[TriLUG] The biggest deterrent for women in tech

[Esther L]

Marketing of careers is one reason that some young females give for lack of
interest in going into computer science.  Couple that with socialization to
be 'nice' and the encouragement of any display of nurturing behavior. It is
not at all clear to teenagers that you can use computing to improve
people's lives or to have a large beneficial effect on people. It also
looks from the outside like programmers spend their days alone in a cubicle
and there is no teamwork in the job. Young people don't see female role
models who are working in tech in a way that benefits people's lives.

IEEE and ACM (and some engineering socieities) have made efforts at
marketing, showing that you can have a career working on pacemakers, or GIS
tools for urban planning, or air bags.  You can have a career in tech
helping people - you can choose differently than vet, social worker, nurse,
dentist,... There are also efforts to show that people in tech work in
teams, and that the work life is not spent wholly alone in a cubicle.

If you are interested in this topic, I recommend this book
http://mitpress.mit.edu/books/unlocking-clubhouse

I have a chart that was created by a Girl Guides program during the 1990s
which shows a circular diagram of what careers you stop being qualified to
do, the less math you take in high school and/or college. there are
multiple Girl Scout programs around STEM.

At various times I have volunteered in Expanding Your Horizons, Engineers
Week, ToyChallenge, Sally Ride science festival, and SWE essay contest.

I decided to go into computing around 1980. High school counseling had
nothing to do with my choice, and had little information.

During the 2002-2004 timeframe, I considered getting out of tech. I was
having trouble finding a job in the downturn.

Esther Lumsdon
On Tue, Apr 30, 2013 at 2:12 PM, Rob Rousseau <ki4bke at nc.rr.com> wrote:

> Thought that this would be relevant given the recent discussion on here.
>
> http://tech.fortune.cnn.com/2013/04/30/the-biggest-deterrent-for-women-in-tech/?hpt=hp_t3
>
> "Most notably, both male and females respondents reported that a lack of
> "female role models" in the tech community is the top deterrent for why
> more women aren't pursuing tech-related careers."
>
> -Rob
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-- 
----
Esther L, estherlist at gmail.com
"It happens that creeping requirements tend to contain more bugs than
original requirements. Testing defect removal efficiency is also lower
against creeping requirements." Capers Jones