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Sheryl Sandberg and Technology's Female Leaders

AlistairCharlton writes "While the rest of the world continues to see men dominating, the technology industry seems set to change that. I investigate how Sheryl Sandberg, Marissa Mayer, Meg Whitman and Joanna Shields are paving the way for the rest of the business community. From the article: 'A glance at the male/female split of world leaders (178/17), Fortune 500 CEOs (96 percent/four percent) and FTSE 100 board seats (85 percent/15 percent) reveals there is a huge imbalance between the sexes, but in technology change is underway - and Sandberg is at the very forefront of it. Along with Meg Whitman, Marissa Mayer and Joanna Shields of HP, Yahoo and London's Tech City respectively, Sandberg represents a shift in what was not so long ago an all-male industry.'"

110 of 181 comments (clear)

  1. When women can be despised... by Kenja · · Score: 4, Funny

    for being sociopathic, greedy CEOs and politicians, only then will we have equality.

    --

    "Have you ever thought about just turning off the TV, sitting down with your kids, and hitting them?"
    1. Re:When women can be despised... by DigiShaman · · Score: 1

      There are plenty of women that I despise for being sociopathic and greedy as it is. More so with men. But what's this "when" crap? Just call it out like it is. Don't be a coward about it! Grow a pair and speak your mind freely!

      --
      Life is not for the lazy.
    2. Re:When women can be despised... by Hatta · · Score: 4, Insightful

      They already are? Who is more hated than Nancy Pelosi? Who is more dangerous than Janet Napolitano? Who has fucked up more than Carly Fiorina?

      --
      Give me Classic Slashdot or give me death!
    3. Re:When women can be despised... by Synerg1y · · Score: 1

      We also need a few good sexual harassment scandals.

    4. Re:When women can be despised... by datavirtue · · Score: 1

      Looking for something that isn't there. Women are and always have been large contributors to the tech world. They just normally operate behind the scenes--on the same hand most men operate behind the scenes.

      --
      I object to power without constructive purpose. --Spock
    5. Re:When women can be despised... by Synerg1y · · Score: 1

      That is the dumbest thing I've heard all day, how'd confronting those women in your life go for you?

    6. Re:When women can be despised... by oztiks · · Score: 1

      I have to be honest with you though Sandberg hits those categories with flying colours. Not that I can gauge what type of person she really is but she is a:

      - Greedy "CFO" (one of the biggest insiders that Facebook has);
      - Sociopath (works for Facebook?); and
      - Loves to bullshit shareholders (Facebook is not worth $60B).

      So she ticks all the boxes in my book!

    7. Re:When women can be despised... by micheas · · Score: 1

      More hated than Pelosi: Obama and Bush Jr.

      More dangerous than Napolitano: Obama.

      Fucked up more than Fiorina; Jason Elop

    8. Re:When women can be despised... by DigiShaman · · Score: 2

      Worked out well. I said what needed to be said (the truth) and parted ways. Don't let people get away with with bad behavior. At the very least, don't let them negatively effect your life. I sure as hell don't.

      --
      Life is not for the lazy.
    9. Re:When women can be despised... by davester666 · · Score: 1

      I'll pass. It's still considered OK for them to kick, punch, bite and slap you.

      --
      Sleep your way to a whiter smile...date a dentist!
    10. Re:When women can be despised... by Synerg1y · · Score: 1

      I ask because my experience with senior female management has been that they're very egotistic and go out of their way to try and be reverse-dominant. Typically, not very pleasant people to work with. I'm sure there's some good ones and I work with one right now, but at what point is throwing logic out the window and going on an emotional tantrum not good for the business? Somehow, most of the males I've worked with seem to have an easy time avoiding this non-aspect of business.

      I'm not trying to stereotype, but merely stating my experience.

    11. Re:When women can be despised... by RivenAleem · · Score: 1

      Who's got a more annoying laugh than Marissa Mayer?

  2. Carly by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

    Don't forget Carly Fiorina and her contributions to making HP and Compaq the successful companies they are today.

    1. Re:Carly by TheSpoom · · Score: 1

      There's no reason to extrapolate one woman to all women. But yes, Carly was bad.

      --
      It's better to vote for what you want and not get it than to vote for what you don't want and get it.
      - E. Debs
    2. Re:Carly by gestalt_n_pepper · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Carly wasn't bad because she's a woman, or because she's a self-absorbed sociopath who only saw HP as a big money pot from which she could extract a personal fortune (regardless of the costs to the company or its employees), she was actively incompetent at running a technology company due to a lack of experience with, or any interest in, high technology. Her education was in liberal arts, and then several extended business degrees. That's pretty much a formula for failure in almost any industry, but particularly so in the tech industry. She was just a female version of John Scully's disastrous run at Apple without Scully's good luck at joining at the right time.

      --
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    3. Re:Carly by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative

      Why not? Women do that to men all the time.

    4. Re:Carly by fahrbot-bot · · Score: 1

      Carly wasn't bad because she's a woman, or because she's a self-absorbed sociopath who only saw HP as a big money pot from which she could extract a personal fortune (regardless of the costs to the company or its employees), ...

      I thought that was part of the typical CEO job-description. Perhaps just typical on Wall Street then...

