohen smarter brother (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hjernevask)

You can think of it in terms of Maslow's Pyramid.

Societies at the top of the pyramid are filled with individuals that no longer need to take the highest paying jobs, but can now take jobs that uniquely fulfill their interests and desires. And it could very well be that taken as two bell curves, the interests of women are different from the interests of men, two overlapping bell curves, but with different means, and different variances. Concluding that try as hard as you might, it just may be that women do not want to work in tech and preferentially prefer different sorts of occupation.

There's a story about boxing in America, and that is as various poor immigrant groups came to America, they each in their time rose to the tops of boxing. The Irish, the Jews, the Italians, & the African Americans. These groups saw boxing as a way to rise above their income levels. And as the various groups either assimilated or as a group rose above their resources, their interest in boxing waned.

http://voices.yahoo.com/ethnic-boxers-america-part-i-105696....

Throughout the 20th and 21st centuries, boxing has been a sport dominated by men of meager means and questionable sanity. Who in their right mind would choose to pursue an occupation in which you expose yourself to habitual beatings? Such a calling speaks to men who possess an overabundance of rage, and a dearth of opportunities. Historically, ghettoes are the environment most likely to produce such men. These are neighborhoods where too many people compete for too few resources, and the inhabitants face daily frustrations more profound than those known by more prosperous men.

Something similar could be happening in tech as women in general might prefer occupations that are more female friendly, more family friendly, more human centric, more social, etc., like medicine, or law.

I am explaining this theory, I am not necessarily supporting it. I have no idea why their is a dearth of women in programming. I know in the places I have worked, as a whole there are many women who are often lead developers and managers.