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Computer Geeks As Loners? Data Says Otherwise
Computerworld reports on an analysis of census data to compare marriage rates for different professions. They found the rate for tech workers to be similar to that of other white-collar professions, and significantly higher than the rate for the general population. 62.1% of people with IT jobs are married, as are 56.5% of scientists and 65.5% of engineers. This compares well to people in legal professions (62.0%), medical jobs (61.3%), and finance (62.4%). 51% of the adult U.S. population was married as of the 2010 census. Tech workers do have a slightly higher percentage of people who have never married — 26.7% of IT workers and 31.9% of scientists — but they also have slightly fewer divorces.
65.5%! We win!
Scruting the inscrutable for over 50 years.
... as beta continues to spread its AIDS among the geek population.
Trolling is a art,
We are normal human beings like the rest of the world.
If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
the rate for tech workers to be similar to that of other white-collar professions
So that's "tech workers", not computer geeks. Even if you accept the idea that "computer geek" is a meaningful classification, it's no longer the case that only computer geeks work with computers. Tech workers have profiles similar to other white-collar professionals because "tech work' are just white collar professions.
Just losers who buy into the notion that you have to have a title or be in a relationship to be happy. Sheep. What else is new? Moving on.
Just what I needed to read on singles shaming day.
I'm just a rarity!
"Have you ever thought about just turning off the TV, sitting down with your kids, and hitting them?"
Just me and Jim Beam.
It's encouraging that a higher than average number of IT workers are married but a higher percentage also have never married because I interpret that to mean IT folks don't just commit, but they stay married too. (I am by profession in IT and I know I am completely committed to my wife and that it's reciprocal, but of course I'm just one person.) There's the term "geek chic" which I guess means nerds are more attractive than they used to be, and I guess that in the end "nice guy syndrome" works to our advantage.
In fact, this is yet another symptom. Their crushing loneliness compels them to wife the first woman that gives them a chance. I've seen this pattern repeatedly throughout the course of my career. It makes work related social events even more unbearable, having to endure exposure to so many unhappy marriages and whatnot.
Marriage rates have to do with employment and higher salaries much more than anything else in this case I bet, more even than with the education levels.
You can't handle the truth.
A "computer geek" is a person who specializes in comptuers.
A tech worker is someone who works in the computer field.
Despite them being similar, they aren't the same. For example, call center tech support is filled with tech workers, but given the scripts and stuff they have, they don't have to specialize in the field.
The computer geek accepts computers as a hobby. This is different than a tech worker, as they end up with a general lack of scripts and go directly into the free-form world.
And this is basically stuffing a wide variety of carrers into one "tech worker" category. Programmers may be in a less social environment (although this varies), tech support specialists may be in a social environment while feeling socially isolated, etc.
"Data say," not "Data says." Unless, of course, you are writing TNG fanfic.
what % of those marriages resulted from online dating? probably very high.
We also have lowest unemployment in IT
Everyone claims to be a geek or nerd nowadays. Just like everyone thinks they are the smartest one in the room.
Normal distribution fail.
and many "tech workers" are not computer geeks.
I would agree that most tech workers are not loners, however I think an awful lot of loners are computer geeks. As a loner, I find computers to be a nice a hobby for someone that does not spend much time with other people.
Accept tech worker, sheesh. It's not like all those engineers are actually driving locomotives or building circuit boards or drilling for oil or whatever it is all 'engineers' do.
;-)
imo, if you're in tech, then the tech should be working, not you
Check Mate..., with their wife
Sure... In the same way that "paying taxes" counts as a "perk" of civilization. You realize that getting married means you get to pay MORE in taxes, right?
// Plan to stay that way.
/// With the same woman for 20 years, and no plans to upgrade.
//// Fix the damned CSS on Slashdot "Classic", Dice!
/ Not married.
LOL, yeah, that about sums it up.
Lost at C:>. Found at C.
