4 ms·

I just had a conversation with a friend of mine today about the issues she is facing as a "woman in tech". It was some stuff that really surprised me. On today

I just had a conversation with a friend of mine today about the issues she is facing as a "woman in tech". It was some stuff that really surprised me. On today of all days. Treatment of women as full-fledged peers is definitely something that needs better attention in our industry.

badwulf 10y ago
Are you saying that every tech circle treats women badly? Are men just inherently evil?
sdflkd 10y ago
Yep. I go to the top university in Canada (wrt being employable in technology) and work with/know many qualified females. I can say that there is only one (out of ~25) that claims she has never experienced any sexism.
- cholantesh 10y ago
  But how do we know the other 24 aren't just crazy/hysterical/paranoid? /s
- ljknight 10y ago
  Even the women who say they have never experienced blatant sexism have no idea how many job offers or interviews they didn't get simply for being a woman, or how much less money they are making over the course of their life, etc. Sexism is not always explicit and obvious.
dashundchen 10y ago
I am always amazed by the stories I hear. It's a common yet toxic mentality where women are told they can't or shouldn't do something, or aren't cut out for STEM because they are female. I recently saw this surface on HN in the basement of this thread, discussing the appointment of Jennifer Widom as the dean of Stanford Engineering. Many posters speculated, without knowledge of her credentials, that she was unqualified compared to her male peers and only selected because she's a woman. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13779165 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13779165 I don't know how it escapes them that this attitude is the literal definition of sexism, and that women in tech have to fight this constantly. I saw it happen all the time in engineering school. I even occasionally see it in workplace. So many of my female classmates and coworkers are talked down to, discouraged and have their skills written off by their male counterparts (nevertheless, they persist). No wonder the share of women in STEM fields dwindles, the culture can be absolutely toxic. I don't doubt that many people are honestly being unintentionally sexist. But it's on everyone to constructively call out this behavior and support a healthier culture in the school and workplace. At the very least, why would one want to write off the ideas and talent of half the population?
- RodericDay 10y ago
  There's this nerd fiction favorite called "Snow Crash". I read it early on, and this line always stuck with me: > It was, of course, nothing more than sexism, the especially virulent type espoused by male techies who sincerely believe that they are too smart to be sexists. It's really very true.
  - Tycho 10y ago
    Isn't the genre science fiction?
- rjbwork 10y ago
  Widom is great. I can credit her Stanford online Databases course with a good bit of my career as it stands today - she is a thoroughly great teacher, and explainer of things.

badwulf 10y ago

Are you saying that every tech circle treats women badly? Are men just inherently evil?

sdflkd 10y ago

Yep. I go to the top university in Canada (wrt being employable in technology) and work with/know many qualified females. I can say that there is only one (out of ~25) that claims she has never experienced any sexism.

cholantesh 10y ago
But how do we know the other 24 aren't just crazy/hysterical/paranoid? /s
ljknight 10y ago
Even the women who say they have never experienced blatant sexism have no idea how many job offers or interviews they didn't get simply for being a woman, or how much less money they are making over the course of their life, etc. Sexism is not always explicit and obvious.

dashundchen 10y ago

I am always amazed by the stories I hear. It's a common yet toxic mentality where women are told they can't or shouldn't do something, or aren't cut out for STEM because they are female. I recently saw this surface on HN in the basement of this thread, discussing the appointment of Jennifer Widom as the dean of Stanford Engineering. Many posters speculated, without knowledge of her credentials, that she was unqualified compared to her male peers and only selected because she's a woman. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13779165 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13779165 I don't know how it escapes them that this attitude is the literal definition of sexism, and that women in tech have to fight this constantly. I saw it happen all the time in engineering school. I even occasionally see it in workplace. So many of my female classmates and coworkers are talked down to, discouraged and have their skills written off by their male counterparts (nevertheless, they persist). No wonder the share of women in STEM fields dwindles, the culture can be absolutely toxic. I don't doubt that many people are honestly being unintentionally sexist. But it's on everyone to constructively call out this behavior and support a healthier culture in the school and workplace. At the very least, why would one want to write off the ideas and talent of half the population?

RodericDay 10y ago
There's this nerd fiction favorite called "Snow Crash". I read it early on, and this line always stuck with me: > It was, of course, nothing more than sexism, the especially virulent type espoused by male techies who sincerely believe that they are too smart to be sexists. It's really very true.
- Tycho 10y ago
  Isn't the genre science fiction?
rjbwork 10y ago
Widom is great. I can credit her Stanford online Databases course with a good bit of my career as it stands today - she is a thoroughly great teacher, and explainer of things.