Women: Learn to Program This Summer • Hacker News Board

Re: Women: Learn to Program This Summer

#11

Post by klohto » Fri, Mar 22, 2019, 5:33 PM UTC

rosterface wrote: post #3

I recently completed a very difficult job search where I unfortunately had to lean on my ethnicity (I’m Mexican) to pass through very overt screening against white men. I was shocked to hear from multiple companies, large and small, that they did not want men and white men in particular. Now we see a YC co-founder giving 40 women $9000 to learn to program. Where does it end? I was really sad that while I personally c…

I'm seeing this as well and it isn't in any way positive experience. There is not much we can do without being labeled.

Re: Women: Learn to Program This Summer

#12

Post by rosterface » Fri, Mar 22, 2019, 5:34 PM UTC

fizwhiz wrote: post #7

rosterface wrote: post #3

I recently completed a very difficult job search where I unfortunately had to lean on my ethnicity (I’m Mexican) to pass through very overt screening against white men. I was shocked to hear from multiple companies, large and small, that they did not want men and white men in particular. Now we see a YC co-founder giving 40 women $9000 to learn to program. Where does it end? I was really sad that while I personally c…

How did you leverage your ethnicity to get a competitive advantage in your job search?

Without doxing myself...

It’s not apparently obvious what ethnicity I am based on looks. I had already been told there was a focus on diversity at the company I ended up getting an offer at and they “really want to build a diverse team from the ground up”. The conversation had been dragging for months and I resisted bringing up my background out of principle. I saw the hiring manager tweeting about a Latinx conference (I hate that term) and bit the bullet and told them I’m Latinx. I had an offer by the end of the week. This was after months of similar discussions with other companies where I stuck to my ideal of being hired for what I’ve accomplished and the skills I can prove I have. Ultimately I was running out of money and got desperate. I still feel terrible and angry but I have to put food on the table.

Re: Women: Learn to Program This Summer

#13

Post by adenadel » Fri, Mar 22, 2019, 5:34 PM UTC

Here's the blog post explaining why Jessica is doing this

http://foundersatwork.posthaven.com/why-i-started-the-summer...

Re: Women: Learn to Program This Summer

#14

Post by jakelazaroff » Fri, Mar 22, 2019, 5:34 PM UTC

rosterface wrote: post #3

I recently completed a very difficult job search where I unfortunately had to lean on my ethnicity (I’m Mexican) to pass through very overt screening against white men. I was shocked to hear from multiple companies, large and small, that they did not want men and white men in particular. Now we see a YC co-founder giving 40 women $9000 to learn to program. Where does it end? I was really sad that while I personally c…

We never really valued skills over demographics — it's just much less visible where it benefits a dominant group. Consider that the percentage of VC deals with female-founded companies is 5.4% and yet they receive only 2.2% of VC dollars [1]. This has held true for over a decade: the average female founders have received less than their average male counterparts. But for some reason, there aren't many people complaining that VCs are giving men money just because they're men!

[1] http://fortune.com/2019/01/28/funding-female-founders-2018/

Re: Women: Learn to Program This Summer

#15

Post by writepub » Fri, Mar 22, 2019, 5:35 PM UTC

chasingthewind wrote: post #2

I think this is really commendable. When you put your money where your mouth is you really show that you're serious about your values. All the best to the forty future winners of this grant!

This is excellent marketing at best, and nothing to do with values. Lambda school is a YC portfolio company, and this program/post has gotten YC and LS oodles of positive press. The gender of this batch is designed to generate positive buzz, there was never any restriction on admissions before this announcement, no bias in getting into LS. So what exactly is this supposed to achieve?

Great marketing, guys and gals!

Cheers

Re: Women: Learn to Program This Summer

#16

Post by zimablue » Fri, Mar 22, 2019, 5:35 PM UTC

lixtra wrote: post #10

rosterface wrote: post #3

I recently completed a very difficult job search where I unfortunately had to lean on my ethnicity (I’m Mexican) to pass through very overt screening against white men. I was shocked to hear from multiple companies, large and small, that they did not want men and white men in particular. Now we see a YC co-founder giving 40 women $9000 to learn to program. Where does it end? I was really sad that while I personally c…

Please don’t forget that it is her private money (I don’t know about tax benefits). So it’s like paying for the education of your children.