      --
      It must have been something you assimilated. . . .
    5. Re:Carly by operagost · · Score: 1

      Compaq was acquired by HP well before she became CEO.

      --

      Gamingmuseum.com: Give your 3D accelerator a rest.
    6. Re:Carly by TheSpoom · · Score: 1

      Why not? Women do that to men all the time.

      Yep, and those women are wrong to do so.

      --
      It's better to vote for what you want and not get it than to vote for what you don't want and get it.
      - E. Debs
  3. Re:I don't consider the HP example a good one. by HornWumpus · · Score: 4, Funny

    I'm betting Carly can't make a good sandwich ether.

    --
    John McAfee 'It was like that time I hired that Bangkok prostitute; to do my taxes, while I fucked my accountant'
  4. flimsy article thrown together by EjectButton · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Surprising that this article praises the disaster that is Meg Whitman, and completely omits Ginni Rometty the current CEO of IBM who has worked everywhere within the company over 30 years and has CS and EE degrees.

    1. Re:flimsy article thrown together by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Add Ursula Burns (CEO of Xerox) who comes from a disadvantaged background and has two science degrees.

    2. Re:flimsy article thrown together by PolygamousRanchKid+ · · Score: 5, Insightful

      completely omits Ginni Rometty the current CEO of IBM who has worked everywhere within the company over 30 years and has CS and EE degrees.

      Maybe because she spends her time running the company, instead of grandstanding about herself in the media . . . ?

      --
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    3. Re:flimsy article thrown together by Hal_Porter · · Score: 5, Insightful

      I think there are two types of CEO and it's not really about gender.

      One of them knows a lot about the business because they worked their way up in the company and will follow an evolutionary path. Maybe their skills are a bit out of date by the time they get to the top, but at least they had skills once.

      The other is someone who has worked in management jobs in a lot of companies doing a lot of different stuff, getting to be CEO via a series of jumped ships - each one higher than the last but each one was in a completely different business area. They'll follow a completely unpredictable and revolutionary path with a high chance of failure because they don't really know anything about the concrete business area - they've only really worked in it as CEO and if you're CEO you're right axiomatically when you say anything. They do however know a lot about business in the abstract - megatrends like outsourcing vs insourcing for example. They are probably very, very intelligent and persuasive too - you need to be if you can talk people into giving you the keys to their billion dollar company.

      I think there's a need for both types of people in an organisation but you're kidding yourself if you think hiring someone who knows nothing about the business as CEO means they will beat the odds - i.e. outperform the evolutionary alternative.

      It has happened of course, but I think people overestimate the probability of it. But then again most share holders are terrible gamblers who always think they can beat the odds. So it's not that surprising that boards made up of shareholders hire type II CEOs and screw the company. Then again maybe they knew that the evolutionary approach wasn't good enough to keep the company going too. That's probably true of most household name companies - an evolutionary approach means they will fade away in a couple of decades.

      --
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    4. Re:flimsy article thrown together by hedwards · · Score: 2

      You make it sound like becoming CEO has anything to do with talent and ability. If you take a look at the people who have managed to get the job, often times it's a matter of whom they know rather than what they know.

      And the cajoling is working, when I was getting my degree in the Natural sciences my classes were roughly 2/3 women in all cases.

    5. Re:flimsy article thrown together by gordo3000 · · Score: 2

      more important:
      being CEO of a successful company. The number of CEOs that have engineered proper turn arounds of a failing company are very few. You could make me CEO of apple tomorrow and even if I did nothing for several years, things would be great. Look at how Even easier: make me CEO of a company whose success has more to do with the macro economy (think Exxon and oil prices, or banks and increased loan demand) and you will look very smart.

      Ken Lewis worked his way up from loan officer to CEO of Bank of America, and during the bull market years was known as a great deal maker and an incredible CEO who could turn around failed businesses (he made a name for himself turning around a few major bankrupt banks in Texas), but when the rising tide stopped raising every ship, his incredible lack of knowledge on several areas of the business that had been built came to the forefront.

      Look at Ron Johnson for a great recent example of a rising tide that wasn't the macroeconomy. He was heralded as the great retail genius of our time because he was in charge of apple retail stores when Apple went from nothing to the leading tech company in the world (sales, product penetration, profits, value, I'm not going to argue about innovation or technical points on products). In 1 year he has taken JC Penneys which was kind of in a rough patch and was looking for a way to revitalize itself and turned it into a company with sales dropping 30%, the board having to consider selling off the 100+ year old company. This is a company that made it through everything the 20th century threw at it and was torn down in less than a year because Ron believed the hype that he was more than a bit player at the table of Apple.

      A CEO is almost never tested when things are going well in the industry and economy. All they really do is give happy speeches and cash a paycheck. Whether male or female, it's most likely the case. On the other hand, I incredibly respect CEOs who have turned companies around. the IBM shift from big iron to services was not easy, but it is one of the great success stories of our time. Apple basically coming back from the dead is another one.

    6. Re:flimsy article thrown together by epyT-R · · Score: 1, Insightful

      I sincerely hope this is sarcasm. I'll assume it is, but these points deserve feedback.

