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In 1990, 35% of all software developers were women. In 2016, only 26% of software developers were women. The situation for women in tech was much better 30 year

In 1990, 35% of all software developers were women. In 2016, only 26% of software developers were women. The situation for women in tech was much better 30 years than it is now. There are some professions, such as medicine, that have become more welcoming to women. Roughly 50% of new doctors in the USA are women. Likewise, there are more female lawyers than ever before. But there are some professions that have gone in the wrong direction, and software development is among the most important of these. See more here: http://www.smashcompany.com/business/why-are-women-being-pushed-away-from-the-tech-industry http://www.smashcompany.com/business/why-are-women-being-pus...

belorn 8y ago
In Sweden, 1990 saw an increase in unemployment as well as a change in gender segregation. Industries that was dominated by women saw more men in sectors such as health care, while areas that was dominated by men like construction saw more women. In about 1993 the trend changed with lower unemployment. More women started to go into health care sector and more men in the construction sector. From 1993 and 2017, that trend has continued and current 88.6% of women and 88.4% of men work in gender segregated profession. The situation with gender segregation is much worse today than 30 years and this is universal for both genders. You might applaud the "Roughly 50% of new doctors in the USA are women", but Sweden has already seen that and continued down the path where some doctor professions are now 90%+ women. The same gender segregation we can see overall also happens within professions that subdivides into specialties, and to take a different example, in education we see language being almost 100% women while physical education being almost 100% men, while overall the teaching profession is heavily dominated by women with around 80%+. In IT we can see a similar divide happening with for example graphic design vs server infrastructure. The linked article claims that the tech industry is somewhat unique and uses wage difference as evidence, but gender segregation is not unique to tech. All work professions are following more or less identical paths to more gender segregation, and there is no distinction between men and women in this regard. With 88.6% of women and 88.4% of men working in gender segregated professions, if women are being pushed away from technology then men are pushed with exactly equal force from professions dominated by women. And this matters. One reason why girls "beat" boys at school is bias in evaluation. Just like the typical experiment where people send in identical application for tech positions and see a difference in acceptance rate based on what gendered name they use, similar experiment show the same results for academic reports. The topics in school where boys do worse is exactly those where the wast majority of teachers are women, with the reverse results for girls.

belorn 8y ago

In Sweden, 1990 saw an increase in unemployment as well as a change in gender segregation. Industries that was dominated by women saw more men in sectors such as health care, while areas that was dominated by men like construction saw more women. In about 1993 the trend changed with lower unemployment. More women started to go into health care sector and more men in the construction sector. From 1993 and 2017, that trend has continued and current 88.6% of women and 88.4% of men work in gender segregated profession. The situation with gender segregation is much worse today than 30 years and this is universal for both genders. You might applaud the "Roughly 50% of new doctors in the USA are women", but Sweden has already seen that and continued down the path where some doctor professions are now 90%+ women. The same gender segregation we can see overall also happens within professions that subdivides into specialties, and to take a different example, in education we see language being almost 100% women while physical education being almost 100% men, while overall the teaching profession is heavily dominated by women with around 80%+. In IT we can see a similar divide happening with for example graphic design vs server infrastructure. The linked article claims that the tech industry is somewhat unique and uses wage difference as evidence, but gender segregation is not unique to tech. All work professions are following more or less identical paths to more gender segregation, and there is no distinction between men and women in this regard. With 88.6% of women and 88.4% of men working in gender segregated professions, if women are being pushed away from technology then men are pushed with exactly equal force from professions dominated by women. And this matters. One reason why girls "beat" boys at school is bias in evaluation. Just like the typical experiment where people send in identical application for tech positions and see a difference in acceptance rate based on what gendered name they use, similar experiment show the same results for academic reports. The topics in school where boys do worse is exactly those where the wast majority of teachers are women, with the reverse results for girls.