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The First Women in Tech Didn't Leave -- Men Pushed Them Out (wsj.com)
An anonymous reader writes: A column on the Wall Street Journal argues that sexism in the tech industry is as old as the tech industry itself. At its genesis, computer programming faced a double stigma -- it was thought of as menial labor, like factory work, and it was feminized, a kind of "women's work" that wasn't considered intellectual (Editor's note: the link could be paywalled; alternative source). In the U.K., women in the government's low-paid "Machine Operator Class" performed knowledge work including programming systems for everything from tax collection and social services to code-breaking and scientific research. Later, they would be pushed out of the field, as government leaders in the postwar era held a then-common belief that women shouldn't be allowed into higher-paid professions with long-term prospects because they would leave as soon as they were married. Today, in the U.S., about a quarter of computing and mathematics jobs are held by women, and that proportion has been declining over the past 20 years. A string of recent events suggest the steps currently being taken by tech firms to address these issues are inadequate.
If they only hired women, they'd have to pay more. Women likely earn less for the most part due to discrimination, rather than because they're totally OK with being paid poorer wages. If you discriminate in favor of one group over another, you'll end up paying more members of that group you favor.
You are not alone. This is not normal. None of this is normal.
"Why do all these articles about 'Smoking is bad' keep popping up as if smoking does in fact give you cancer?! I'm sick of it" - tobacco executives in the 80's
and that men are collectively guilty?
JFC, way to make it about your fragile ego rather than anything productive.
Maybe this type of response is why it keeps coming up. Every time someone points out the problem, people like you take it as a personal attack. What is it you're afraid of here exactly? Some woman is going to point at you personally and say "YOU DID IT! SHAME!"?
If you want the topic to stop coming up, hire more women. If you just want to be outraged that progressives are talking, do that. If you're actually convinced it's not a problem, be convincing rather than foaming at the mouth. If you feel upset at the vague implication that men aren't collectively blameless here, grow a fucking ballsack and do something about it or shut the fuck up.
From what I see, they are perfectly fine doing the tech work, they are just not up to the chest thumping common with the "brogrammers". Here are the specs, the follow the specs and give them what is requested, the Brogrammer will get the general idea of the spec, code what they want, and if it doesn't meet their needs they will use it anyways because they don't want to wast time on a rewrite, and the brogrammer will tout how cool they are for getting their innovative code in the mainline.
The spec just needed basic CRUD design, not an AI sub routine, so they do what is needed. Unfortunately this could be interpreted as avoiding new technology, not trying to be innovative or technical, or just not being ambitious in their career.
They can code just as well as any guy, but they are not trying to Alpha Male the next guy, so they won't go do over the top methods to get the same job done.
If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
If I'm going to be a "tech bro", then so be it.
Note that I'm not saying "you" to parent to come, but to the women and others defending this tripe.
Fuck these women who are whining that there aren't more women in tech.
Growing up, being a nerd meant women didn't want to touch you with a 30 foot pole. They certainly didn't want to join you in your nerd stuff.
Going to college, there were no women. It isn't even that they failed out -- from day 1 they didn't exist. They weren't there because they didn't apply.
Of course, having not been in the field in high school, having not gone to college, now not applying for jobs, turns out they aren't in the workforce either!
Then, 20 years later when it turns out that nerd stuff makes bank, now they're beating down everyone's door --- and I'm somehow the bad guy!
Fuck off, you opportunistic shitheads!
"Oh, you don't know what it's like to be marginalized!" --- yes I do, you pieces of shit, by people like you, for being a nerd who loves tech!
If being a social outcast because I do the unpopular thing I love and stumbling upon a good way to make a living in the process makes me a "bro", then I'll wear that inaccurate label with pride. Fuck you. Fight me. (And you'll probably win. Because I'm not very tough. Because I'm a nerd who spent most of his life playing on the computer. In spite of the disasterous social consequences of doing so.)