Could a Grace Hopper Get Hired In Today's Silicon Valley?

theodp writes "There has been lots of heated discussion on the topic of where-the-girls-aren't, both in the tech and larger business world. Dave Winer broached the subject of 'Why are there so few women programmers?', prompting a mix of flame, venom and insight. Over at Valleywag, Nitasha Tiku pegs 'Culture Fit' as an insidious excuse used to marginalize women in tech. Completing the trilogy is an HBR article, 'Why Do So Many Incompetent Men Become Leaders?', in which Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic concludes the problem is that manifestations of hubris, which occur much more frequently in men than women, are commonly mistaken for leadership potential. So, with a gender and age strike against her, would a Grace Hopper in her prime even land an interview in today's Silicon Valley?"

Comments

It Never Ends

[Velex]

Good god, more of this shit?

Wake me up when there are womyn-born-womyn in IT classrooms.

If you can't get womyn-born-womyn into IT classrooms, there's no fucking point in angsting about why they don't get hired for tech jobs.

When do we tell womyn-born-womyn to take some fucking responsibility for their own lives? I can't make their fucking decisions for them. I don't control them. I'm an individual, and I'm sick of being blamed for their own shortcomings because of the gender I was assigned against my will.

Re:Why so few women sanitation engineers?

[Fwipp]

Why am I not surprised the racism card was immediately played in response to a legitimate question in an attempt to silence debate? Especially when race wasn't even involved until you brought it up?

Probably because you're racist?

Big Man Disease

[PPH]

Its the idea that your status in an intellectual setting should be based on how far you can throw furniture. Or how far you could throw a football back in high school. These sorts of attributes may have some validity in some blue collar jobs, like ditch digging or bricklaying. But they have no value in a high tech company.