> 1. Why should current programmers care that programming is a job that has a > much higher percentage of men than women? What are we missing out on? I'd > like an answer other than 'Women think differently, they'd bring a different > perspective', because I'm pretty sure that relational algebra works the same > for everyone. I'm being harsh here, but suggestions that women think > differently from men has never led to anything meaningful in my experience: > it is just another stereotype-stick to beat people with.
I agree with you about stereotypes. I think that there is an equally broad range of thinking styles / personality types for males and females. There are probably as many women who would make great programmers as there are men, and that's the benefit - of the potentially great programmers we're only tapping say 60% because most women are excluding themselves. Raise the average 'greatness' and the whole industry benefits. > 2. With shrinking demand, wouldn't struggling to increase supply have a > detrimental effect on the situation; making it a less attractive career in > the long run? If software gets better because programmers are better then people want more software. Think of the opposite - if we discourage great programmers from entering the industry, and software gets worse, does that make it more a more attractive career? > 3. If your concern is that women are being discriminated against, do you > think it is a conscious or unconscious discrimination? Is it a systematic > prejudice/stereotype that is leading to the gender disparity, and if so is > there a way to combat that directly? I think that we have to realise what the 'western' world was like only a generation or two ago. Everywhere gender roles were strictly enforced, and in places like Britain the class system enforced its roles. While things are much more flexible now, those attitudes are still around - cultural expectations take a while to change. How many of the men in this group would have considered kindergarten / pre- school / primary teaching, or nursing, or secretarial work? I realise that these require different skills to programming, but how many even *considered* them? I would imagine that girls and young women do not seriously considered computer 'stuff' or other engineering disciplines for the same reasons. This stuff will change over time, you can point to many professions (medicine?) where there are many more women working than 50 years ago. It's just much more entrenched in some places. Patrick --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "The Java Posse" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/javaposse?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
