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How to Be a ‘Woman Programmer’

nytimes.com

1–10 of 60 posts

Re: How to Be a ‘Woman Programmer’

#2
Yet another article that perpetuates the myth that ONLY women are faced with high performance demands in business:

"This strange illness meanwhile left the female survivors with an odd glow that made them too visible, scrutinized too closely, held to higher standards. It placed upon them the terrible burden of being not only good but the best."

This is a very common argument and it is false. Many corporate cultures are performance-based, and it is simply not true that ONLY women are expected to be the best. Many or even all men can feel this same expectation in performance-based professions, but they will not blame their sex.

Re: How to Be a ‘Woman Programmer’

#4
I'm getting really tired of this ignorant "tech is sexist" garbage. women represent a minority of the already small pool of CS graduates. This is not due to discrimination but to individual choice of what a student wants to do with their life. Fewer women CS grads means a smaller ratio of women to men in the tech industry.

The author blindly says that VC's want "a couple of guys that can build an app in a weekend". VC's and tech companies in general want a couple of PEOPLE that can build an app in a weekend. I find it impossible to believe that a tech company would turn down a brilliant "woman programmer" just because she was a woman. It is already hard enough to find good developers, no reason to reduce the pool further with discrimination.

Re: How to Be a ‘Woman Programmer’

#6
Why are there so many articles about women in tech? I think it's just a wish of some guys in tech to have more women around.

If it's just diversity we're after let's get some black and hispanic people among the ranks.

I've worked with a lot of women over the years but never a black or hispanic person. Ever. I'm sure they exist though the numbers have to be much lower than women and I don't see any articles about "let's get minorities into tech".

I really do believe the hype about pulling women into tech is some subconscious desire to be around more women.

Re: How to Be a ‘Woman Programmer’

#8
But no matter how strong the social structure, there is always that cheek-slapped moment when you are alone with the anti-woman prejudice: the joke, the leer, the disregard, the invisibility, the inescapable fact that the moment you walk through the door you are seen as lesser, no matter what your credentials.

Is this a "tech" thing, or our society in general? I've seen (many) stories of this kind of thing from women just walking down the street.

Re: How to Be a ‘Woman Programmer’

#9
Of course venture capitalists are looking for "a couple of guys who can write an app over a weekend". That is just a succinct, snarky description of their business model: find competent people that are willing to risk everything for a very, very tiny chance of success and work tirelessly at it.

With how our society educates and segregates people by gender very early on, it turns out that the vast majority of the people venture capitalists are looking for are male. And then couple that with the ratio in a VCs favorite field, computing.

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