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

[shipofools999.livejournal.com]

I am going to voice a different opinion than most. I feel there is sexism both ways in a lot of workplaces. Men don't dare wear dresses to work. They have to suck up any kind of emotion. Etc. Male dominated professions are designed to work with those limits than with the female equivalent and sometimes that is a harsh environment to deal with. There are also pros to being a rare woman in a male field. Sometimes the guys listen more because you are female. There is good and bad everywhere and in different concentrations. The men get loads of crap in female dominated professions.

I don't think this stuff should in any way influence what type of work someone should do, male or female. The environment is one factor and it will affect different people different ways. I find refusing to acknowledge the sexism stuff allows me to sail right through it.

I was a physics major (one of three females) and the only time I was treated as different from the men was I got to dance more when we went out as a group and I got a lot of positive attention when I wore a short skirt. I never felt talked down to or treated less than anyone else. My experiences were based on my personality, not my gender.

When I was an engineering major (a different degree) I found I was having trouble due to my gender. It was the things that were there to help and empower women that was doing me in. There was Take Back the Night walks (about how women didn't feel safe in the dark) and I became afraid of my two block walk to my car. There was a study room with tutors available sponsored by the Society of Women Engineers and I began to question my ability to do the work and could this weakness be due to me being a woman? Once I figured out all this "poor women" stuff was eroding my belief in myself, I chose to ignore it and gained back the confidence I had previously and disconnected my abilities from my gender.

I worry that bringing some of these things to light ends up giving them the power to hurt when refusing to let them affect you makes them powerless. I am not saying that they should be ignored but maybe a more balanced approach would be better.

I have chosen jobs and a career where it seems my gender doesn't matter. I get paid the same as my male coworkers and sometimes more than people who I think do things more difficult than I do. I will admit that I am not someone that is at the edge of where the problem is. I don't want promotions, I am happy with my pay, my final profession is neither male or female dominated. My boss (female) wouldn't listen to suggestions from me but would from others because she had issues with me, not my gender. This keeps me out of a lot of the problems people are talking about.

I think raising a girl (and a boy) should be about being true to themselves. I loved math because I loved moth. If you instill in your child that they matter more than their gender, then there is a good chance they will have the tools they need to deal with the idiots that feel gender is an issue.

Being made aware that there are a lot of gender based stupidity in IT type jobs would be good. It isn't about her gender, it is about other people's limitations and if she wants to deal with it. Not recommending a job in IT to a woman sounds like letting the gender issue win. It all depends on the woman involved. I think I would do great in IT (if I had major skills rather than minor skills). I find ways to use someone's stupid attitudes to get them to do what I want. Sales on the other hand, I would probably run into problems there. That is just me.