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Coping Strategies for Women in IT

Ian Lamont writes "Female workers are losing ground in the IT profession, reports Computerworld, citing statistics which show a sharp drop in the number of female CS grads since the 1980s, and a decline in the percentage of women in the IT profession since 2001. According to the article, causes include pervasive stereotypes and the locker-room atmosphere found in some IT shops — attitudes which some readers may recognize from the comments in a Slashdot thread last week. The IT professionals interviewed in the Computerworld article discuss a variety of strategies for coping. They range from trying to 'out-boy the boys' to watching what you say, as one Sun Microsystems executive describes:'It's not unusual to be the only woman at a meeting, she says, and because of that, there's often a tendency to remain silent unless you think you have something really remarkable to say. "As one member of a small group, you feel you have no right to be mediocre ... You're not just representing yourself; you're representing [females] with a capital F.'"

2 of 648 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Different by Das+Auge · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    A little off topic, but you'd think that, since the politically correct group sees no difference between men and women, that they'd be a little less negative about gays.

  2. Re:That's not a troll, by the way... by fm6 · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    Why is the parent post "Informative" but this one "offtopic"?