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The 2015 stackoverflow survey has this interesting statement: "Developers in India are 3-times more likely to be female than developers in the United States." S

The 2015 stackoverflow survey has this interesting statement: "Developers in India are 3-times more likely to be female than developers in the United States." See https://insights.stackoverflow.com/survey/2015 https://insights.stackoverflow.com/survey/2015 Actually it is worse than it sounds because most of the female developers in the United States are H1Bs from India, China and other Asian countries, and Romania and other eastern-European countries. If you subtract their numbers then the difference is more severe. There is something in the US culture that makes American women not want to take up tech. The diversity memo doesn't address the fact that more women take tech jobs when impediments are removed, as evidenced by the larger percentage of women in tech jobs in other countries.

humanrebar 9y ago
I think the discrepancy between American women and immigrant women is interesting. I'm not sure we can conclude from the given evidence that the difference is reduced impediments. It could be that that the increased economic opportunity (or potential immigration benefits) makes up for other things.
- rllin 9y ago
  I agree the increased economic opportunity could very well be the primary factor, but why is this not enough of a factor for white American women? Or are there other factors in raising a child in an economically stable society lead to more "do what you want, my child, regardless of your gender"?
  - humanrebar 9y ago
    > ...why is this not enough of a factor for white American women? Working as an engineer in America is a bigger jump in economic opportunity for someone in India than for someone in America. Also, it's likely that Indians are better informed about what the pay for top notch engineers is these days. I suspect the average American underestimates what coding pays by quite a bit.
  - kansface 9y ago
    Yes, exactly this - the ratios are the same in Scandanavia as in the US (and surprisingly much better the third world over).
DuskStar 9y ago
IIRC, some people say the opposite - that as standards of living and gender equality improve, lower proportions of women go into Engineering - which is why Iran, Zimbabwe, Thailand etc have >40% female representation in coding classes while Sweden, New Zealand, Canada etc are <30%.
- rllin 9y ago
  ^This is exactly what I was referring to with > It keeps leading me back to the idea that increased volition allows gender differences to propagate. And I'm looking hard for data just in Silicon Valley, which the SO link does help with a little. I think looking at East Asians should be enlightening too.

humanrebar 9y ago

I think the discrepancy between American women and immigrant women is interesting. I'm not sure we can conclude from the given evidence that the difference is reduced impediments. It could be that that the increased economic opportunity (or potential immigration benefits) makes up for other things.

rllin 9y ago
I agree the increased economic opportunity could very well be the primary factor, but why is this not enough of a factor for white American women? Or are there other factors in raising a child in an economically stable society lead to more "do what you want, my child, regardless of your gender"?
- humanrebar 9y ago
  > ...why is this not enough of a factor for white American women? Working as an engineer in America is a bigger jump in economic opportunity for someone in India than for someone in America. Also, it's likely that Indians are better informed about what the pay for top notch engineers is these days. I suspect the average American underestimates what coding pays by quite a bit.
- kansface 9y ago
  Yes, exactly this - the ratios are the same in Scandanavia as in the US (and surprisingly much better the third world over).

DuskStar 9y ago

IIRC, some people say the opposite - that as standards of living and gender equality improve, lower proportions of women go into Engineering - which is why Iran, Zimbabwe, Thailand etc have >40% female representation in coding classes while Sweden, New Zealand, Canada etc are <30%.

rllin 9y ago
^This is exactly what I was referring to with > It keeps leading me back to the idea that increased volition allows gender differences to propagate. And I'm looking hard for data just in Silicon Valley, which the SO link does help with a little. I think looking at East Asians should be enlightening too.