      1. No they are not better at multitasking.. In fact, both genders suck at it.

      2. If by 'social skills' you mean passive aggressive group dynamics where feelings matter more than facts, productivity, and efficiency, then yes, they are better. However, these dynamics are not what bring about productive workgroups.

      3. If by 'educated' you mean more easily indoctrinated with socialist rhetoric, then, yes, they are better. Women much prefer to submit to the whims of the group. It's instinctive. Why do you think they're used as informer agents in Orwell's 1984?

      4. I guess it depends on perspective. If by 'behave worse' you mean violence, then no, as both genders are violent. The split's about 50/50 in fact. Men are more extreme about it, while women lash out at much lower emotional thresholds. If we're judging masculine gender imperatives, it can also be said that men are more forthright, blunt, honest, rational, and 'willing to go there' when needed, even if feelings are hurt. Society needs more of this, not more political 'correction' that shields it from ever increasing amounts of reality.

      5. Wars are fought by men when there isn't enough to go around. The women can stay home and vote the men to go to war, while they are protected from those who would take their resources from them. Which gender is the privileged class again?

      6. While it's true that men eat more calories on average, they also get more work done per unit time, on average, as well as being willing and able to work more hours/day. This includes both physical and intellectual labor. Healthy men are far less willing or likely to play passive aggressive political games. Instead, they simply compete on competence and results. Of course, feminists call this out as insecure child's play, but it's not because it results in the attainment of more goals. This makes it better for the organization and society in general than the passive aggression women generate when they're forced into competition with each other. This passive aggression is a much more direct indicator of systemic insecurity in an organization than competition.

    7. Re:flimsy article thrown together by Hal_Porter · · Score: 1

      If you don't like it here why don't you GO BACK TO RUSSIA ;-p

      --
      echo -e 'global _start\n _start:\n mov eax, 2\n int 80h\n jmp _start' > a.asm; nasm a.asm -f elf; ld a.o -o a;
  5. News at 11: Rest of us "Don't Give a Fuck" by UnknownSoldier · · Score: 2

    The rest of us just don't care about the gender of who successfully runs a company.

    Only when they unsuccessfully run it does someone get their panties in a knot by playing some imaginary gender card.

    The majority "Don't give a fuck." I don't see too many men (or women) complaining that only women can give birth.

    1. Re:News at 11: Rest of us "Don't Give a Fuck" by XanC · · Score: 2

      I don't see too many men (or women) complaining that only women can give birth.

      Oh yes they do:
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sFBOQzSk14c

    2. Re:News at 11: Rest of us "Don't Give a Fuck" by jythie · · Score: 1

      Eh, it does matter though. People tend to hire and promote people like themselves, and when you look at companies that have women in senior positions they also tend to have more women all through the career path including more hires in the first place. So women have a better chance of being hired and getting promotions at a company run by a woman.

    3. Re:News at 11: Rest of us "Don't Give a Fuck" by fbobraga · · Score: 1

      +1 Informative

    4. Re:News at 11: Rest of us "Don't Give a Fuck" by GodfatherofSoul · · Score: 1

      "imaginary gender card"? You need to build up the nerve for the first time in your life to talk to a woman in IT and see what she thinks about that.

      --
      I swear to God...I swear to God! That is NOT how you treat your human!
    5. Re:News at 11: Rest of us "Don't Give a Fuck" by jythie · · Score: 3, Informative

      'Worthy' is a highly subjective concept. Right now, people are not being treated equally, and men with the same qualifications and performance have a better chance of being hired and promoted then women. Even at companies that have women in senior positions men STILL have better chances then their female counterparts.

      So yes, I do consider hiring more women to be a worthy cause because right now there are systemic problems that result in fairly poor representation of women in tech.

      Yes, I agree that the goal should be to treat men and women equally, but we are a long way from that and it makes a rather poor argument for why we should not be trying to improve things.

      And unfortunately, the 'innate' argument is just complete and utter bunk, yet it keeps getting trotted out as a rationalization for discrimination.

    6. Re:News at 11: Rest of us "Don't Give a Fuck" by Seumas · · Score: 1

      I'm a bit tired of everything having to be celebrated when it's "the first time . . . . for a woman" to do something. I suppose it still even being remotely worth commenting on when it happens is sort of the point, though.

      At any rate, I've had the fortune to work with some fucking amazing women in my career. Not as a CEO or anything, yet, but as managers and colleagues and they have earned everything they've achieved and then some. If anything, stories about successful women just sort of tire me, because I've been in a career where they have been fairly plentiful and rather excellent, so it feels like "business as usual", as far as I'm concerned.

    7. Re:News at 11: Rest of us "Don't Give a Fuck" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      We're all about the meritocracy in tech. Women do not, nor have they ever had, the goods to deliver.

      Nor have they ever had?

      Sorry, programmers and CS grads used to be 40% women in the 70s.

      If you want to say that women were smart enough to get out of the industry before it turned to shit, go ahead, but Grace Hopper would rip you a new asshole.

    8. Re:News at 11: Rest of us "Don't Give a Fuck" by misexistentialist · · Score: 1

      Is the unemployment rate that bad? Because if they have the same qualifications and performance they should get about the same kind of job even if all the men are hired first.

