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The Changing Face of Software Development
CowboyRobot sends this excerpt from Dr. Dobb's:
"Ten years of surveys show an influx of younger developers, more women, and personality profiles at odds with traditional stereotypes. Software development is an art and a science that is not attainable for just anyone. It takes a special type of person to write code. Developers are detail-oriented, very literal, and intelligent. Logic is paramount, and they share a passion for their craft that rises above the desire to make more money. They are also typically married, middle-aged, have children, and most likely a mortgage. In one of a series of surveys that we've performed every six months since 2001 (interviewing each time more than 1400 developers worldwide), we find the typical developer is a married, middle-aged male, who has two to three children. Males have dominated the profession for as long we've been tracking this; and during that time, they have accounted for anywhere from 84% to 94% of the workforce. The number of male developers is currently close to the low, at 86%, which might indicate more females are taking up programming."
Can we stop saying "females" when we mean "women". We're not Ferengi.
And the others put "Yes, please" in the box marked "Sex".
In my experience, 70% of female programmers sucks. Contrast this with the 30% of good male programmers.
"The number of male developers is currently close to the low, at 86%, which might indicate more females are taking up programming."
Might indicate more females? Do we have a large number of non-gender or 3rd gender in the workforce taking up programming?
I think cats are on the rise!
I really have to take issue with the "very literal" comment. In my experience (stretching over 20 years), it's the non-literal types who are the best software engineers. They not only have an imagination, but understand nuance as well. I'd say a literal-minded person might succeed at programming at a very low or entry level, but beyond that, it's imagination and creativity that win the day.
I wonder how much of that is simply due to the stigma associated with the word "introvert."
I'm an introvert. Far to the introvert side on the Meyers-Briggs test: 18/20 if memory serves. When I tell acquaintances this, they're shocked. "Oh no!" they exclaim, "You're not like that at all!"
What that suggests to me is that mainstream society has a very poor understanding of what an introvert is. Extraverts don't understand introverts -- and they don't have to, since about 70% of the general population is extraverted -- so there's part of the problem. Because of the stereotype (or, as I say, "stigma"), asking people to self-identify as introverts is a fool's errand. No one wants to be *that.*
So "moderate extravert" could very well mean "introvert who does not know the technical definition and does not accept the stereotype."
[Sir Garlon] is the marvellest knight that is now living, for he destroyeth many good knights, for he goeth invisible.
We need a BBC Wildlife style study of the Software Developer narrated by David Attenborough so that we can start legitimately referring to the gender of this species as "male" and "female" accordingly.
"The number of male developers is currently close to the low, at 86%, which might indicate more females are taking up programming."
Might indicate more females? Do we have a large number of non-gender or 3rd gender in the workforce taking up programming?
It could possibly indicate that there a fewer programmers in total.
Example: a team of 10 persons, 8 guys, 2 girls. One of the guy leaves, no one replaces him. This lowers the men ratio of the team (from 80% to ~78%), yet there are no more women than before. So the higher women ratio does not necessarily mean there are more women than before.
http://search.dilbert.com/comic/Unix%20Programmer
I don't think we should be fighting the battle of sexist stereotypes by constantly complaining we don't have enough women in IT, or we don't have enough men in day care centers. If someone wants to get into a profession, by all means they should be allowed to pursue that the same as anyone else. Same goes for race. Until people as a culture are truly able to absolve their 'isms all of these "OMG Think of teh ________" campaigns are just a bunch of intellectual masturbation because the root problem still exists. And worrying about it is just another form of sexism, only in reverse. Oftentimes, these campaigns end up tipping the scale in the other direction, marginalizing the prior majority which is *also* wrong (How many places care about health care costs for single males?) I don't see anything wrong with having professions largely dominated by the stereotypical stereotypes. Sometimes they are that way because men are men, and women are women. People should be allowed to choose without the fear of some cultural 'ism pushing them down and that's the core problem as I see it.
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Or, perhaps we middle-aged men are leaving the profession as a guaranteed living in the field is no longer a given.
Yesterday, I received an email from an offshore "provider" who offers services at $10/hr. Most of us can't raise a family, pay a mortgage, let alone survive at that rate. The rate I have been billed out was $120-$160/hr. If people are just looking at the bottom per/hour line vs what a local agency or provider can give them for the added cost, it's pretty hard to compete.
The new IT "normal" is that IT departments are manned by "disposable or transit" workers. This is not how we "grew up" in the industry - we were valued for what we brought not only to a "project" but to the company as a whole. Companies felt their employees were assets - there was a sense of "belonging" that made people proud to for their employer. Now, it's just a paycheck.
While not exactly relics - those of us who have been around for a while are:
1) Migrating into management roles.
2) Becoming consultants (either independent or with an agency that pays benefits)
3) Running our own companies.
Younger individuals, with not as many responsibilities are moving into the developer ranks and cutting their teeth there. And, women, well many are finding that this field needn't be male dominated. Many see having this knowledge as a stepping stone to moving into project management or pre-sales. Rather smart, if you ask me.
That can't be changed, because it's part of America's culture and Americans' hatred of intellectualism. Culture can be changed, but only when there's a strong push to do so, like with gay rights where a minority shames the majority into changing its ways by pointing out their immorality. That's not going to happen with geeks, because they're generally well-paid and they're not forced into that profession by birth, so they're not seen as an oppressed group. A bunch of geeks having "geek pride" parades and complaining loudly that they don't get laid enough isn't going to be taken seriously. It'd be better for geeks to simply move to places where they're more accepted, and let the places they left suffer.
As a software developer and a woman, I can say I hope more women find their way into the field. I have worked with a number of other women and find them to be on average just a capable as the men. As far as "rock stars" go, I have yet to meet one at all. I've met a few who thought they were, but mostly they were just egotistical and unwilling to work in a group and follow the rules. I think you'll find fewer women in that category because as a mindset, we're probably less likely to do vigilante coding and hope that someone sees it as awesome.
I understand there are some truly great programmers out there, people who come up with clever solutions to difficult problems. But the lone wolf guy who feels the rest of the team is just holding him back - he may look like a rock star, but he's really just a jerk.