A Request to Women Working in Tech

[noahgibbs]

A friend recently said something about which, as Shanna's father, I feel conflicted.

She said that as a woman working in technology, she wouldn't recommend that other women enter the field. She's a system administrator. So, while she's not a computer programmer like myself, she's in a very similar field with mostly similar interpersonal dynamics. That is to say, what she says almost certainly applies to my field if it applies to hers. And as an actual woman working in technology, her experience is going to be significantly more accurate than my from-the-outside impressions.

I'm not going to repeat her reasons here. Rather, I'd be very curious whether other women working in technical fields, especially system administration and/or programming, felt the same way. Anybody care to comment? When you comment, please let me know what you do/did in technology. For some of you, I'll know offhand. For many of you, I'll have forgotten. For anybody who comments, there may be other readers who don't know/remember.

Anonymous comments are turned on here. Technically I *do* log IPs and I don't see a quick way to turn it off just for this post, but you have my word that I won't attempt to match up anybody anonymous here with any specific person. If you're really worried for some reason, there are many fine technical measures to make that tracking ineffective at finding you.

Comments

[bayareajenn.livejournal.com]

It's too bad I don't get to hear this person's reasons. I wonder if I'm not seeing sexism.

I worked for a few years in Quality Assurance for an internet-based start-up. I wasn't the most technologically-inclined person on the job, with my bachelor of arts and all. Nonetheless, as a black box tester, I was very good at my job. I wasn't, however, paid very much. The boss could have said that it's because I didn't have any experience, but instead he said it was because at the time I was living with and dating one of their lead programmers, and since he was making lots of money, as part of that household, I didn't need to make very much. Is that sexist? I don't know. I didn't feel like I was in a position to argue, given my level of experience, however. A year later when I was still doing a great job but no longer dating/living with that guy, I held out for more money. I ended up getting a 10k per year raise (unheard of), but even with that I was still making 10-15k less than someone hired right out of college to do that job.

That was the only thing that might even be considered sexism that I noticed or can recall. Being good at my job probably helped keep that kind of thing to a minimum. Also, the people I worked with were intelligent and professional. Everyone worked long hours, male and female, except some of the folks with kids (male and female).

The only thing in my life right now that strikes me as maybe being sexist is when I take my car in to the shop and say something is wrong with it, and the mechanics downplay my concerns before even checking out the vehicle. Then again, it could be how they treat all of their customers.

As far as jobs in the past, well...I worked in fast food a lot and was always placed at the order/checkout stations and never on the line. I'm pretty sure that was sexist, as all the women worked the front and all the men worked the back. I think that's changed since I was in my late teens/early twenties, though. I did *a lot* of work in theater (paid and unpaid, on stage and off -- I have a degree in Acting), and never once experienced sexism. I wasn't always good at that work, either. If I was incompetent, I was called on it for what it was, and not because I was a woman. That said, I hate working in theater because so many people are so hypercritical and hypersensitive at the same time. It's a rough working environment unless you get just the right mix of people. Working in the animal care and training field, well I'd have to say the field itself is so dominated by women, I haven't seen any sexism other than the "I-wish-we-had-a-big-strong-guy-to-help-us-lift-this-heavy-crap" kind. Pretty harmless stuff.

[karenbynight.livejournal.com]

I don't mean to come off sharp, but: your boss told you that you didn't deserve a paycheck that was commensurate with the value of your work because of who you were dating and you're not sure whether or not that's sexist? Was the boss telling that to any men? Did he change your salary as soon as the guy and you broke up, or did you have to ask? And, if that was the boss' logic, why didn't he pay you the full amount and cut the programmer's salary? After all, if his money was yours because you were dating, then your money was also his; it could have gone either way, right? But it never does.

[bayareajenn.livejournal.com]

Nobody else who was working there was in a (known/public) relationship with someone else also working there, so he probably didn't say it to anyone else. But yeah, now that you put it that way, it probably was sexist. I had to ask for the raise at my yearly review. I can't imagine my boss saying the same thing to a guy whose wife had already been working there for a while. I figure that he didn't cut my boyfriend's salary because he was working there before I was, and his salary was already set and contracted. This is the kind of thing that happens when you know you are absolutely not qualified for the job, even if you can do it well. I had no leverage.

[slinkr.livejournal.com]

Using your relationship status or family status as a justification for salary decisions is sexist, discriminatory and illegal. Whether it's giving a woman a smaller raise when she has a baby, giving a man a larger raise when his wife has a baby, giving a woman a lower salary because her husband/boyfriend makes a lot of money and she "doesn't need to work", or anything else not related to your job performance, it's sexist.

[kalmn.livejournal.com]

is there anything clearly written up on giving women who had babies that year smaller raises being illegal? (i'm in the us.) because i think i may need that about this time next year, if my boss is dumb enough to put that part in writing.

[slinkr.livejournal.com]

I'm not a lawyer, but it might be worth talking to one if you're concerned. That sort of thing is often hard to prove, unless your boss is dumb enough to put it in writing.

[judith-s.livejournal.com]

Pregnancy Discrimination Act of 1978 added discrimination on the basis of pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions as unlawful sex discrimination into Title VII.

[kest]

For future reference, if you can do the job well, you're qualified. (Personally I think that your boss's reasoning is jawdroppingly sexist. What does your relationship have to do with *anything*?)