    9. Re:News at 11: Rest of us "Don't Give a Fuck" by epyT-R · · Score: 1

      No, the worthy cause is to get more qualified people in place.. not women specifically, people. Fighting systemic discrimination by layering more systemic bias on top of it does not solve anything.. It just creates more discrimination.

      Equal opportunity != equal outcome. Assuming men and women are interchangeable drones with the later systemically oppressed is far too simplistic a model to be accurate. This is something else feminists have trouble with. If anything, today women have MORE opportunities than men do, starting in elementary, and scaling upward radically by college and beyond.

      Actually it is this 'assumed equal capability' argument that keeps getting trotted out as an excuse to build systemic discrimination against men into society.

    10. Re:News at 11: Rest of us "Don't Give a Fuck" by epyT-R · · Score: 1

      and white knights like you need to move beyond shaming language and ad hominem when others (rightly) the hypocrisy of using gender discrimination to fight gender discrimination.

    11. Re:News at 11: Rest of us "Don't Give a Fuck" by cryptizard · · Score: 1

      You have to (in that case) address the social issues.

      What if the social issue is that there aren't enough female role models in tech jobs? Then hiring more woman would fix the problem.

  6. Re:Feminism by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Informative

    Teaching is female dominated because male teachers are automatically assumed to be pedophiles.

  7. Have rich parents, marry well, hire maids. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    You go girl. Best known for her groundbreaking leadership on which project again? Don't be afraid to be bossy. Buy my book.

  8. Re:Feminism by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Informative

    Job such as teaching is female dominated = women's brains have evolved to be better at certain things.

    Negative role such as being in prison is male dominated = men's brains are different.

    Positive role such as winning sole custody of one's children is female dominated = women will always be better are certain things.

    Job is male dominated = men and women are equals.

    It's femilogical, and you're being sexist if you don't agree.

    Exactly. What this article seems to be preaching is "equal outcome", as opposed to "equal opportunity". In the U.S. and other western countries, women have the same *opportunity* as men to dominate in these fields. Opportunity is different than outcome. We don't "need" to have a perfect 50% men/women split in industries. We "need" to have the same opportunity available for both sexes.

    Each gender is typically going to trend towards certain professions, and that is perfectly fine. The genders may be equal, bu they are certainly not interchangeable, as much as the P.C. cops would like you to believe. Your example of the education industry is valid.

  9. These are not Women In Tech by databeast · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Female executives for a company that just happens to be in tech, doesn't count to women in tech, just women in business.

    1. Re:These are not Women In Tech by dkleinsc · · Score: 3, Interesting

      That's not really true, and it shows the dangers of lumping people together. An example of the difference:

      - Marissa Mayer has a B.S. and M.S., with honors, from Stanford specializing in artificial intelligence. That's where she met Larry and Sergei, and became Google employee #20 as an engineer. It's safe to say that if you put her down in front of a bash prompt with some broken code she'd show you that she is in fact quite capable technically. So I'd consider her a woman in tech, and a highly successful one at that.

      - Meg Whitman has no technical skills whatsoever, and is the exemplar of the myth that it's possible to run an organization well when you have no clue what your people are doing. Her career start was as a brand manager for Proctor & Gamble, then management consulting, and as far as I can tell she's never held a job where her primary responsibility was to actually make a product or sell a product. To give you an idea, at the beginning of her time at eBay, the website crashed, so Whitman's first goal was to create a new executive team.

      --
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    2. Re:These are not Women In Tech by HornWumpus · · Score: 2

      Is it Larry or Sergei that calls his dick 'bash prompt'?

      --
      John McAfee 'It was like that time I hired that Bangkok prostitute; to do my taxes, while I fucked my accountant'
    3. Re:These are not Women In Tech by operagost · · Score: 1

      You sound like an idiot who read two adjacent facts in a Wikipedia article and thought they were related. Hint: in 1998, most fledgling sites crashed a lot and many new CEOs reorganize as one of their first tasks. You should bone up on your research skills before you turn in that essay for 8th grade English next week.

      --

      Gamingmuseum.com: Give your 3D accelerator a rest.
    4. Re:These are not Women In Tech by AlexSasha · · Score: 1

      Actually, Meg's response was to get Oracle development working around the clock to fix the problem in the way Oracle 8.0.4 was handling hash buckets. My boss at the time lived on the premises for 3 days applying hot patches from the dev team in redwood shores.

  10. shift.... by jythie · · Score: 1

    Let us not forget though that tech used to have a larger female representation then it does today. So when we are back to the ratio we had in the 80s and push beyond that, THEN we can start patting ourselves on the back.

    1. Re:shift.... by englishknnigits · · Score: 3, Insightful

      How about pat ourselves on the back when we feel there is equal opportunity and stop caring about ratios (outcome)? Equal opportunity != equal outcome.

    2. Re:shift.... by jythie · · Score: 1, Insightful

      Actually, equal opportunity, spread out across a large industry, should have pretty equal outcome. The poor ratio is a good indicator that access is not equal.

    3. Re:shift.... by englishknnigits · · Score: 2

      What basis in reality do you have to support that claim? Female and male interests are not identically distributed so why would the outcomes be identical? Do you think that the ratio of men and women that buy/wear dresses will be the same as long as there is equal opportunity for men and women to buy dresses?

