Hello! Just wanted to add in that I'm a female listener, even though I won't be attending the Roundup :o) I would love it if I could attend since I learn so much from that sort of environment, but unfortunately I can't. Maybe next year!
I do agree that more needs to be done to inspire young girls. However, I think a lot needs to be done after that as well. Based only on my personal experience, I think the gender dynamics in academia and in the workplace greatly affect how likely a woman who is attracted to the field will actually stay in it. Unfortunately, those dynamics vary from team to team. If a female is lucky enough to be in a classroom or on a team that fosters diversity, it's great. Otherwise, it can be a miserable experience and would scare ANYONE away. I've been on teams where gender, race, etc. are ignored I feel like everyone on the team is treated as an equal, which makes it much easier to focus on the task at hand. I've also been in environments where although I was never treated with disrespect, my gender was definitely a frequent topic of discussion. This lead to me feeling like there was somehow a distinction between me and my teammates, which made it very difficult to maintain a balance that is needed to be productive. It's so empowering for me to feel like I'm my colleague's equal because I know that just a generation ago it was much more difficult. Still, it's so difficult to always feel this way and I don't know of a solution. However, I believe (maybe naively) that over time more and more women will embrace this feeling, maybe even demand it, and when that happens hopefully it'll become a little easier. On Feb 20, 2:31 am, Jessie <[email protected]> wrote: > numFemaleListeners++; > I've been listening for about a year and a half or so I think... > > To answer your question Dianne, I didn't look into going this year in > part for scheduling issues. > The other reason, however lame this may be, is that I only graduated > and started working as an > engineer a year ago, and I'm not sure if I'm really...I don't know, > have enough experience to be able > to contribute to the conference? I guess I'm not too sure if I'd fit > in there? > > On the general issue of women in computing, it can be somewhat > depressing to see articles about > percentages of women in computing and CS enrollment numbers in general > etc. However, I still see > a lot of positive things as well. I recently went to the She's Geeky > unconference (http://shesgeeky.org/) > in Mountain View attended by many types of women in technology > (including the Secretary of State of California). > I also attended the Grace Hopper Conference for Women in Computing > (http://www.gracehopper.org/) for the last > two years. It's an international conference, and having 1,200+ women > all gathered to discuss technology, research, > etc. is pretty inspiring. > > I think the focus should really be on inspiring kids to become > interested in computing. Even the > latest issue of Communications of the ACM has an article on inspiring > women in computing as their cover story. > Having been involved in some outreach efforts, I've seen how many > young women stay away from computing because of some > stereotypes that still exist such as they'll never get a date if they > choose that, or all the jobs are going overseas > or it's simply too hard. That just...makes me sad and I don't really > understand it. For me, I wanted to be an engineer ever > since my dad would bring home his Mac SE from work for me to play > with...haha :) But I've had my share of being made > fun of or doubted and some people just don't want to deal with that, > and they shouldn't have to. I guess my point might be > that availability of computing education and hopeful changes of some > stereotypes should encourage more women to > consider a career in technology. > > Um...anyway, maybe I can join next year? :) > > Jessie --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ 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 -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
