I agree. The general image of a computer programmer is that of a super nerd, and most women are constantly socialized not to be that.
There are some women (like myself) who rebel and could care less about being called a nerd...but alas we aren't very common.
I have worked as a computer programmer for several years, and in my opinion it is an isolating field for women. I hardly ever work with other women...and when I have tried to forge positive work relationships with other men, they occasionally seem to think my intensions are sexual. I feel I have to keep a "more professional" relationship with them, and this puts a distance between myself and my coworkers.
This means that I have no one to confide in, and I have no one to share my personal programming projects with. I just don't feel comfortable talking to them about some neat thing I coded because I'm afraid they may think I'm coming on to them. Crazy but true.
This is just my personal experience. If I ever feel insecure, it's because I don't have that social network that the guys have. The guys in the office can carry on conversations like normal people.
Luckily, I can remain anonymous on the internet and talk code all that I want. I don't really need the socialization in the office. Many women may want that.
Frankly, I have progressed well in my career and can't find much to complain about. Computer programming is the most creative thing that I can do in a corporate setting. Maybe in time other women will come to the same conclusion.
Duplicating sculptures by methods other than carving directly into stone is nothing new - and milling machines are certainly not a new technology either.
Even Rodin quite often started his work in clay. He sent the original plaster to a person who used a pointing machine invented by Nicolas Gatteaux to do the rudimentary stone carving.
As for milling machines, they have been around forever and come in all sizes and work with all kinds of materials. This one is really good, and the CNC software runs on Linux: http://www.sherline.com/mill.htm
It can be a neat 3D printer, but you need to get versed in machining, which can be very time consuming - especially if you use metal. You can use foam, wood, and lots of different materials.
The MKS Toolkit Nutcracker library is stable, proven, and has support for most Unix APIs. I've used it to enable lots of software packages to be portable from Unix to Windows. It comes with all of the scripting and compile tools that you'd need - except Visual C++ which you need to use cc.
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I agree. The general image of a computer programmer is that of a super nerd, and most women are constantly socialized not to be that.
..but alas we aren't very common.
..and when I have tried to forge positive work relationships with other men, they occasionally seem to think my intensions are sexual. I feel I have to keep a "more professional" relationship with them, and this puts a distance between myself and my coworkers.
There are some women (like myself) who rebel and could care less about being called a nerd.
I have worked as a computer programmer for several years, and in my opinion it is an isolating field for women. I hardly ever work with other women.
This means that I have no one to confide in, and I have no one to share my personal programming projects with. I just don't feel comfortable talking to them about some neat thing I coded because I'm afraid they may think I'm coming on to them. Crazy but true.
This is just my personal experience. If I ever feel insecure, it's because I don't have that social network that the guys have. The guys in the office can carry on conversations like normal people.
Luckily, I can remain anonymous on the internet and talk code all that I want. I don't really need the socialization in the office. Many women may want that.
Frankly, I have progressed well in my career and can't find much to complain about. Computer programming is the most creative thing that I can do in a corporate setting. Maybe in time other women will come to the same conclusion.
Duplicating sculptures by methods other than carving directly into stone is nothing new - and milling machines are certainly not a new technology either.
Even Rodin quite often started his work in clay. He sent the original plaster to a person who used a pointing machine invented by Nicolas Gatteaux to do the rudimentary stone carving.
As for milling machines, they have been around forever and come in all sizes and work with all kinds of materials. This one is really good, and the CNC software runs on Linux: http://www.sherline.com/mill.htm
It can be a neat 3D printer, but you need to get versed in machining, which can be very time consuming - especially if you use metal. You can use foam, wood, and lots of different materials.
The MKS Toolkit Nutcracker library is stable, proven, and has support for most Unix APIs. I've used it to enable lots of software packages to be portable from Unix to Windows. It comes with all of the scripting and compile tools that you'd need - except Visual C++ which you need to use cc.