Ann Caracristi, Who Cracked Codes, and the Glass Ceiling At NSA, Dies At 94 (washingtonpost.com)

An anonymous reader writes with this story at The Washington Post about the life and death of Ann Caracristi. From the article: "Ann Caracristi, who became one of the highest ranking and most honored women at the code breaking National Security Agency after a career extending from World War II through much of the Cold War, died Jan. 10 at her home in Washington. She was 94. ... Ms. Caracristi formally retired from her intelligence career in 1982, after becoming the sixth deputy director of the NSA . . . She was the first woman to serve as deputy director. One of her strengths was reconstructing enemy code books, said Liza Mundy, a former Washington Post staff writer who is working on a book about U.S. female code breakers during the war. Admired for her early accomplishments as a young woman in wartime Washington, Ms. Caracristi was credited in her later career with providing leadership for new generations of code breakers and for her efforts to bring computers and technology to bear on the work. ... One of her jobs at the NSA was as chief from 1959 to 1980 of branches devoted to research and operations. Her honors there included the Defense Department's Distinguished Civilian Service Award and the National Security Medal, among other top federal honors. After retiring, she began serving on a variety of prominent scientific, defense and intelligence advisory boards and committees."

Comments

Looks like the NSA is trying to save face

[Anonymous Coward]

Dear NSA,

We will always hate you, no matter how many articles you write about women, Snowden, or "saving the world ". Fuck you.

Sincerely, We The People

Re: Looks like the NSA is trying to save face

[Anonymous Coward]

Dear "Native Americans",

Might makes right.

And no, you weren't all living peacefully together, singing kum-bay-yah, before the white man came. You were killing each other before deciding to oppose or join sides with the next strongest tribe in town... who happened to come on ships.

Now enjoy your casinos and stfu.

Glass ceiling is a term that only originates

[Anonymous Coward]

Glass ceiling is a term that only originates from the late 1970s.

I suppose, like the supposed pay gap myth, it had more to do with women's lifestyle choices and propensity to stick their nose to the grind wheel rather than actual barriers of entry.

Madam Curie and Florence Nightingale showed women leaders can make it far earlier than that. I guess what it's all about then, is not to try to get equality, but like how it's been demonstrated over and over again that not enough women simply enroll in CS when free too (or even when incentivized).... to cheerlead them onto a certain path whether they really want to or not.

Re:Glass ceiling is a term that only originates

[kaur]

... since she uses 80% or more of her vacation time that she won't be able to handle the job.

In normal societies, using your vacation is more or less an OBLIGATION.
I'd guess that in Europe, even the intelligence agencies ensure that their employees do take out their vacation.

It is also used as a measure against internal fraud. It is difficult to break rules and hide the consequences if you MUST be away from work (and hand over your duties) every year.

Re:Glass ceiling is a term that only originates

[LaurenCates]

"She was told for the last five years a promotion is hers upon retirement of a guy."

Not that I'm necessarily willing to discount sexism here, since I don't know who your sister works for, but this is often how it works whether you're male or female.

Unless your sister is stellar and could create her own position to which she could be promoted, most companies don't want more managers just for the sake of having them because of practical considerations rather than spend money on salary because it looks good on paper that they hired a woman to be a manager.

"His opinion of her went down when she had kids. That is the glass ceiling."

Went down, or found her to be less productive overall because she had family obligations to meet?

I find it strange that business is where we draw the line at distracted productivity.

Let's say I was a competitive weightlifter, and decided to take a year off to have a kid. And when I came back a year later, I couldn't hit the bench for five hours a day like I used to because I was fulfilling the necessary task of taking care of said kid.

Do you think if I showed up at a competition and took 12th place, the judges would feel it necessary to give me a handicap because having a kid kept me from grinding the way other competitors without kids do, and fast-track me into the top 5?

Again, I don't know your sister's situation. But these "all-too-familiar" stories that squarely fit that confirmation bias hole are just too vague for me to nod my head and say "yep, that's sexism."