Not Enough Women In Computing, Or Too Many Men?

itwbennett writes "Do geeks really 'drive girls out of computer science,' as the headline of a LiveScience article contends? Blogger Cameron Laird doesn't think so. In fact, 'I don't think "gender issues in computing" is important enough to merit the attention it gets,' says Laird in a recent post. And maybe the problem isn't that there are too few women in computing, but that there are too many men. 'I'm waiting to read the headline: "Women too smart for careers with computers,"' says Laird, 'where another researcher concludes that only "boys" are stupid enough to go into a field that's globally-fungible, where entry-level salaries are declining, and it's common to think that staying up all night for a company-paid pizza is a good deal.'"

Comments

Coming Right Up

[eldavojohn]

One calm, level headed discussion about the disparity of genders in the world of computer science where everyone agrees on the solution with no emotions, personal anecdotes, gender studies, centuries of suffrage, accusations, cherry picked statistics, flamebait quotes from message boards, reverse sexism or chauvinistic undertones trumpeted.

Yep, this one sounds like it might be even as tame as your average climategate discussion.

My say on this

[Feminist-Mom]

As a 49 yo grandmother, feminist, and C programmer for 20+ years I feel highly qualified to comment on this. The answer is that in my experience merit alone has been the only factor.

Re:My say on this

[Anonymous Coward]

That's a racist comment.

Re:My say on this

[Culture20]

by Feminist-Mom (816033) Alter Relationship on Thursday December 17, @04:14PM (#30479212)
As a 49 yo grandmother, feminist, and C programmer for 20+ years I feel highly qualified to comment on this. The answer is that in my experience merit alone has been the only factor.

Stop Plagerising poor anon-cowards.
http://news.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=1482242&cid=30476526

by Anonymous Coward on Thursday December 17, @01:34PM (#30476526)
As a 49 yo grandmother, a feminist, and having had a long career as a C programmer, I find that offensive. Would they have said his father couldn't see it? This is just another racist characterization of women being incompetent with technology.

Re:My say on this

[clone53421]

Maybe she forgot to log in for that comment. Typical blond mistake, if you ask me...

Re:Are women pushing men out of nursing?

[Hatta]

I think you'd be surprised at the amount of tail male nurses pull.

Surgery @ home....

[refactored]

She can't break out the knife and do surgery at home....

Just don't piss her off Mr Bobbit.

Too many men, too many boys.

[ebbomega]

Too many misters, Not enough sisters
Too much time on, too many hands
Not enough ladies, too many mans

Re:Are women pushing men out of nursing?

[Stewie241]

No, I wouldn't find that surprising at all. After all, women in computing certainly have a large selection of men to choose from (if that's their gender of preference). Of course, some will say it's quantity over quality...

Or as the saying goes... the odds are good but the goods are odd :)

Re:Considerably?

[k3vlar]

Is simplyhired.com a reliable site for salary metrics? See... I checked with them, and I could make more working as a horse than I could if I stayed at my current job as a potato