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Quick summary of respondents reasons for low % of women in C.S. (In order given): 1. Lack of coding in K-12 means fewer women are exposed to coding and thus do
by jlos 8y ago
Quick summary of respondents reasons for low % of women in C.S. (In order given):
1. Lack of coding in K-12 means fewer women are exposed to coding and thus don't become interested in it during the career selection phase of life.
2. Individuals bias' subtly steer women away from C.S.
3. Once inside a C.S. career, women are systemically marginalized.
4. Once inside a C.S. career, women face overt (and often sexual) discrimination as well as subtle displays of disregard due to their gender(i.e. microagressions).
5. Discriminatory comments from peers before entering C.S.
6. The palpable fact of being a minority and, thus, feeling isolated, irrespective of discrimination.
I would suggest that finding ways of depoliticizing the discussion would help everyone out in the long run, especially since nearly all political issues appear to have become zero-sum games. I think putting the experiences of women who are in C.S. within a broader context would help give more clarity to the issue. I would think of including the following:
1) The experience of women in non-STEM careers with low percentages of women, particularly the trades (for example, women in Canada make up only 4.5% of people in the trades[0]).
2) The experiences of women who did not go into STEM and why they did not choose it.
3) The experience of men who did go into STEM careers and why.
4) The experience of men in careers with large percentages of women (e.g. teaching, nursing, etc).
I would suspect we wound find a mix of bias, discrimination within industry, and personal preferences corresponding to gender. The interesting question is what is the mix?
[0] https://globalnews.ca/news/3823621/women-skilled-trades-manufacturing/ https://globalnews.ca/news/3823621/women-skilled-trades-manu...
- nirelBRACITOS 8y agoMy two cents about the summary: 1) Lack of IT courses in K-12 affects both genders, why make this a female issue? 2) Completely subjective. 3) Pretty much the opposite. There are tons of events for women only, as well as grants and positions that are available for women only or where they’re more likely to get hired than men (so quota is filled). 4) Most of women (as in 99%) in CS don’t suffer this. Even this being of importance, I believe this happens in all industries. 5) Similar to point 3. 6) Well, empower yourself? What do we tell to male nurses then? Edit: formatting
- bytematic 8y agoI would personally avoid any career that has lots of events for my specific gender/race. Like a big flag to say you will be an outsider.
- bargl 8y agoThis, What I haven't seen before this comment is a scientific approach to discussing and figuring out the problem. There are a bunch of variables in this problem and in order to accurately break down we need to have a study where the results will drive the discussion. The problem with that is that there is a clear agenda by both sides on this issue. No one wants to be discriminated against. I (male) don't want to be discriminated against in order to force women into CS. I (male) also DO NOT want women to be discriminated against to force men into positions. I assume most (not all) people agree with this even if they flip the gender. But how to execute this is political. If we can instead approach this scientifically. To determine if there is a predisposition towards a specific career based on gender, societal pressure, discrimination, bias, etc. We can then propose political solutions that can drive society towards equilibrium.