      I would agree that an unequal ratio is sufficient reason to ask the question if there is actually equal opportunity but it doesn't mean there isn't equal opportunity.

    4. Re:shift.... by HornWumpus · · Score: 1

      NEVER accept anything produced by a sociologist at face value.

      They just don't get the whole 'scientific method' thing.

      --
      John McAfee 'It was like that time I hired that Bangkok prostitute; to do my taxes, while I fucked my accountant'
    5. Re:shift.... by MiSaunaSnob · · Score: 1

      who says its societal dysfunction, maybe female managers who gain power are simply less likeable then male managers who gain power. With proven differences in brain chemestry and development is it unbelivable that females would respond to the stimuli of gaining power in a way that makes them less likeable, or that the females who were driven and/or wanted to gain power would have personalitys making them less likeable once they gained power? why jump right to the conclusion that its a societal difference when it could just be a gender differance.

    6. Re:shift.... by cryptizard · · Score: 1

      With proven differences in brain chemestry and development is it unbelivable that females would respond to the stimuli of gaining power in a way that makes them less likeable, or that the females who were driven and/or wanted to gain power would have personalitys making them less likeable once they gained power?

      Yes. When you speak of "females" as a collective group, yes it is and you are being crazy sexist.

  11. Re:Feminism by HornWumpus · · Score: 1

    Your one of rhyder's sock puppets! Why else would someone come along to reinforce his concluding line?

    --
    John McAfee 'It was like that time I hired that Bangkok prostitute; to do my taxes, while I fucked my accountant'
  12. Re:Feminism by fredprado · · Score: 1

    Which only reinforces the GP point.

  13. Also Xerox by alispguru · · Score: 4, Interesting

    ... which has had all female CEOs since 2001.

    Xerox is not as exciting as HP, but its CEOs have not done large, showy reorganizations that destroyed once-proud solid engineering traditions, so there's that.

    --

    To a Lisp hacker, XML is S-expressions in drag.
    1. Re:Also Xerox by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Informative

      ... which has had all female CEOs since 2001.

      Xerox is not as exciting as HP, but its CEOs have not done large, showy reorganizations that destroyed once-proud solid engineering traditions, so there's that.

      Um, what? You really don't know what you're talking about do you... Ursula Burns took over Xerox and then took a wreaking ball straight to engineering.

      Ursula Burns sold off large portions of engineering based in the USA to HCL, an Indian outsourcing company, then proceeded to dismantle or outsource everything related to product engineering.

      But hey, at least she's hiring call center employees to replace the engineering positions that have been moved to India.

      Ursula Burns is the number one most hated CEO in the tech industry. I wonder why?

    2. Re:Also Xerox by EvilSuggestions · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Speaking as someone who was IRIF'ed during a large, showy reorganization at Xerox, I beg to differ:
      http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9228947/Xerox_s_outsourcing_one_year_later_layoffs
      And that move definitely destroyed the once-proud solid engineering traditions of the Phaser printer org that Xerox acquired from Tektronix. Used to be an amazing group of innovative engineers there, and now just a burnt out husk remains.

      --
      "There is a thin line between ignorance and arrogance, and only I have managed to erase that line." - Dr. Science
  14. Want to change society? by Ossifer · · Score: 1

    Work bottom-up, don't approach it top-down.

  15. But are they more responsible? by elucido · · Score: 2

    Just having female leaders is worthless if those leaders aren't any more responsible than the male leaders who preceded them. It's about responsible leadership not male to female ratios.

    1. Re:But are they more responsible? by skitknapp · · Score: 1

      Surely you're not suggestion that women have to be MORE responsible than their male counterparts to earn that even gender ratio?

  16. Women bring a different dynamic to the workplace by sl4shd0rk · · Score: 1

    Really not trying to be sexist here which is the first problem. It's really difficult to address the difficulties pertaining to male vs. female co-workers/bosses when the core issues are so deeply ingrained in the differences which make it sexist.

    I think I just gave myself a migrain.

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  17. Re:Feminism by Crimey+McBiggles · · Score: 4, Insightful

    It's not sexist to disagree with a poorly worded argument.

    --
    Crimey
  18. Re:Elizabeth Sthal.. by Sparticus789 · · Score: 1

    I thought that was Sean White. My bad....

    --
    sudo make me a sandwich
  19. Marissa Mayer by Torp · · Score: 2

    Of "you can work 200 hour weeks if you sleep under your desk" (while at google) and more recently "no more telecommute" (at yahoo) fame?
    Is that someone to be praised, regardless of gender?
    I think she belongs on the "stay away form wherever she works" list.

    --
    I apologize for the lack of a signature.
    1. Re:Marissa Mayer by GodfatherofSoul · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Waaah, MM took away work-at-home so now she's the new evil IT emperor?

      --
      I swear to God...I swear to God! That is NOT how you treat your human!
    2. Re:Marissa Mayer by lobiusmoop · · Score: 1
      --
      "I bless every day that I continue to live, for every day is pure profit."
    3. Re:Marissa Mayer by Torp · · Score: 1

      Mmm that I didn't know. I thought she was still sleeping under her desk and doing 200 hour weeks while pregnant...

