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Women Dropping Out of IT
Women's eNews has an interesting look at women in tech, with numbers showing that women are bailing out of the IT field at a rapid pace. "Technology jobs are predicted to grow at a faster rate than all other jobs in the professional sector, up to 22% over the next decade, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Compensation is also good. In 2008, women in tech made an average salary of $70,370. ... But women's stake in that rosy outlook is questionable. For starters, men's pay during the same time period was $80,357. A study by the National Center for Women and Information Technology ... also finds that women are leaving computer careers in staggering numbers. 'Fifty-six percent of women in technology companies leave their organizations at the mid-level point, 10-20 years in their careers,' said Catherine Ashcraft, the senior research scientist who authored the report. In 2008, women held only 25% of all professional IT-related jobs, down from 36% in 1991, according to the group's report, 'Women in IT: The Facts.'"
Lots of people drop out of IT. Mostly the people who have the best common sense.
IT has too many aspy losers, people who can't do the right thing, and people who don't work in their own best interest. It's a dumping ground for the filth of humanity who others at some point have perceived that they would best work with computers instead of people.
This leaves people like me that are in it for the challenge of complexity and those who can't do anything else.
Posted by male IT worker, never seen a competent woman in IT.
Why is it that the only people who use the word "sexist" are the ones protesting against it's use?
HAH! That's something I would first-post on a lonely Friday night to get the flames goin! Good Show, old man.
And that's why they go into HR or other administrative jobs: They get to talk, and babble all day about their new color of nail polish or last night's episode of Jon and Kate.
Who actually get work done because they're good at what they do while not being vain and needy for attention
See above. In my experience, it is the needy, attention-hungry women who spend more time tethered to Facebook, and cling to it with their smartphones when they can't be at their desk. They are also more likely to pimp their phones with tacky pink covers and fake stick-on rhinestones, which do nothing to dispel the stereotype of the vain attention-whore.
Yeah, wear tight clothes and low-cut tops, bat eyelashes and giggle at every man in sight. It's friendly correspondence if they guy's a manager, or hot, or both. Otherwise it's sexual harassment.
Aww, don't wanna have a beer with the ol' boys Friday after work? It's okay, we know you feel insecure when there's a lot of women in the room who are more attractive and interesting than you are. We're not going to pander to you because you have a vagina between your legs. You have to prove yourself to us as we have to prove ourselves to you. Which means being strong, having a personality, and gettin' the job done. Just lookin' pretty ain't gonna cut it.
But it helps. Every skill gives you an edge. If taking the time to learn about something is too much work for you, then move to HR and talk about last night's episode of Real Housewives and flirt and talk and Facebook all day with a minimum of effort.
Typical woman in I.T.: "Like, oh...my...god. Did he just tell me to get actual work done? That's discrimination and sexual harassment. I'm so quitting this job and going back to the couch with the Oprah and the bon-bons to spend 6 months looking for another job. I'm glad my sugar-daddy husband is a better programmer than I am!"
-- Ethanol-fueled, I.P. banned again.
The fact is that blatant sexism exists in the industry.
It was there 15 years ago when I was brought in as an outside consultant - during all-coders meetings the guys would spend all their time in pissing contests. I finally went to Isabelle after one meeting and said "look, you and I both know they're full of it, and that your work is much better than theirs. Speak up - I'll back you all the way!" She felt she couldn't because she knew the guys would resent a woman being right.
The next gig - same thing. Watch out for the prima donnas - the guys. Can't bruise their egos. One in particular - Peter - "be careful because if he feels threatened he'll stop eating and he'll mope and make life miserable for everyone again."
Another gig - "Women don't have what it takes to be real programmers." Really?
Another gig - The men outnumbered the women 7 to 1 ... the testosterone was so thick you could cut it with a knife. Men - the after-interview discussion would revolve around whether they could do the job, how their white-board presentation went, their answers to questions. Women - "nice tits - does she have a boyfriend?"
Nothing has changed. If a woman expresses herself the same way a man does, "Stop PMSing". Don't put up with the sexist remarks or unwelcome advances? "You're a lesbian." Act HALF the prima donna that a guy does, "You're just a woman - stop being such a princess." If you're a woman, you opinion counts for less, you'll be second-guessed, paid less, and if you don't accept it you're such a c*nt. And if you DO get along with your boss, everyone else will automatically assume you're having some sort of an affair and that's why you have the job you do. White-board presentations? If after a year the men still only know what you look like from the neck down, why would you expect them to suddenly put their attention elsewhere?
If you don't believe it, videotape the next meeting, then watch the tape.
It's not just IT - I was in another office, and the woman who OWNS the company was talking to a guy-friend who's known her for years. We were talking about marketing, and discussing what people first notice about other people. She believed that men noticed the smile or the eyes. He agreed - "Absolutely!". I said "Absolutely NOT!" I put my clipboard between their faces, and asked "okay, so what color are her eyes?" He guessed - wrong ... That relationship went downhill after that ...
It's not just in IT - but you'd think that people would be a bit more intelligent in IT than elsewhere. They're not.
Because if we have two employees who have worked at SuperCo Computing for 5 years
John, who was raised to love technology by his father, played electronic chess when he was 7, took apart and reassembled radios, and was typing in programs from magazines on his Apple II when he was 9, and knew from when he was 7 he wanted to go into technology or science
and
Elizabeth, who was raised playing with dolls, had a social life, and decided at the last moment "computers might be a good career, and I'm marginally good at math"
we all know that even if John runs circles around Elizabeth in productivity and skills that since they've both worked there 5 years Elizabeth should make as much money as John, right?
If you want to blame someone for the fact that men are generally better than women in IT, blame parents and society for socializing them that way, don't try to alter reality and pretend that women are just as good as men (in general) in IT and should be paid the same in all cases based on experience only.
Woman need to be at home, popping out and raising the babies, the males of whom will then go on to do their stuff in IT. Keep 'em barefoot, fatish, and at home, is what God intended for them. Otherwise, the women wouldn't be popping the babies, we mailes would.