Except it's not your children, it's your arbitrary fashion-based tribal identity. (Gender isn't a fashion choice, no, but the choice to focus on gender over height, good looks, class, race, etc is very much a fashion that quickly shifts).

Re: Women: Learn to Program This Summer

#17

Post by atom-morgan » Fri, Mar 22, 2019, 5:36 PM UTC

jordigh wrote: post #5

rosterface wrote: post #3

I recently completed a very difficult job search where I unfortunately had to lean on my ethnicity (I’m Mexican) to pass through very overt screening against white men. I was shocked to hear from multiple companies, large and small, that they did not want men and white men in particular. Now we see a YC co-founder giving 40 women $9000 to learn to program. Where does it end? I was really sad that while I personally c…

> I honestly don’t see how any of this is legal Let me help you, fellow Mexican: https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CFR-2017-title29-vol4/xm... The reason it's legal is because there are laws that explicitly allow this for certain underrepresented or disadvantaged groups. Espero que esto aclare tus dudas.

A legal justification doesn't make something right.

It's also worth mentioning why the term "underrepresented minority" or "underrepresented group" is need in the first place. Considering how sexist and racist people claim tech is Asians seem to be doing perfectly fine which is exactly why the term URM is needed in the first place.

Re: Women: Learn to Program This Summer

#18

Post by austenallred » Fri, Mar 22, 2019, 5:38 PM UTC

writepub wrote: post #15

chasingthewind wrote: post #2

I think this is really commendable. When you put your money where your mouth is you really show that you're serious about your values. All the best to the forty future winners of this grant!

This is excellent marketing at best, and nothing to do with values. Lambda school is a YC portfolio company, and this program/post has gotten YC and LS oodles of positive press. The gender of this batch is designed to generate positive buzz, there was never any restriction on admissions before this announcement, no bias in getting into LS. So what exactly is this supposed to achieve? Great marketing, guys and gals! C…

Well, that's one way to look at the world.

Lambda School's traffic is down 20% today as compared to yesterday, so if this was a marketing stunt it was a very inefficient and expensive one.

Re: Women: Learn to Program This Summer

#19

Post by jordigh » Fri, Mar 22, 2019, 5:39 PM UTC

atom-morgan wrote: post #17

jordigh wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I honestly don’t see how any of this is legal Let me help you, fellow Mexican: https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CFR-2017-title29-vol4/xm... The reason it's legal is because there are laws that explicitly allow this for certain underrepresented or disadvantaged groups. Espero que esto aclare tus dudas.

A legal justification doesn't make something right. It's also worth mentioning why the term "underrepresented minority" or "underrepresented group" is need in the first place. Considering how sexist and racist people claim tech is Asians seem to be doing perfectly fine which is exactly why the term URM is needed in the first place.

The question was just about the legality of it. It's not a mystery why it's legal and people should be aware of what the laws actually are.

Re: Women: Learn to Program This Summer

#20

Post by mywittyname » Fri, Mar 22, 2019, 5:39 PM UTC

rosterface wrote: post #3

I recently completed a very difficult job search where I unfortunately had to lean on my ethnicity (I’m Mexican) to pass through very overt screening against white men. I was shocked to hear from multiple companies, large and small, that they did not want men and white men in particular. Now we see a YC co-founder giving 40 women $9000 to learn to program. Where does it end? I was really sad that while I personally c…

> I honestly don’t see how any of this is legal

It is illegal to discriminate for jobs on the basis of sex in the US (as per the Civil Rights Act of 1964). If you believe yourself to be the victim of discrimination, then submit a complaint the the EEOC [1] who will investigate.

That being said, a large gap between the number men and women (or whites and blacks, etc) working at companies exist can be considered evidence of systematic discrimination. Increasing the pool of unrepresented applicants is a great way to ensure that a diverse pool of qualified candidates get interviews, thus reduce the likelihood that a company appears to be practicing discrimination during hiring.

[1] https://www.eeoc.gov/laws/types/sex.cfm