I would respectfully disagree with your assessment that "women have too much baggage" or that it is only women who have to "leave early" from work. Your personal observations are not enough to suggest that this behaviour you witness carries weight across the entire field of technology worldwide. I encourage you to revisit the definitions of logical fallacies: http://www.datanation.com/fallacies/index.htm
Yes, there are a percentage of women in the workforce that also are the primary caretakers of children. Perhaps, there is a greater issue to solve in that men who are parents should be more proactive in sharing the burden and responsibilities of raising their children? However, it should be noted that not all women in IT are also mothers. As a female, who is childless, I do not feel that you accurately reflect myself in your statements. Furthermore, your word choice suggests that you feel that women are less likely or incapable of dedication to a job and a man is somehow better because of less domestic obligations. That reaks of stereotyping and job dedication is not an attribute that can accurately be measured solely on gender. As one who has fulfilled a number of roles within the technology field over the course of my career, I have dealt with coworkers of both genders who exel at their responsibilities and others who fail miserably. I doubt my personal negative experiences with any women in technology is statistically significant enough to draw conclusions around the field as a whole.
Also, are you suggesting that project management does not require technical knowledge?
This article bothered me more because of the hasty generalizations and straw man arguements presented rather than any evidence of a true "mass exodus" of women leaving IT. Simply stating that in 1996, 41% of IT workers were women and in 2002, there are now only 35% doesn't begin to provide sufficient context. What about the men in IT during that period? Was there a sharp influx of men filling IT roles as a result, or can you see a similar pattern of men leaving IT? Did the study only take into account US workers? Are those positions being filled by foreign men and women? What about more recent trends? Furthermore, what is the benchmark that the author is using to define the field of IT? Are we narrowly focusing on only those who program or code script for a living? What about technical positions that do not fall within a software development group? Let's pretend for a moment that the author had provided concrete evidence that a larger percentage of women are leaving IT than men... the next thing to consider is whether they are leaving IT to pursue other fields or are simply leaving the workforce altoghter.
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I would respectfully disagree with your assessment that "women have too much baggage" or that it is only women who have to "leave early" from work. Your personal observations are not enough to suggest that this behaviour you witness carries weight across the entire field of technology worldwide. I encourage you to revisit the definitions of logical fallacies: http://www.datanation.com/fallacies/index.htm
Yes, there are a percentage of women in the workforce that also are the primary caretakers of children. Perhaps, there is a greater issue to solve in that men who are parents should be more proactive in sharing the burden and responsibilities of raising their children? However, it should be noted that not all women in IT are also mothers. As a female, who is childless, I do not feel that you accurately reflect myself in your statements. Furthermore, your word choice suggests that you feel that women are less likely or incapable of dedication to a job and a man is somehow better because of less domestic obligations. That reaks of stereotyping and job dedication is not an attribute that can accurately be measured solely on gender. As one who has fulfilled a number of roles within the technology field over the course of my career, I have dealt with coworkers of both genders who exel at their responsibilities and others who fail miserably. I doubt my personal negative experiences with any women in technology is statistically significant enough to draw conclusions around the field as a whole.
Also, are you suggesting that project management does not require technical knowledge?
This article bothered me more because of the hasty generalizations and straw man arguements presented rather than any evidence of a true "mass exodus" of women leaving IT. Simply stating that in 1996, 41% of IT workers were women and in 2002, there are now only 35% doesn't begin to provide sufficient context. What about the men in IT during that period? Was there a sharp influx of men filling IT roles as a result, or can you see a similar pattern of men leaving IT? Did the study only take into account US workers? Are those positions being filled by foreign men and women? What about more recent trends? Furthermore, what is the benchmark that the author is using to define the field of IT? Are we narrowly focusing on only those who program or code script for a living? What about technical positions that do not fall within a software development group? Let's pretend for a moment that the author had provided concrete evidence that a larger percentage of women are leaving IT than men... the next thing to consider is whether they are leaving IT to pursue other fields or are simply leaving the workforce altoghter.