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> It is a continual frustration to me that the male-dominated tech community is so bad with these issues Is it? The implication is that tech is worse than othe
by FT_intern 10y ago
> It is a continual frustration to me that the male-dominated tech community is so bad with these issues
Is it? The implication is that tech is worse than other professions in this regard. But it has never been compared to other industries full of young people.
Color me skeptical but I don't believe that a field full of introverted immigrants with language barriers would have a bigger harassment issue than the business/sales/administration fields that are full of extroverted Americans and frat boys.
My experience is that the diversity in nationality in the tech field has made it difficult for in-groups to form. Whereas in-groups form more rapidly in fields where people come from more similar backgrounds (fields with higher American %). When not part of an in-group, people engage in less risky behavior.
- st3v3r 10y agoYes, it is. The tech industry is bad at it, period. Other industries being better or worse doesn't change that fact.
- iends 10y agoI don't know. My wife is a dentist and we go to a lot of dental conferences together. Vendors ALWAYS think I'm the doctor and she's my assistant when we first walk up. Even women.
- ploxiln 10y agoWhat it changes is the discussion of solutions. Is this a societal problem, or a problem just for the computer technology industry? Where do we attempt to apply fixes? Are we adding a bunch of strange work-arounds far from the root of the problem? Does it make sense if they are not actually working?
- cthalupa 10y agoI only have experience in a few fields, and none of them are sales/administration, but my experience is that tech has been far worse. Introversion is no guard against sexism, and I'd argue, it might actually make some facets of it worse. I don't think introversion in specific is bad, but the way it manifests in tech in this male-dominated industry often results in a lack of experience and understanding in how to work with women, and sets them up as very heavily other-ed. Only in tech have I seen such a need for inclusiveness to be so stressed and pushed for - education, smaller businesses, and similar, it has been a much more natural thing. There's a hell of a lot more challenges that women face in tech than outright harassment. Unintentional sidelining, the bar for proof being much higher, general unwarranted skepticism in their abilities, etc.
- FT_intern 10y ago> often results in a lack of experience and understanding in how to work with women > There's a hell of a lot more challenges that women face in tech than outright harassment. Unintentional sidelining, the bar for proof being much higher, general unwarranted skepticism in their abilities, etc. These are very bold claims of sexism. No one can really comment until they're somewhat proven. My comment was mainly about a "bro" environment and harassment which is more tangible.
- watwut 10y agoIf the bros in question assume I am competent, they are milion times easier to work with then dudes who assume my idead are bad without listening to them. Not that it would be exclusive. The things parent poster listed affect you career and ability to achieve more then sex jokes.
- wolco 10y agoFocus on the code. Who cares how others see you.
- taejo 10y agoHow others see you determines whether they will cooperate with you, give you information you need to do your job, hire you, fire you, promote you, and how much they will pay you. Jobs where you can "focus on the code" to the total exclusion of dealing with other humans are practically non-existent.
- M_Grey 10y agoShort of the military, and professional sports, it is. The difference is that in tech instead of being met with jeers and gropes, you're met with jeers, gropes, lengthy justifications, apologetics, and organizational inertia.