I'm an ambivert. Many of my tech friends are generally introverts and do appreciate having their own space. But I would only categorize a minority of my computer geek buddies as loners.
This articles looks at marriage rates by income levels. Given that technology professions typically pay above averages wages, perhaps it's not surprising that geeks have marriage rates that are similar to other white collar professionals.
http://www.brookings.edu/blogs/jobs/posts/2012/02/03-jobs-greenstone-looney
Huh! How about that! Who knew?!
Get over yourself. Some of the "tech workers*" I've ever known could kick the average "computer geeks*" ass and have no interest in computers outside of their day job. Geeks just don't have any other skills so they need to paste pictures of their latest overpriced wireless router to their Facebook to try to act like they're all 1337.
The truth is that most "computer geeks*" know next to nothing about real computing.
* Using your definitions, not mine. To me your "computer geeks" are just punks looking to get owned by someone who understands real computing.
First take in this story.
Perhaps "a 100-person Mechanical Turk study with a $5 research budget" should be done here as well, then define "married" to be engaged in holy matrimony with an actual physical human being (of the opposite, same, or any of the genders defined by Facebook). Perhaps the questionnaire failed to mention "IRL" so they thought WoW counted, too.
When the copyright term is "forever minus a day", live every day like it's the last.
How can we be lonely? We have SlashDot!
In 2009, the median age at first marriage was 26 for women and 28 for men. Any job which requires significant education will have a higher average age than the general population, which probably explains the difference in marriage rates. This looks to be a simple average over job categories, which didn't account for that.
Use of the words "good", "bad" or "evil" is almost invariably the result of oversimplification.
and i'm an extreme loner. zero surprise there.
Look, just because you are married, doesn't mean you aren't still a loner.
Spouse may be outgoing, likes to get out, shop, visit friends, travel, etc...
Loner likes to stay home, take staycations (vacations at home), do as much as possible without leaving the domicile, and typically only interacts with other co-workers in small numbers.
Does this "scientific inquiry" take these factors into account?
Probably not.
The only way to win is not to play.
Then there's the "smartest man in the room syndrome", which you so classically showed in your post. Congratulations!
they would have discovered that 27% of these married techies were actually counting their mother as a wife and 18.45% of those surveyed were counting their inflatable woman as a wife See http://www.imdb.com/title/tt08...
I got to the chocolate box before you, that's why the hard ones have teeth marks.
Just because you couldn't make it in the NFL, NBA or Gymnastics, and now spend your hours delivering keyboards and mice to your co-workers, doesn't make you qualified to talk down to systems engineers.
Yeah, you might be able to *beat up* a systems engineer, but you couldn't think your way out of a wet paper bag.
And yes, mechanical engineers, electrical engineers, systems engineers are all engineers, even if we don't get to wear the funny hats and pull the whistle cord on Thomas the Choo-Choo-Train.
I think the study might have some merit, but only because the definition of geek has changed a lot.
I got into computers in the early 80s as a very young kid. By the time I really got involved with a "geek" social scene, there was a mix of people. Before that, computers were most definitely nerd toys -- there were very few "typical" folks who gravitated toward them. Even so, I've worked with people who want nothing to do with computers once they are off the clock, people who have a healthy level of hobby involvement with computers, hardcore gamers, and extremely hardcore "computer nerds" -- mom's basement types. The first group are the most likely to be in a stable relationship from my experience. I'm happily married with 2 kiddos, and I put myself in the "healthy level of hobby involvement" camp. It's surprisingly hard to find time to do anything these days with 2 young kids. You certainly won't see me playing video games for 10 hours at a clip anymore...I used to do that back in the day though.
I do have anecdotal evidence from my dealings with "tech workers" that divorces are very common. Lots of people I work with are on Wife #2 or more. I think a lot of that might be the crazy amount of time that work and computer hobbies can suck out of your life -- you really have to be matched up with someone who will either tolerate it or is a "geek" themselves and understands. And like I said, once kids come along, I can see huge problems if you decide to disappear for hours on end and expect your partner to just handle the kids. If you work an IT job for one of the crappier employers out there that demands on-call duty and tons of hours a week, only the shallowest of spouses will stick around and only if you make good money to make up for you not being there.