      --
      I apologize for the lack of a signature.
    4. Re:Marissa Mayer by HornWumpus · · Score: 1

      Don't disagree, but If you're put in charge of a large disfunctional organization that clearly couldn't manage remote workers effectively, what are you going to do?

      I'd fire all the people that weren't being productive at home. They won't be any more productive in the office.

      Bringing them all in, isn't an insane approach. It tells me she doesn't trust the existing metrics. Otherwise she would let those who are effective, continue working from home.

      --
      John McAfee 'It was like that time I hired that Bangkok prostitute; to do my taxes, while I fucked my accountant'
  20. female slashdotters? by illestov · · Score: 2

    perhaps we could see what the females on slashdot think? *crickets*

    1. Re:female slashdotters? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      right, because there's no reason the "females" on slashdot might choose to skip reading the comments on this article.

    2. Re:female slashdotters? by broseidon · · Score: 1

      From an X-chromosome perspective, it's more funny to read the war between the chauvinists and the white knights. On a serious note, I'll add my two cents: Don't treat me like I'm your secretary, don't put me on a pedestal. Treat me like a normal cubmate, give me projects appropriate for my level of competency, and if I screw something up call me on it. Really, it's that simple.

    3. Re:female slashdotters? by broseidon · · Score: 1

      IE, my spelling on cubemate*

    4. Re:female slashdotters? by yndrd1984 · · Score: 1

      Don't treat me like I'm your secretary, don't put me on a pedestal. Treat me like a normal [cube-mate], give me projects appropriate for my level of competency, and if I screw something up call me on it.

      Don't be a jerk, and don't "protect" people who don't want your "protection"? Soon you'll be saying that we should just treat people like people!

    5. Re:female slashdotters? by epyT-R · · Score: 1

      and why would their positions be any less biased? Humans, male or female, will act/defend their own interests.

    6. Re:female slashdotters? by epyT-R · · Score: 1

      Tell that to the feminist lobby groups in washington who claim to speak for you..

  21. Re:I don't consider the HP example a good one. by SternisheFan · · Score: 1

    I'm betting Carly can't make a good sandwich ether.

    ...and I bet when she was three she dreamt she could save Mario from Donkey Kong. Like that could ever happen!... Oh, wait...

    http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/345409

  22. Re:Feminism by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    "Misogynist"

    You keep using that word, I do not think it means what you think it means.

  23. Re:Women bring a different dynamic to the workplac by Piata · · Score: 1

    I got a migrain just trying to figure out what you were not trying to say while simultaneously trying to say something.

  24. never been married? by charnov · · Score: 1

    So... you've never been married, then?

    --
    [RIAA] says its concern is artists. That's true, in just the sense that a cattle rancher is concerned about its cattle.
    1. Re:never been married? by Seumas · · Score: 2

      You must be new here. :)

  25. Let this play out... by MikeRT · · Score: 3, Interesting

    A significant amount of the smart, talented women I know despise working for other women because female managers can be awful to women in a way that many men cannot even dream of treating female subordinates. Even in college, I saw some of this as one female professor was known to be utterly ruthless to female students who slacked off to a degree she almost never, ever dished out to her male students.

    So I look forward to this trend with amusement because it very well may lay the foundation for an implosion of female involvement in our fields. And then the cycle will repeat itself...

  26. NPR Morning Edition - Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg by elistan · · Score: 3, Informative

    This morning on Morning Edition NPR broadcast a talk with Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg. (Probably because Sandberg has a new book out on the subject.) I thought it was quite interesting.

  27. she sounded arrogant on 60 Minutes by peter303 · · Score: 1

    But CEOs/COOs are not really that humble.

  28. Carol Barth by Animats · · Score: 2

    Carol Barth did well running Autodesk. Not so well at Yahoo, but that was Yahoo's problem. Nobody else has been able to turn around Yahoo either.

  29. Re:NPR Morning Edition - Facebook COO Sheryl Sandb by slew · · Score: 2

    This morning on Morning Edition NPR broadcast a talk with Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg. (Probably because Sandberg has a new book out on the subject.) I thought it was quite interesting.

    On the other hand this book also got Gloria Allred on the warpath to bash the book. Ms Allred's claim is that 'Lean In' (the title of Ms Sandberg's book) is a thinly veiled attempt to blame women for their own predicament. The basic premise of the book (I haven't read it yet), appears to be that women are not self-confident enough and that career choices for women are often about compromise, some of which are compromises that male colleagues do not have to make.

    Instead, Ms Allred (in numerous radio interviews) appears to claim that the proper role of women who achieve in the workplace should be to encourage the enlistment of collective bargining (e.g., unions), to eliminate compromises and to help all women to achieve rather than to promote more self-confidence among women (since women are chided for being self-confident in the work place) and allow women make any career/family choices since they should be able to have it all.

    An interesting spin on Ms Sandberg's book. One wonders if she meant that women should be submitting themselves to the male-dominated union power structure rather than promote their own accomplishments individually? I'm not sure if that's exactly how that's supposed to work out... Anyhoo... To each their own politics...

