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> a Women in Science and Engineering group that excludes males. I was in one of those in college. Literally the only benefit that group provided was that all m
by sudosteph 8y ago
> a Women in Science and Engineering group that excludes males.
I was in one of those in college. Literally the only benefit that group provided was that all members could share 3 floors of a dorm and those floors were reserved for WISE. Campus housing was already largely segregated by sex, but some of the floors not in use by WISE were for men. This wasn't a particularly nice dorm building either (in fact many argued it was one of the worst). But the WISE program did give us a good benefit by making it easier for us to find people we could study with without having to venture out to the library or random people's dorms all the time. I see no reason that a male equivalent of this program shouldn't exist though.
Most "womens" groups I avoided like the plague though. I didn't like the implication that I needed special support or something. It's the same reason I've turned down requests for me to speak to "women in tech" groups and the like. There's a pipeline problem, but it was started well before college for most folks, so these groups are really not very helpful for bringing people in anyhow.
- mikestew 8y agoI didn't like the implication that I needed special support or something. I go back-and-forth with this in the case of my wife, who works at a large tech company. On the one hand, she's quite capable of doing the job without special treatment. But on the other hand, if the odds really are stacked against her... She's a big girl and can make her own decisions, I just wonder what I'd do were I in the same boat. Probably the same thing she (and from the way it sounds, you) would do: mostly avoid the drama that such groups can bring.
- arcaster 8y agoThe fact that you just referred to your wife as a "big girl" speaks volumes in regards to this issue...
- mikestew 8y agoNow I know what it is people are complaining about when they use the acronym "SJW": pointless tilting at windmills whilst the real issues are ignored. But at least you're doing something, eh? I'm sure that making sure to refer to my wife as "adult woman" in the future will cure the problem of management being packed with men of the same ethnicity as the group manager.