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See, I'm inclined to believe it. If for no other reason than it just seems intuitive. Women who go into technology know it's an uphill battle. They work that mu

See, I'm inclined to believe it. If for no other reason than it just seems intuitive. Women who go into technology know it's an uphill battle. They work that much harder and honestly I'd expect their work to be better, on average, particularly for open source projects because they are genuinely interested in improving the code. They always have to contend with the thought, "Will people reject this because I'm a woman? Better make sure it's as good as it possibly can be so they can't reject it based on that."

dudul 11y ago
Not sure I understand. So men in OSS are not genuinely interested in improving the code?
- irremediable 11y ago
  Of course they are. But if there is significant discrimination against women, maybe women either get really good or leave OSS/programming altogether. Leading to the remaining women (the sample) being "more competent".
- larsiusprime 11y ago
  The argument seems to be mathematical, not categorical, this is what I think is being claimed -- "there are many more men on github than women, thus there is stronger selection pressures on the women who are on github. Whether men are more or less competent than women IN GENERAL is a separate question from which is, on average the more competent sub-population on github."
  - themagician 11y ago
    I was trying to find a way to articulate this and failing. This was my intended meaning.
iLoch 11y ago
It's an interesting hypothesis, but I don't think I agree. The selection pool for women is smaller in STEM, therefore less women means less exceptional women. > particularly for open source projects because they are genuinely interested in improving the code I reject this on the grounds that there's no reason why women would be more interested in improving the code than men. > "Will people reject this because I'm a woman? Better make sure it's as good as it possibly can be so they can't reject it based on that." I'd be surprised to learn that this was the thought process of the majority of women, let alone most of them.
- KingMob 11y ago
  > selection pool for women is smaller in STEM, therefore less women means less exceptional women This is only true if you assume women in STEM are a random sampling. If you consider survivorship bias, it's quite possible that the cohort of women who persist are better, despite being fewer in number.
  - iLoch 11y ago
    The same is also true for men, unless you start with the belief that the misogyny is a baseline factor that women have to deal with. But that's what this analysis is trying to figure out. Chicken and egg maybe?
13thLetter 11y ago
> See, I'm inclined to believe it. If for no other reason than it just seems intuitive. Women who go into technology know it's an uphill battle. Or at least they've been told repeatedly that it's an uphill battle, by news media and activists with an ideology to push and clicks to farm.

dudul 11y ago

Not sure I understand. So men in OSS are not genuinely interested in improving the code?

irremediable 11y ago
Of course they are. But if there is significant discrimination against women, maybe women either get really good or leave OSS/programming altogether. Leading to the remaining women (the sample) being "more competent".
larsiusprime 11y ago
The argument seems to be mathematical, not categorical, this is what I think is being claimed -- "there are many more men on github than women, thus there is stronger selection pressures on the women who are on github. Whether men are more or less competent than women IN GENERAL is a separate question from which is, on average the more competent sub-population on github."
- themagician 11y ago
  I was trying to find a way to articulate this and failing. This was my intended meaning.

iLoch 11y ago

It's an interesting hypothesis, but I don't think I agree. The selection pool for women is smaller in STEM, therefore less women means less exceptional women. > particularly for open source projects because they are genuinely interested in improving the code I reject this on the grounds that there's no reason why women would be more interested in improving the code than men. > "Will people reject this because I'm a woman? Better make sure it's as good as it possibly can be so they can't reject it based on that." I'd be surprised to learn that this was the thought process of the majority of women, let alone most of them.

KingMob 11y ago
> selection pool for women is smaller in STEM, therefore less women means less exceptional women This is only true if you assume women in STEM are a random sampling. If you consider survivorship bias, it's quite possible that the cohort of women who persist are better, despite being fewer in number.
- iLoch 11y ago
  The same is also true for men, unless you start with the belief that the misogyny is a baseline factor that women have to deal with. But that's what this analysis is trying to figure out. Chicken and egg maybe?

13thLetter 11y ago

> See, I'm inclined to believe it. If for no other reason than it just seems intuitive. Women who go into technology know it's an uphill battle. Or at least they've been told repeatedly that it's an uphill battle, by news media and activists with an ideology to push and clicks to farm.