Re: [Dorset] Education
On 20/03/18 17:57, Terry Coles wrote: Try again. On Tuesday, 20 March 2018 09:12:27 GMT PeterMerchant via dorset wrote: The makeup of the LUG fits the M/F proportions pretty well. Why don't more women take up software? I once [c1980] had a team that was predominantly excellent female programmers. There seems to have been a mass migration away from programming by women. My wife gained her degree in CS at Leicester Poly in 1979. Pretty much all of her fellow students were female. 15 years earlier, as a schoolboy, I was taken to Rugby College to see my first computer (a mainframe of course). All of the staff were women. I suspect that the initial popularity of programming for women was stereotyping. In the 1950s, boys didn't do typing; that was seen as a 'girly' job. But boys were quite happy to type on teletypes and produce reams of punch cards. There was never a stigma about that! I would have to ask W-1 how many other girls there were in her computer science Masters program, if I was still in touch with her. P. As the 80s progressed more and more boys were given computers for Christmas (Sinclair et al), but parents never saw that girls might be interested in such a thing, so gradually the stereotyping swapped over. I think the modern trend with Code Clubs and Raspberry Jams, etc is beginning to make a difference, but it will take time. -- Next meeting: Bournemouth, Tuesday, 2018-04-03 20:00 Meets, Mailing list, IRC, LinkedIn, ... http://dorset.lug.org.uk/ New thread: mailto:dorset@mailman.lug.org.uk / CHECK IF YOU'RE REPLYING Reporting bugs well: http://goo.gl/4Xue / TO THE LIST OR THE AUTHOR
Re: [Dorset] Education
On 20/03/18 19:35, Keith Edmunds wrote: In 15 years of running an IT support/consultancy business, we've had one female applicant for a technical role. I would love to hire a (suitable) female techie! One of my Business School students became a techie at BU after graduation. I don't know if she is still there. P. -- Next meeting: Bournemouth, Tuesday, 2018-04-03 20:00 Meets, Mailing list, IRC, LinkedIn, ... http://dorset.lug.org.uk/ New thread: mailto:dorset@mailman.lug.org.uk / CHECK IF YOU'RE REPLYING Reporting bugs well: http://goo.gl/4Xue / TO THE LIST OR THE AUTHOR
Re: [Dorset] Education
In 15 years of running an IT support/consultancy business, we've had one female applicant for a technical role. I would love to hire a (suitable) female techie! -- "The best argument against democracy is a five-minute conversation with the average voter" - Winston Churchill -- Next meeting: Bournemouth, Tuesday, 2018-04-03 20:00 Meets, Mailing list, IRC, LinkedIn, ... http://dorset.lug.org.uk/ New thread: mailto:dorset@mailman.lug.org.uk / CHECK IF YOU'RE REPLYING Reporting bugs well: http://goo.gl/4Xue / TO THE LIST OR THE AUTHOR
[Dorset] Re: Education
Try again. On Tuesday, 20 March 2018 09:12:27 GMT PeterMerchant via dorset wrote: > The makeup of the LUG fits the M/F proportions pretty well. Why don't > more women take up software? I once [c1980] had a team that was > predominantly excellent female programmers. There seems to have been a mass migration away from programming by women. My wife gained her degree in CS at Leicester Poly in 1979. Pretty much all of her fellow students were female. 15 years earlier, as a schoolboy, I was taken to Rugby College to see my first computer (a mainframe of course). All of the staff were women. I suspect that the initial popularity of programming for women was stereotyping. In the 1950s, boys didn't do typing; that was seen as a 'girly' job. As the 80s progressed more and more boys were given computers for Christmas (Sinclair et al), but parents never saw that girls might be interested in such a thing, so gradually the stereotyping swapped over. I think the modern trend with Code Clubs and Raspberry Jams, etc is beginning to make a difference, but it will take time. -- Terry Coles -- Next meeting: Bournemouth, Tuesday, 2018-04-03 20:00 Meets, Mailing list, IRC, LinkedIn, ... http://dorset.lug.org.uk/ New thread: mailto:dorset@mailman.lug.org.uk / CHECK IF YOU'RE REPLYING Reporting bugs well: http://goo.gl/4Xue / TO THE LIST OR THE AUTHOR
[Dorset] Fwd: Re: Education
Should have gone to the LUG. -- Terry Coles -- Next meeting: Bournemouth, Tuesday, 2018-04-03 20:00 Meets, Mailing list, IRC, LinkedIn, ... http://dorset.lug.org.uk/ New thread: mailto:dorset@mailman.lug.org.uk / CHECK IF YOU'RE REPLYING Reporting bugs well: http://goo.gl/4Xue / TO THE LIST OR THE AUTHOR
Re: [Dorset] Education
The simple answer to this question is "it's systemic". The "how to fix this" question has had a lot of time and money thrown at by various large tech companies in recent years, such as Google (I saw it first hand when I worked at Google) but they have failed to far - though the fact they are looking into it is a very important step in itself. There are women around - when I was at British Airways, I happened to be the lead of a 100% female Android team, but this stopped when I left (I was replaced by a man - in fact, I hired my own successor, all 15 or so applicants were male). In my (non statistically relevant) experience, there are more women working as software devs in non tech companies, such as BA, than in tech companies, whether large (ie Google) or small (ie start ups). On Tue, Mar 20, 2018 at 9:12 AM, PeterMerchant via dorset < dorset@mailman.lug.org.uk> wrote: > Just wondering what your thoughts are on Computing education, after > reading this article: > > > https://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/teaching-tech/ > > The makeup of the LUG fits the M/F proportions pretty well. Why don't more > women take up software? I once [c1980] had a team that was predominantly > excellent female programmers. > > > Peter > > > -- > Next meeting: Bournemouth, Tuesday, 2018-04-03 20:00 > Meets, Mailing list, IRC, LinkedIn, ... http://dorset.lug.org.uk/ > New thread: mailto:dorset@mailman.lug.org.uk / CHECK IF YOU'RE REPLYING > Reporting bugs well: http://goo.gl/4Xue / TO THE LIST OR THE AUTHOR -- Next meeting: Bournemouth, Tuesday, 2018-04-03 20:00 Meets, Mailing list, IRC, LinkedIn, ... http://dorset.lug.org.uk/ New thread: mailto:dorset@mailman.lug.org.uk / CHECK IF YOU'RE REPLYING Reporting bugs well: http://goo.gl/4Xue / TO THE LIST OR THE AUTHOR
[Dorset] Education
Just wondering what your thoughts are on Computing education, after reading this article: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/teaching-tech/ The makeup of the LUG fits the M/F proportions pretty well. Why don't more women take up software? I once [c1980] had a team that was predominantly excellent female programmers. Peter -- Next meeting: Bournemouth, Tuesday, 2018-04-03 20:00 Meets, Mailing list, IRC, LinkedIn, ... http://dorset.lug.org.uk/ New thread: mailto:dorset@mailman.lug.org.uk / CHECK IF YOU'RE REPLYING Reporting bugs well: http://goo.gl/4Xue / TO THE LIST OR THE AUTHOR