  30. Women are evil bosses... by lucm · · Score: 1

    ... as shown in the Showtime documentary "House of lies".

    --
    lucm, indeed.
  31. Ex-CFO has interesting point for men & women by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    This was in the Sunday NYTimes Magazine. As I get older (not old...older) it surprises me how our society automatically makes assumptions about what it means to be successfull and how those assumptions always seem to glorify to work. Work, work, work, work. For beings with limited lifespans it seems like such a waste of time and energy.

    "Is There Life After Work?"
      http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/10/opinion/sunday/is-there-life-after-work.html?_r=0

    Erin Callan is the former chief financial officer of Lehman Brothers
    (she was forced out before they went bankrupt...)

  32. Erin Callan by macbeth66 · · Score: 1

    Former CFO of Lehman Brothers is now crying over the loss of her marriage and lack of a family. Oh, boo hoo. Psychotic, the lot of them.

  33. Re:Women in technology by hackula · · Score: 1

    How are the women responsible ("allowing themselves to be cheapened") when it is men making bone-headed (pun intended) decisions?

  34. For no reason, I recall this scene from Mad Men by korbulon · · Score: 1
  35. Re:NPR Morning Edition - Facebook COO Sheryl Sandb by broseidon · · Score: 2

    I missed the NPR broadcast today, nor have I seen Gloria Allred's accounts; but I saw Sheryl Sandberg as a keynote at the Grace Hopper conference in 2011, and she actually did a solid speech on a very similar topic. IIRC, she discussed the challenges and compromises that women make in technology or other male-dominated field; but she also discussed how that landscape can change, and how women can achieve success both with their family and in a career, similar to your summation of Ms Allred's points. I'm not sure if Allred was trying to make family/career balance come across as utopian, but I'd take what I heard during Sandberg's keynote more to heart because it is, in fact, not an easy balance to achieve... It goes so far beyond needing an unbiased employer; you also need your sig o's unwavering support, and be able to handle the possibility of living a less traditional (non-hallmark) kind of life. Forget social stigmas within the workplace when there is a giant elephant in the room regarding the roles/duties between husband and wife/mother and father.

  36. Re:Feminism by epyT-R · · Score: 3

    because of feminists stereotyping them..

  37. Re:Feminism by epyT-R · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Criticism of feminism, or rather, accusing it of hypocrisy is not hatred of women. You are categorically and definitionally incorrect.

  38. Totally misleading statistics and premise by popo · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Statistics like. "85% of board seats are held by men, so clearly there's a long way to go" are highly misleading.

    The underlying premise is that all things being equal, the seats should be 50% female. But that premise is silly.

    If 75% of women elect to raise families and focus less on their careers (not a real statistic, just an example) then it would stand to reason that 25% would not hold equally senior positions to their male colleagues who pursued only career. And if women more frequently choose majors like psychiatry, French language, Art History and women's studies, then their lack of representation on boards of tech companies would also be justified.

    This is the general problem with numerical male:female ratios: They discount the other options which draw women of their own free will, and misrepresent the existing ratio as "repression" of some kind.

    The goal is NOT equal representation. It is equal OPPORTUNITY. If board seats were 50% women, that would likely represent male oppression as there are typically more men pursuing careers applicable to those seats than women. When women complain about unequal ratios they are demanding their cake while wanting to eat it too. They are actually demanding unequal favorable treatment for themselves at the expense of men.

    --
    ------ The best brain training is now totally free : )
    1. Re:Totally misleading statistics and premise by oztiks · · Score: 1

      I would like to state that this is right as I also believe feminists in general should mind their own business.

      As an example my mom who is a hard working, highly driven person has her priorities in life.

      She is from back in the day when the man brought home the wage and the woman stayed at home and looked after the home / kids. Her beliefs are that as a wife and woman she had a very important role to play within the family unit which served to keep the family strong and functioning.

      She dreaded the day men were paid in line with women / vice versa because that in turn complemented a lack of drive for a man to go out in the world and prove himself and become something to be proud of.

      She has no problems working a job and has done so for the last 20 or so years but ideally she believes that feminists are diluting a perfectly acceptable way of life that should not be looked upon poorly and if anything these "strong women" though wish to make a point have done so at the detriment of others who were happy with the way things were.

      Statistics or not, it's bullshit because even today many women do not want to be driven by the same things feminists have waged for, further, neither should be considered the norm and neither should need representation any longer. It is only put forward now as a means to "milk" a left wing ideal to serve a right wing goal.

      In summary, feminists do what you want, us guys don't care either way but when you do raise the point its a "what the fuck" type sentiment for us because there are many powerful women out there, the Prime Minister of both Australia and New Zealand being perfect examples and excuse the blunt nature of this but it's fucking hard to become a leader of any country because out of the millions of possible candidates only the best of the best should be chosen, so in retrospect the opportunity IS there, wake up and practice what you preach.

      Case and point with the US, we have a black man in the top job, the party to run with a female leader in the next election race will be the one who gets the job, in some ways you could say having a woman run for president would give that party an "unfair" advantage (that's my prediction anyway).

  39. Re:Women in technology by epyT-R · · Score: 2

    because:

    1. men are required to thanks to feminist 'equality' legislation. Unfortunately it does little but encourage another layer of systemic discrimination to form on top of claimed systemic discrimination.

