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Which industries do you think are MORE meritocratic than tech? Tech's not perfect, but I think they do it better than most (all?).
> Which industries do you think are MORE meritocratic than tech? None of them are, but tech isn't any better.
I think tech represents a good implementation of a meritocracy. You are welcomed to be weird and yourself, as long as you get your work done. Think about your coworkers-- you've got some weird ones. Dyed hair? Check. Burlesque dancing? Check. Gender non-conforming? Check. Goes to Burning Man? Check, check, self-check. Any of these things could get you fired from teaching kindergarten. Let's keep tech inclusive and ac…
I worked in a startup developing enterprise security software and have been to defcon a few times. I've worked on wall street on trading software. I've never worked with a gay, gender non-conforming, burning man, burlesque dancing, etc.
We were all fairly conservative ( though we didn't care what you did in your private life ) males with software engineering backgrounds. Not a single female. We wouldn't care if someone is gay, female, dyed hair, etc, but that certainly wouldn't fit in with any developers I've worked with.
What you seem to be describing is "web development" or perhaps silicon valley "app development". The fringe developers who are lured in by the new tech bubble.
Though I do agree that there was meritocracy in the tech industry, the new wave of "diversity" is destroying as semblance of meritocracy.
What you are describing isn't real tech. It's hipster "tech". It's a laughable stereotype that has nothing to do with reality?
Think about it. Bill Gates, Zuckerburg, Larry Page, Bezos, Ellison, Moore, Huang, etc are nothing you described.
You seem like you watched the movie "hackers" or "swordfish" got your idea of the tech industry from it.
Personally, I think this article title is clickbait. Nowhere does the author show that it's the best industry for women, only that in her experience, it was a better industry than medicine and a biology lab. And then some fluff about meritocracy. No exhaustive comparison across all the industry areas, no dive into data beyond one singular experience. I'm tired of titles that don't explain what the article is about. S…
What do you consider the best industry for women? None?
But my hypothesis would be social services and hospitality because both those industries have a high percentage of women advancing from entry level to management roles and I think a track record of career progression is probably a decent proxy for it being a good industry for a demographic.
But I'm definitely not going to write a blog post saying "Social services it the best industry for women" until I did a lot more research into it.
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Tech is inclusive, accepting and weird as long as you're a liberal aged 40 and under.
Exactly. I'm liberal but I'm still astounded by the vitrol, hate, and language my colleagues use to describe conservatives and Republicans. Inclusion means accepting people as people, not accepting just the people who look, talk, and share the same beliefs as you.
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I don't think that any of these examples show that Bay Area tech is a meritocracy or inclusive. The truth is the tech community has a culture and almost all the things you mentioned are almost stereotypical parts of it. These all fit within the tech culture: * Going to burning man * Going to SXSW * Working with the LGBT community * Tattoos / Dyed hair * Pole dancing * Wearing Stan Smiths * Being obsessed with high en…
:[ I'm a gun-shooting libertarian. Don't assume my Tribe. You're right, the "tech tribe" does have improvements to make in inclusivity, but at least it's a home for some people who would otherwise be outcasts in socially conservative businesses. As for a few things: - I think we're just as accepting of blacks, our high school education system has just utterly failed them so much that we don't have a good pipeline for…
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I agree with what you said about meritocracy, mostly. A few months ago, I made a sexist statement here on HN about women and that they don't think logically [0]. Well, I couldn't be more ashamed and sorry for that. I've known some incredible women in tech ever since, and came to realize that I was wrong. Tech is actually a place where women can shine. [0] That statement got my account banned and I couldn't get it bac…
>A few months ago, I made a sexist statement here on HN about women and the fact that they don't think logically. For the future, if you're actually contrite, you should probably stop referring to that belief as a "fact".
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It's a nice sentiment, but tech is very far from any sort of meritocracy. Falsely believing that it is a meritocracy can do more harm than good. I'm not trying to be negative towards your experience --- I'm glad you have a happy perception of the industry --- I just want to reinforce how important it is for us to improve diversity in all its forms before we start congratulating ourselves.
Which industries do you think are MORE meritocratic than tech? Tech's not perfect, but I think they do it better than most (all?).
I think tech represents a good implementation of a meritocracy. You are welcomed to be weird and yourself, as long as you get your work done. Think about your coworkers-- you've got some weird ones. Dyed hair? Check. Burlesque dancing? Check. Gender non-conforming? Check. Goes to Burning Man? Check, check, self-check. Any of these things could get you fired from teaching kindergarten. Let's keep tech inclusive and ac…
Our founder's response to this article. https://medium.com/@dinah_davis/thanks-for-sharing-your-expe...
In the original article, the author's claim was "the most welcoming industry I’ve seen" while your founder describes it as "Claiming the whole industry is welcoming is in invalidating their experience" and proceeds to argue against that. Unfortunately, this is the very definition of a straw man.
When it comes to some of these jobs, there seems to be a trope that the job market should be about "equal representation" which is complete nonsense but it is great for women because big companies want to present themselves as "respecting equality" and hence women are more likely to be hired in those positions than equally qualified men. So, yes, it is definitely very lucrative for women to pursue a career in tech in…