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Ask HN: How to help get more women in tech as a male?

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Re: Ask HN: How to help get more women in tech as a male?

#31

Post by oppositelock »

tptacek wrote: post #23
tryanother wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Agreed. I am only one data point, but i have no degree and I am a female dev. We're out there.

As data points go: male developer, serious systems programming background, 1 semester of college. Maciej Ceglowski is, I think, even worse off than I am. He went to art school. Now he controls the Internet from his perch atop Pinboard.

I've worked in this industry for a long time, and while I have worked with fantastic self-taught developers from non-tech degrees, it seems to me that they're the exception rather than the rule. I would not hesitate hiring someone without a tech degree based on their experience, but they seem fairly uncommon. Most of the developers I've worked with seem to come from CS/EE backgrounds.

Re: Ask HN: How to help get more women in tech as a male?

#32

Post by tptacek »

oppositelock wrote: post #31
tptacek wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As data points go: male developer, serious systems programming background, 1 semester of college. Maciej Ceglowski is, I think, even worse off than I am. He went to art school. Now he controls the Internet from his perch atop Pinboard.

I've worked in this industry for a long time, and while I have worked with fantastic self-taught developers from non-tech degrees, it seems to me that they're the exception rather than the rule. I would not hesitate hiring someone without a tech degree based on their experience, but they seem fairly uncommon. Most of the developers I've worked with seem to come from CS/EE backgrounds.

Good developers are all exceptions, not the rule. The majority of CS grads are not in fact effective programmers.

Re: Ask HN: How to help get more women in tech as a male?

#33

Post by tryanother »

DanBC wrote: post #27
lobotryas wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would rephrase that further to say: are diverse interests between the genders a problem? I have never heard anyone complain that we have too few male teachers, nurses, or airline attendants.

> I have never heard anyone complain that we have too few male teachers, nurses, [...] You haven't looked. Programmes exist to increase the number of male teachers and male nurses.

interesting. i'm guessing from your spelling of "programmes" that you are not in the US - where are these programs you speak of? i'd be very interested in reading about them.

Re: Ask HN: How to help get more women in tech as a male?

#34

Post by marquis »

seekingcharlie wrote: post #29

I'm a female designer/dev. I got my diploma in design & then I went back & got my bachelor in CS (Maths). Some here have mentioned interest & I agree. I think being a dev in general is a pretty lonely world. Multiply that by about 100 if you're a female dev. This is the same for anything STEM-related. I was the only girl in my high school physics class of 40+ boys, then 20 girls in 400 for CS & most dropped out by th…

Also female dev here - I think we all have our unique story about how we stayed in tech against the odds, rather than going with the flow. It might be helpful if we could, as women still working in the industry, compile a proper set of documents about the challenges we faced. It might help if there were just more details out there rather than the few stories we pass along when a post like this comes up.

Definitely easier now for the kids though - I've met 9 year old girls lately who are rocking python/robot dev and if they can stay in all-girl schools through secondary school (or have a very female-supported CS dept if mixed) they'll have good chance of staying in STEM.

I also have to say, because this is fairly recent for me, I've become less and less of a dev myself and more management and I'm having a blast. My years of dev has really gelled with the demands on product development and I very much enjoy the dynamics of running a team - something I never thought I'd find interesting. So it's something quite new for me, and as I know it's more common to see women building a career in management rather than thank of themselves as part of the coding team but I can see clearly how having more dev experience just makes you all the stronger. Might be a compelling argument for those going through school with their eye on an executive position for their future.

Re: Ask HN: How to help get more women in tech as a male?

#35

Post by idlewords »

tptacek wrote: post #23
tryanother wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Agreed. I am only one data point, but i have no degree and I am a female dev. We're out there.

As data points go: male developer, serious systems programming background, 1 semester of college. Maciej Ceglowski is, I think, even worse off than I am. He went to art school. Now he controls the Internet from his perch atop Pinboard.

I went to a liberal arts college and got so well-rounded I can't stop rolling.
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