    2. men are instinctively inclined to place women on pedestals anyway..

    3. today's 20 and 30 something men were brought up into neo-chivalry, which basically demands they give women 'equal' rewards while, at the same time, prop them up when they don't measure up, often to the point of taking the fall for her.

  40. Re:Medical Doctors by epyT-R · · Score: 1

    Empathy from your doctor might feel nice, but it doesn't mean she'll be the best at diagnosing your illness and deriving a solution.

  41. Oh *&^%$#@! by alispguru · · Score: 1

    Gentlemen, you're right - I haven't looked closely at Xerox in a year or two. Ms. Burns had the right promoted-from-within credentials to run Xerox without grossly screwing it up, but it appears she did so anyway.

    This just solidifies my plan to sell the Xerox stock I've had since 1988.

    --

    To a Lisp hacker, XML is S-expressions in drag.
  42. data geek =! can make profit by globaljustin · · Score: 1

    Marissa Mayer is a data dork who was hot and in the right place at the right time. Yes, her degrees are difficult to attain (with honors), but a degree doesn't mean **jack shit** to the profit margin.

    Here's the problem with this article:

    1. Superficial examination of women CEO's, omitted many examples (as stated above IBM's CEO and others)

    2. Takes mainstream understanding of what a 'successful tech company' looks like. Business must have a sustainable profit model or they are nothing.

    3. These women drive their companies into the ground. They take capital-building enterprises, outsource, cut workers, 'innovate', and then stop production of devices and go into "business services"...happens every time. The type of 'woman CEO' he profiles get their position because the **do as they are told** not b/c they can run a company.

    --
    Thank you Dave Raggett
  43. your point 4 on violent women by fonske · · Score: 1

    My father recently passed out and fell frontally flat on the floor.
    At the hospital the doctor and a psychologist took my mom apart to go over the facts of the incident.
    The family physician explained that domestic violence against men is frequent and severe (weapons) corresponding to the deep wound and the bruises in the face of my dad.
    Since domestic violence against men is almost never reported cross examination at emergency is routine.

    1. Re:your point 4 on violent women by fonske · · Score: 1

      Quote: "At the hospital the doctor and a psychologist took my mom apart to go over the facts of the incident."
      whoops, the literal translation from Flemish "took apart" means "to demolish" in English.
      I meant to say "taking aside".

  44. Bow to the King...errr I mean Queen... by Dareth · · Score: 1

    Bow to the King...errr I mean the Queen...

    Sounds like perfect leadership training to me. Have them swear fealty or off with their heads/careers.

    --

    I only look human.
    My mother is a halfling and my dad is an ogre, so that makes me an Ogreling
  45. Re:Women in technology by hackula · · Score: 1

    1. Men are required by law to hire pretty female candidates over qualified male ones? Not in my state anyway. Go into any software company and you will see 90% male engineers. Are they breaking the law?
    2. Resist the urge to be a dumbass. Unless it is my wife, every woman in my life gets treated exactly the same as the men, especially at work. Men tend to put things on pedastals that they are trying to have sex with. Women at work should be out of bounds for any professional.
    3. Speak for yourself. Equal rewards come with equal responsibility. This is pretty common sense, and I am willing to bit that just about every 20/30 something would agree.

    IME men who put "their woman" on a pedestal tend to be the same ones who smack her around once the party guests leave. It makes no sense to me, but it always seems to be the same pattern.

  46. Am I the only feminist here who thinks... by sick197666 · · Score: 1

    That all people should be free to choose the life they wish? Without barriers other than their own abilities??? If you choose to be a stay at home mom/dad/husband/wife - all power to you. If you choose not to, great.

  47. Please help me to understand by holophrastic · · Score: 1

    I try to protect my friends, my family, and even my clients from the burden of undue stress and tedious work.

    As much as I enjoy the work that I do, the requirement of doing it in order to survive is a burden.

    I'm quite certain that one day the world will discover that working for a living results in a lesser life -- for some real value of lesser.

    So, in short, I'm all for women working. But I'm not at all interested in equality. I want to stay home barefoot in the kitchen with life's great rewards -- i.e. food, shelter, and children. So if women want to take-over the burden of daily labour, let's help them to organize a plan to take it all.

    I just can't believe anyone would fight so hard to work every day for their entire lives.

    While we're at it, let's stop holding doors, paying for dinner, being polite, censoring verbal vulgarities, treating them kindly, smiling, and buying them gifts too. Clearly if they don't appreciate thousands of hours of annual work, let them take it all.

  48. Re:Feminism by geoffaus · · Score: 1

    yep see here http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Female-Brain-Louann-Brizendine/dp/055381849X/ I've never heard a female dominated industry say they are aiming for more male leaders in their area. As a post above said - we should be aiming for equal opportunity not equal representation

    --
    As an online discussion grows longer, the probability of a reference to Godwin's Law approaches 1
  49. Re:Ex-CFO has interesting point for men & wome by geoffaus · · Score: 1

    There arent too many people who on their deathbed wished they had worked more

    --
    As an online discussion grows longer, the probability of a reference to Godwin's Law approaches 1