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Is it even true that most programmers are "white males"? Is the scope the global population?

Svenstaro 9y ago
Well pretty much yes going by https://insights.stackoverflow.com/survey/2017 https://insights.stackoverflow.com/survey/2017
- tyingq 9y ago
  It could be closer: https://www.infoq.com/news/2014/01/IDC-software-developers https://www.infoq.com/news/2014/01/IDC-software-developers China + India + the portion of US/Europe that aren't white must be close to half. Region oriented stats though, so I don't know how much of the AsiaPAC total is Australia, Russia, etc.
dismantlethesun 9y ago
I think they mean in the USA. In near homogenous countries, it's unsurprising that there aren't very many counter examples to the demographic (e.g. very few white programmers in Ghana).
HarryHirsch 9y ago
At a certain Java school in the South that is attended mostly by Indians, the gender ratio amongst the Indians is fairly even. The Americans, they are all white and male. What this means is open to interpretation.
- klipt 9y ago
  I believe in Indian culture, engineering and programming are respected as solid, lucrative professions, while in general (white) American culture they're seen as second best to being say, a doctor or lawyer, which is where more high achieving women end up.
52-6F-62 9y ago
I have a background similar to the author of the post. I gather his scope is the US, or North America. Personally, I had my foot in more than one world. I grew up not wealthy, lower-middle-class in rural Ontario. I rowed because of my parents' history as athletes and their involvement helping establish a club in the small town we lived in. I also skateboarded and preferred old punk music to the Tragically Hip (which was the popular stuff where I grew up. How things change). I was also notoriously uncool and didn't hit parties, and spent a lot of time on the computer I urged and urged my parents to buy after coming in contact with GUI's (after years of messing with the 286 my mom had from her days working in the city.) From my perspective then, his outlook is accurate. On a global scale, totally off. It's far more complex than he makes it out to be. I would contend that in North America, a lot of the business leaders in tech are white because of the economic advantage typically afforded to them. But it's not universally the case. To start any business, you need resources. That's either money to run a server and access to a half-decent computer, or more. You also need time -- the most expensive and rare of resources in NA.
FT_intern 9y ago
Not in the traditional American frat boy sense. I'm estimating that > 50% of programmers in the USA are recent immigrants or the American children of recent immigrants.
julianmarq 9y ago
Everywhere, the majority of people in every field will be of the majority race of that country. In USA, that is white; where I live, it's latino/hyspanic. The gender disparity does seem to be widespread, though: For instance, of the 90 students that were accepted for SI in my University, only 10 were women. Of the 30 who ended up graduating, 5 were women. Funny, that means that women have a higher success ratio, at least in that sample.
prostoalex 9y ago
That part seems sketchy, by sheer force of population size of China and India it's very likely that "Asian males" is the dominant demographics globally. "White males" might have a solid #2, but "Asian females" wouldn't be that far behind.

Well pretty much yes going by https://insights.stackoverflow.com/survey/2017 https://insights.stackoverflow.com/survey/2017

tyingq 9y ago
It could be closer: https://www.infoq.com/news/2014/01/IDC-software-developers https://www.infoq.com/news/2014/01/IDC-software-developers China + India + the portion of US/Europe that aren't white must be close to half. Region oriented stats though, so I don't know how much of the AsiaPAC total is Australia, Russia, etc.

dismantlethesun 9y ago

I think they mean in the USA. In near homogenous countries, it's unsurprising that there aren't very many counter examples to the demographic (e.g. very few white programmers in Ghana).

HarryHirsch 9y ago

At a certain Java school in the South that is attended mostly by Indians, the gender ratio amongst the Indians is fairly even. The Americans, they are all white and male. What this means is open to interpretation.

klipt 9y ago
I believe in Indian culture, engineering and programming are respected as solid, lucrative professions, while in general (white) American culture they're seen as second best to being say, a doctor or lawyer, which is where more high achieving women end up.

52-6F-62 9y ago

I have a background similar to the author of the post. I gather his scope is the US, or North America. Personally, I had my foot in more than one world. I grew up not wealthy, lower-middle-class in rural Ontario. I rowed because of my parents' history as athletes and their involvement helping establish a club in the small town we lived in. I also skateboarded and preferred old punk music to the Tragically Hip (which was the popular stuff where I grew up. How things change). I was also notoriously uncool and didn't hit parties, and spent a lot of time on the computer I urged and urged my parents to buy after coming in contact with GUI's (after years of messing with the 286 my mom had from her days working in the city.) From my perspective then, his outlook is accurate. On a global scale, totally off. It's far more complex than he makes it out to be. I would contend that in North America, a lot of the business leaders in tech are white because of the economic advantage typically afforded to them. But it's not universally the case. To start any business, you need resources. That's either money to run a server and access to a half-decent computer, or more. You also need time -- the most expensive and rare of resources in NA.

FT_intern 9y ago

Not in the traditional American frat boy sense. I'm estimating that > 50% of programmers in the USA are recent immigrants or the American children of recent immigrants.

julianmarq 9y ago

Everywhere, the majority of people in every field will be of the majority race of that country. In USA, that is white; where I live, it's latino/hyspanic. The gender disparity does seem to be widespread, though: For instance, of the 90 students that were accepted for SI in my University, only 10 were women. Of the 30 who ended up graduating, 5 were women. Funny, that means that women have a higher success ratio, at least in that sample.

prostoalex 9y ago

That part seems sketchy, by sheer force of population size of China and India it's very likely that "Asian males" is the dominant demographics globally. "White males" might have a solid #2, but "Asian females" wouldn't be that far behind.