5 ms·

I'm genuinely curious - do you not think that this chart indicates some kind of distortion in the tech community: http://apps.npr.org/dailygraphics/graphics/wo

by badsock 11y ago

I'm genuinely curious - do you not think that this chart indicates some kind of distortion in the tech community: http://apps.npr.org/dailygraphics/graphics/women-cs/child.html?initialWidth=614&childId=responsive-embed-women-cs http://apps.npr.org/dailygraphics/graphics/women-cs/child.ht... Bear in mind that the social status of medicine, law, and STEM has (at least by my observations) remained fairly constant during that period, but that of computer science has sky-rocketed. Do you have an explanation for the decline that doesn't call for a change in the way that women are treated in tech?

kentrado 11y ago
I don't know why it dropped. I don't presume to know the reason. Although I'm sure there are some people who feel pretty certain about what happened. Why does it matter? If we are already treating each other excellently, as I suggested, and women still won't join computing, then I don't care. If we aren't treating each other in a civil manner, then by all means that what we should do. I'm in no way advocating special treatment for women. I want to be clear about that.
- sp332 11y ago
  That doesn't seem to be disagreeing with any of the points listed. Is it just the word "ally" you don't like? Treating people equally and civilly is a political decision. It's not happening in a lot of places, and if you really want to step in and change it, that's politics.
  - kentrado 11y ago
    Then you ought to read more carefully. The points listed in the article talk about treating women in a special way.
    - sp332 11y ago
      Point 2 is specifically about equality. What is one of the points you have a problem with?
    - cmsj 11y ago
      "[S]He who starts behind in the great race of life must forever remain behind, or run faster than the man in front"
      - monstruoso 11y ago
        The nice thing about computing is that everyone starts behind, but with a computer with Internet connection and the disposition to learn; You can get ahead.
        cmsj 11y ago
        (The difference being that if you accept that there are deep cultural problems in STEM environments wrt diversity, anyone who isn't a white male starts further behind)
        sp332 11y ago
        The bad thing about computing is that a computer with an internet connection can deliver a whole world of hate right to you. Often by the same media (email, twitter, etc) as the information you'd need to get ahead.
Raurin 11y ago
To me, that graph looks like the tech industry transition from hobby to industrial/business tool. Pre-1985, there weren't many colleges even offering computer science degrees, so any data from that era could easy fall apart due to small sample bias. I don't think anything necessarily "happened" to women in tech. You could just as easily say that as computer science became a more established field, men swarmed it because it was interesting to them.

by badsock 11y ago

kentrado 11y ago

I don't know why it dropped. I don't presume to know the reason. Although I'm sure there are some people who feel pretty certain about what happened. Why does it matter? If we are already treating each other excellently, as I suggested, and women still won't join computing, then I don't care. If we aren't treating each other in a civil manner, then by all means that what we should do. I'm in no way advocating special treatment for women. I want to be clear about that.

sp332 11y ago
That doesn't seem to be disagreeing with any of the points listed. Is it just the word "ally" you don't like? Treating people equally and civilly is a political decision. It's not happening in a lot of places, and if you really want to step in and change it, that's politics.
- kentrado 11y ago
  Then you ought to read more carefully. The points listed in the article talk about treating women in a special way.
  - sp332 11y ago
    Point 2 is specifically about equality. What is one of the points you have a problem with?
  - cmsj 11y ago
    "[S]He who starts behind in the great race of life must forever remain behind, or run faster than the man in front"
    - monstruoso 11y ago
      The nice thing about computing is that everyone starts behind, but with a computer with Internet connection and the disposition to learn; You can get ahead.
      - cmsj 11y ago
        (The difference being that if you accept that there are deep cultural problems in STEM environments wrt diversity, anyone who isn't a white male starts further behind)
      - sp332 11y ago
        The bad thing about computing is that a computer with an internet connection can deliver a whole world of hate right to you. Often by the same media (email, twitter, etc) as the information you'd need to get ahead.

Raurin 11y ago

To me, that graph looks like the tech industry transition from hobby to industrial/business tool. Pre-1985, there weren't many colleges even offering computer science degrees, so any data from that era could easy fall apart due to small sample bias. I don't think anything necessarily "happened" to women in tech. You could just as easily say that as computer science became a more established field, men swarmed it because it was interesting to them.