Landon Blake wrote:
My main point is that we should encourage more diversity in our
professions. Software development and land surveying would benefit
from more women, and nursing would likely benefit from more men.
(Ironically, I have a good friend that is in school for nursing right
now, and he is a man.)
It's really a thorny problem.
I can't speak much to cultural issues in engineering that might turn off
women. Certainly engineering professions are disproportionately
populated with those of us with crude senses of humor. On the other
hand, I've worked with an awful lot of women engineers over the years,
and the culture didn't seem to bother them (several with pretty crude
senses of humor of their own). There's certainly some self-selection
going on, but that presumably applies to guys as well.
The verdict seems to be out on whether there is selection going on based
on developmental and/or cognitive differences in male and female
brains. Again, though, I've worked with some very competent women
engineers, and I know lots of guys who can't think logically if their
life depended on it.
A somewhat clearer issue has to do with preparation for engineering
school. A while back, I spent a few years as volunteer "educational
councilor" for MIT - alumni who both interview applicants, and who do
outreach to high school students and guidance councilors. MIT has had
female students since almost the beginning, and a pretty high percentage
of female students and staff, BUT... at least when I was interviewing,
we kept running into guidance councilors who would steer girls away from
math and science classes. At a school with a very stiff math
requirement for entry, and where almost every incoming student has taken
a year of calculus in high school, that put a real dent in our ability
to recruit women. I expect this situation has gotten better, but then,
at least in our local school system, there's been a general deemphasis
on science and engineering in general - somewhat problematic in a suburb
of Boston with lots of MIT grads (and professors) living here.
Then there's the question of role models, mentors, and such. Again, I
expect this has gotten better over the years, but like senior
management, senior engineering ranks are still populated by a generation
of largely male engineers.
Whether these are issues that can be addressed at the level of a
specific project, or group of projects, is unclear. It would seem more
an issue for the academic world, professional societies, and groups like
AMITA (Assoc. of MIT Alumna).
Having said that, I'll pose the question: How many women are working on
OSGeo projects? How many are visible in the profession, and/or in
academic circles? Seems to me that the best way to attract more women
to OSGeo ranks are for the women who are already here to be highly
visible to their female colleagues.
--
Miles R. Fidelman, Director of Government Programs
Traverse Technologies
145 Tremont Street, 3rd Floor
Boston, MA 02111
mfidel...@traversetechnologies.com
857-362-8314
www.traversetechnologies.com
_______________________________________________
Discuss mailing list
Discuss@lists.osgeo.org
http://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/discuss
