Why Software Maker Fog Creek Is Helping Its Competitors Hire Women

Post by api » Thu, Mar 05, 2015, 5:25 PM UTC

moron4hire wrote: post #68

api wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes. Edited. It depends on the context of course. If it was your project alone, then you did it. If others contributed non-trivial amounts, it was a team effort. I noted that the males tended to bury that, while the females tended to highlight it.

I really want to hear what the individual contributed, though, and actually couldn't care less what their team did as a whole. I've heard way too many "we"s that were actually "they"s, while the subject was present, but not actually contributing that much. It's really easy for a bad developer to hide in a large team. EDIT: and it's also easy for a good developer to get quagmired in a bad team! Just because the projec…

Post by tenpoundhammer » Thu, Mar 05, 2015, 5:28 PM UTC

api wrote: post #38

skywhopper wrote: post #6

I'm glad the "rigorous testing process" was mentioned. The facade of "we only hire superninja-kickass-hyperexperts and we will verify that you are such a programmer before we hire you" attracts a certain type of person, and intimidates another. And it may be that it intimidates more women than men. But the article seems to glide past that and presents the idea that five years of experience might change someone's will…

"And it may be that it intimidates more women than men." I've been looking around for a developer recently, and in looking at the profiles of women vs. men at places like AngelList I noticed a few key differences in how they described themselves. We're talking about people with very similar academic backgrounds here with similar levels of experience. Women would say things like "I worked on a team that did X," while…

Post by ashray » Thu, Mar 05, 2015, 5:34 PM UTC

brighteyes wrote: post #64

ashray wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We (www.gapjumpers.me) are trying to solve the gender diversity issue in tech by using blind auditions as a first filter. Our data shows that blind auditions result in greater diversity numbers. By using a technical challenge as the first step and fast forwarding people to an advanced interview stage, we're eliminating candidate reluctance and increasing transparency (the candidate interacts directly with the hiring…

I wonder if you could also make the matching part of the process blind as well? That is, the article mentions that women might be less likely to apply to places like Fog Creek - but if you matched applicants to employers blindly both ways (blindly to them, of course, you the matcher would not be blind), so the applicants didn't know who they were interviewing for during the interview? Then developers with lower self-…

Post by mason240 » Thu, Mar 05, 2015, 5:37 PM UTC

cauterized wrote: post #53

mason240 wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>attracts a certain type of person, and intimidates another. And it may be that it intimidates more women than men. This is classic horseshoe theory, where extremists on both ends of a spectrum actually wrap around and start to sound the same. In this case they both believe that women are delicate flowers who can't handle the pressure, stress, and competition of the working world like men can.

There's a difference between "lower self-confidence" and "can't handle pressure, stress, and competition". It's also possible that even women who have high self confidence in their abilities are less confident that they will be judged positively by others. There's plenty of research to the effect that men will apply to a job if they meet 40% of the listed requirements, whereas women won't until they meet 90%. And whe…

Post by s73v3r » Thu, Mar 05, 2015, 5:39 PM UTC

mason240 wrote: post #28

protonfish wrote: post #3

Maybe Joel needs to add another point to his "test" 13. Do you foster Junior/Mentor relationships?

What company is not going to check that box? I've worked for a company that claimed they did and it was always talked about internally in their "look how great our culture is" corporate-speak. Some developers even had the title of "mentor," but there wasn't any actual time allocated for it and no one ever took it seriously. In my entire time there I never met with my "mentor."