I'm female, work in "tech" and I have professional experiences that sometimes make me think about going back to school or finding work in a different field. These experiences may not be representative of other women's experiences, but I think they can at least shed some light on why it may be so hard for women to succeed in "tech" fields.
I am the only female UNIX sysadmin that I know of at a fairly large company that is getting larger as each day passes, and I feel fairly isolated. I'm not sure if it is because I work in an office that is not at the company headquarters or if it is because I am the only female doing server administration. Perhaps it is a combination of the two.
I never really intended on being a sys admin or even doing anything with computers to begin with. Since junior high school I've been somewhat of a computer geek, but I've always considered my interest in computers as a side interest or a hobby. I never seriously thought that I'd actually use computers more than a tool to help me in whatever other field I chose to go into. Anyway, as (good) luck would have it, I did have an opportunity to actually try it out, and by even more good luck I became a sysadmin.
This field is very male-dominated, as is my department. It is pretty intimidating to me, as I'm fairly new to systems adminstration and I don't feel very confident in my skills all the time. However, I don't really feel like an all-male environment is the easiest environment for me to get the support I need to to feel like I can succeed at my job. I never felt a need for that kind of support before, even though I worked or had classes in mostly-male environments. Surprisingly, it is one of the things I wish I had at work now more than anything. I am lucky that I have a pretty good manager, but sometimes I really wish there was another woman at this company who understands what I am going through.
Also, I feel that I do have people skills, but I actually don't get an opportunity to use them very often at work, as most of my dealings are with servers and not with customers. I enjoy interacting with people and helping people and that is one thing I feel that is lacking with my job. I really enjoy helping people and making sure that they are happy. I guess I might be able to attribute that "people" side of my to the fact that I'm female--I'm not sure. However, it is another thing that makes me feel dissatisfied with my job.
So, I guess in summary I would just like to say that it is pretty frustrating when you feel like you're the "only one" and you feel as though no one else would really understand your feeling of isolation. Sometimes it's enough to make me want to find something else to do, even though I really the general field I'm in and I think I'm fairly intelligent and quick-to-learn things. I'm still hanging in there because I want to succeed at this and because it's something I'm interested in, but honestly, it is not easy. -a
Slashdot Mirror
I'm female, work in "tech" and I have professional experiences that sometimes make me think about going back to school or finding work in a different field. These experiences may not be representative of other women's experiences, but I think they can at least shed some light on why it may be so hard for women to succeed in "tech" fields.
I am the only female UNIX sysadmin that I know of at a fairly large company that is getting larger as each day passes, and I feel fairly isolated. I'm not sure if it is because I work in an office that is not at the company headquarters or if it is because I am the only female doing server administration. Perhaps it is a combination of the two.
I never really intended on being a sys admin or even doing anything with computers to begin with. Since junior high school I've been somewhat of a computer geek, but I've always considered my interest in computers as a side interest or a hobby. I never seriously thought that I'd actually use computers more than a tool to help me in whatever other field I chose to go into. Anyway, as (good) luck would have it, I did have an opportunity to actually try it out, and by even more good luck I became a sysadmin.
This field is very male-dominated, as is my department. It is pretty intimidating to me, as I'm fairly new to systems adminstration and I don't feel very confident in my skills all the time. However, I don't really feel like an all-male environment is the easiest environment for me to get the support I need to to feel like I can succeed at my job. I never felt a need for that kind of support before, even though I worked or had classes in mostly-male environments. Surprisingly, it is one of the things I wish I had at work now more than anything. I am lucky that I have a pretty good manager, but sometimes I really wish there was another woman at this company who understands what I am going through.
Also, I feel that I do have people skills, but I actually don't get an opportunity to use them very often at work, as most of my dealings are with servers and not with customers. I enjoy interacting with people and helping people and that is one thing I feel that is lacking with my job. I really enjoy helping people and making sure that they are happy. I guess I might be able to attribute that "people" side of my to the fact that I'm female--I'm not sure. However, it is another thing that makes me feel dissatisfied with my job.
So, I guess in summary I would just like to say that it is pretty frustrating when you feel like you're the "only one" and you feel as though no one else would really understand your feeling of isolation. Sometimes it's enough to make me want to find something else to do, even though I really the general field I'm in and I think I'm fairly intelligent and quick-to-learn things. I'm still hanging in there because I want to succeed at this and because it's something I'm interested in, but honestly, it is not easy. -a