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> But looking long-term, a more gender-diverse technology industry is seen as the only genuine solution to this problem. I disagree with this. Diversity should
by TheAdamAndChe 9y ago
> But looking long-term, a more gender-diverse technology industry is seen as the only genuine solution to this problem.
I disagree with this. Diversity shouldn't be required to keep people from being sexist, and forced diversity would only work to spread disdain towards women in the field.
On top of this, an emphasis on diversity implies the differences between the genders are purely cultural, which is just false. There are legitimate physical[1] and psychological[2] differences between the sexes which lead to differences in career preferences. If we want to improve this culture, we need to learn how to do it within an environment with more men than women.
The cynical side of me thinks this push for diversity is merely a method being attempted to increase the labor pool and lower leverage among tech workers.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sex_differences_in_humans https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sex_differences_in_humans
[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sex_differences_in_psychology https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sex_differences_in_psychology
edit: To those upvoting or downvoting to responses in this thread, please comment explaining your reasoning. This is an emotional topic, and only through logical argument will the conversation move forward.
- supercanuck 9y agoJust come out and say it. Men are better than women,therefore, diversity is not the answer. I can't imagine why people think the technology industry has a problem.
- TheAdamAndChe 9y agoThe issue isn't black-or-white like you're making it sound. It is a complex social issue with a likely optimum solution somewhere between the two extremes. Men in general are better at some things, women are better in general at other things. I don't see how recognizing these norms and expecting our society be structured around those norms is bad.
- deleted 9y ago[deleted]
- tyingq 9y agoI don't think it's tied to innate abilities, but I do think there's more going on than just discrimination. Women for example, dominate the tax preparation industry. I have no idea why, but I'm reasonably certain that it's not just discrimination.
- deleted 9y ago[deleted]
- whateveracct 9y ago> There are legitimate physical[1] and psychological[2] differences between the sexes which lead to differences in career preferences What physical and psychological differences cause more men than women to go into tech? Do you really think that it's something like that rather than pervasive social problems in the industry that make it hostile to women as described in the article and many others? This isn't a hypothetical question I'd love to hear your response :) Women are perfectly innately physically and psychologically capable of doing the work in tech I and my male coworkers do. The reason for lack of parity is elsewhere and is definitely not benign.
- deleted 9y ago[deleted]
- drakenot 9y agoWhat about the lack of diversity of men in elementary teacher positions? Nursing? Where is the big push to bring men into these fields?
- deleted 9y ago[deleted]
- jrkatz 9y agoThere is. https://www.edutopia.org/male-teacher-shortage https://www.edutopia.org/male-teacher-shortage Presumably equality there isn't as exciting to people because teacher pay is garbage for everybody, whereas in tech it looks like women are being locked out of one of our most lucrative industries.
- deleted 9y ago[deleted]
- drakenot 9y agoI've been hearing about the lack of diversity my whole career and I'm sick of it. Women aren't being kept out. They keep themselves out. There is a social stigma in the United States against going into technical fields in the first place amongst women. India, for example, has no stigma of women working in tech. It is no coincidence that the vast majority of woman I have worked with have all been from other countries. They earn good salaries and are strong contributors on the teams I've been on. There were exactly 2 females in my Computer Science program in college. Eventually there was just one who graduated with us. No amount of blog posts or news articles about diversity at companies will fix that. The problem is WAY earlier than that. You aren't going to be able to magically find a plethora of adult female engineers if they simply aren't enrolling in the programs in the first place.
- rayiner 9y ago> There are legitimate physical[1] and psychological[2] differences between the sexes which lead to differences in career preferences. The lack of any citation for the highlighted portion of that sentence speaks volumes. I'm trying to be charitable, but I find it pretty rich that you invoke the need for "logical argument" while your argument basically boils down to: 1) Biological differences 2) ??? 3) Profit ... err ... women self-select out of tech