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The sentiment is sometimes expressed as "The pipeline is leaky and full of acid." While true, it doesn't imply that companies should just sit on their hands and

The sentiment is sometimes expressed as "The pipeline is leaky and full of acid." While true, it doesn't imply that companies should just sit on their hands and wait for the system to be fixed around them. Companies are the core of the power structure economically; they need to be taking an active role in fixing their pipelines.

ThrustVectoring 11y ago
Uh, what? Tech companies aren't obviously the correct place to be applying leverage. They could already be hiring more women and minorities than you'd expect given STEM interest levels in high school. If the fundamental problem is that something is happening to people before graduating high school, I'd take a much more critical look at schooling, child-rearing, and cultural factors. Schooling is particularly worrying - it's got a troubling focus on instilling conformity, and AFAIK that's both more effective on women and particularly damaging to creative work like computer programming.
- fixermark 11y ago
  I think you're misunderstanding: I'm not talking about tech companies changing their hiring goals. I'm talking about tech companies reaching out to schools (college, high school, middle school level) to get a sense of what they need and to help them give students the opportunities to pursue computer science and other technological careers based on their interest. There's a knowledge and understanding gap on both sides---both in terms of what companies understand about how students are prepared and what schools understand about what skillsets students need to excel in technology fields. It turns out outreach and active participation can be valuable to bridge that gap.
  - ThrustVectoring 11y ago
    >I'm talking about tech companies reaching out to schools (college, high school, middle school level) to get a sense of what they need and to help them give students the opportunities to pursue computer science and other technological careers based on their interest. And if you want that to happen, you need to set up incentives such that it's in tech companies best interests to do so. You can't just say that things would be better if something were to happen - identifying problems is the easy part. Identifying what needs to change and how to change it is the hard part.

ThrustVectoring 11y ago

Uh, what? Tech companies aren't obviously the correct place to be applying leverage. They could already be hiring more women and minorities than you'd expect given STEM interest levels in high school. If the fundamental problem is that something is happening to people before graduating high school, I'd take a much more critical look at schooling, child-rearing, and cultural factors. Schooling is particularly worrying - it's got a troubling focus on instilling conformity, and AFAIK that's both more effective on women and particularly damaging to creative work like computer programming.

fixermark 11y ago
I think you're misunderstanding: I'm not talking about tech companies changing their hiring goals. I'm talking about tech companies reaching out to schools (college, high school, middle school level) to get a sense of what they need and to help them give students the opportunities to pursue computer science and other technological careers based on their interest. There's a knowledge and understanding gap on both sides---both in terms of what companies understand about how students are prepared and what schools understand about what skillsets students need to excel in technology fields. It turns out outreach and active participation can be valuable to bridge that gap.
- ThrustVectoring 11y ago
  >I'm talking about tech companies reaching out to schools (college, high school, middle school level) to get a sense of what they need and to help them give students the opportunities to pursue computer science and other technological careers based on their interest. And if you want that to happen, you need to set up incentives such that it's in tech companies best interests to do so. You can't just say that things would be better if something were to happen - identifying problems is the easy part. Identifying what needs to change and how to change it is the hard part.