Why is computer science a sausage fest?

Post by patrickgzill » Tue, Jul 27, 2010, 9:30 AM UTC

Post by Tichy » Tue, Jul 27, 2010, 10:02 AM UTC

mattdw wrote: post #4

gwern wrote: post #2

As usual, I like Philip Greenspun's explanation better than all of the anecdotes and fuzzy generalizations in this blog post: http://philip.greenspun.com/careers/acm-women-in-computing http://philip.greenspun.com/careers/women-in-science tl;dr: It's because the women who would do well in CS/STEM have much better paying, or easier, or more prestigious options available to them.

…or, you know, the directly hostile and sexist things women sometimes experience in the industry. As described in the original post. Not to say that Greenspun is wrong in his conclusions, but when women are saying "I find it unpleasant to be in the industry because…", it seems kinda patronising to turn around and suggest that they're wrong.

Post by Tichy » Tue, Jul 27, 2010, 10:13 AM UTC

mattdw wrote: post #9

Keile wrote: post #5

I suspect women aren't attracted to computer science careers as often as men because they generally like more artistic and creative ventures. In other words, most women prefer careers and interests that allow them to be hand-on empathetic with the objects and people around them. In general, computer science is hardly portrayed as such a career. It may involve aspects of these things, but women generally aren't aware…

"…dominant culture that discourages women from even entering a computer lab filled with sweaty nerds, much less think about joining them." You have a good point here, but it's not just that they're sweaty, it's that all too often they're actively hostile to women – whether it's sexist jokes, an obsession with rape in DND games (all too frequent) or just the way they seem shocked that a woman could actually be good at…

Post by rimantas » Tue, Jul 27, 2010, 10:44 AM UTC

calibraxis wrote: post #61

philwelch wrote: post #30

On someone's complaint about Google setting up a special grant program for women, OP writes: This stinks of jealousy. Why not be happy for the female students? Why rain on someone else’s parade? Something good happening to someone else seems to disgust fringley. Frankly, it comes off as childish. That's a terrible argument. Can't you say that about any form of discrimination? "So what if all the nice houses and neigh…

Actually, a better analogy would be African-Americans getting extra scholarships, to compensate for the relative lack of wealth their families accumulated. I certainly wouldn't begrudge this. Whatever cognitive differences there are between the sexes, I think they're very minor. Do they keep people like Shakespeare from being considered great writers, though women are said to have stronger verbal ability? Anyone read…

  Whatever cognitive differences there are between
  the sexes, I think they're very minor

Post by seunosewa » Tue, Jul 27, 2010, 11:01 AM UTC

mattdw wrote: post #81

Lewisham wrote: post #44

Obviously anyone making any comment about this article is wandering into a minefield of appearing sexist. While I agree with the sentiment (attracting girls into CS is OK, putting some money at the end of a stick is OK, and CS will benefit from them being there), one of the points did bother me. The first time I spoke at a conference, John Allsopp contacted me to ask if I would do it. I never would have submitted a p…

"To which I shall counter, but you should have. This is an attitude of entitlement." Clay Shirky has written about this at length [1]; the basic point being that women are socialized their whole lives to not be entitled or aggressive but to stay quiet and in the background, while men are constantly socialized to take what they want, step forward, go for it, "be a man" etc. Obviously there is much variation, and yes,…