My other piece of strictly anecdotal evidence is the prevalence of...non-traditional...relationships among the geekier set. One US-born guy I worked with was divorced and constantly trying to bring his girlfriend from China to the US -- no clue how they met. Lots have girlfriends they met online. Others have had obvious mail-order brides. That could sound a little stereotypical, but I've seen LOTS of guy's wives who barely speak English and look like they're pretty much there to cook and clean for them. Maybe I'm just working with the wrong sorts, but that's a very common theme in my experience.
Non-traditionals aside, I think a lot of the evidence the study cites is just because computers are now a normal part of our lives. Anyone can be a Facebook user. Smartphones are designed to be used by non-techies. There are plenty of "IT" jobs that don't involve hardcore coding or systems/analysis work. My job borders on the nerdy side, but only because I make it that way.
I think that if you actually do find the right person, and that person is less of a geek than you are, it balances you out. My wife is incredibly smart, but not obsessed with computers and tinkering the way I am. (She's a finance geek.) If you find someone who's just there for the money or has absolutely no interest in what you do, that's where the divorces and bitterness creep in. I'm almost at 15 years married -- and she hasn't tossed me out yet!
Dungeons & Dragons(TM) nerdiest game ever, requires friends.
Went on a ski trip with about 10 people recently. One was a self-described loner who was married. You have to qualify the term "loner" to a certain extent. He was quite sociable and seemed to enjoy the trip, but it was a special event and not a group he hung out with on a regular basis.
Anyway in the IT group here, everyone that I know of is either in a relationship or married. Included in this group is one of the most unsocial people I've ever met, - at least when it comes to work. But there are folks at the other end of the spectrum too. I picked the word "unsocial" because it isn't like he's rude or actively avoids people. He just doesn't participate in the common sorts of workplace social activities. No lunches. No going out for coffee. No happy hours. Even if it's an official company party, either at the office or someplace else, he won't be there.
I work as an engineer, and interact with many other engineers. Few of them completely fulfill the "awkward technophile" stereotype. Many of us do prefer small gatherings, finding large social gatherings exhausting. It may not be as exciting a meat-market, but it is still possible to find someone to marry at small gatherings.
An internal system operation returned the error "The operation completed successfully.".
How many are old farts and still virgin like me? I will be like The 40 Years Old Virgin soon. :P
Ant(Dude) @ Quality Foraged Links (AQFL.net) & The Ant Farm (antfarm.ma.cx / antfarm.home.dhs.org).
You seem to be confusing "my" "definition" of computer geek with someone who uses a computer. Using a computer as a hobby is different than using a computer as a means for a hobby.
And taking pictures of their overpriced wireless routers to post on MyFace, Spacebook or some other vanity page is on par with showing off a phallic symbol. Most commonly done by fakers.
I'm married and still a loner. In fact, I'm sitting here on Slashdot while my wife watches the Olympics.
Women want to marry "up." IT pros tend to make more money than the average schlub.
Therefore a woman, upon discovering that a tolerably attractive man is an IT pro, is more interested than she would be otherwise.
Now obviously the kooks, creeps, freaks, and autistic weirdos are excluded from this, but then they are excluded no matter what they do for a living.
Used to be that women wanted to marry doctors and lawyers. Doctors they still do. Lawyers are toast as there are NO JOBS for law school graduates. People currently in law school may not realize this, but women looking to marry sure as hell do. Men who make good money in the IT realm have been added to the preferred list of potential husbands.
Muslim community leaders warn of backlash from tomorrow morning's terrorist attack.
their original statement with 51% of US adults are OR have been married. Since obviously, every other person you meet is not married and these numbers have been in a general decline. Controversially related to levels of education.
never did understand that phrase. i guess the article is talking about shirts?