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I think the suggested reaons for the importance of equal gender distribution of software developer are exaggerated. Not being able to code is by far not as sev

I think the suggested reaons for the importance of equal gender distribution of software developer are exaggerated. Not being able to code is by far not as severe as not being able to write and read. Literacy enables you to take part in society, and prevents you from being cheated in all parts of life. While it's true that compentence in using software is increasingly important, it will always be a small fraction of the population who is able (or willing) to actually produce the technology. It is important to be able to drive a car, but nobody considers it harmful that not everybody can build one. PS: I would love to see more female developers, but they should be in the field for the love of it, not because someone else told them it's important for their career.

ig1 16y ago
Software development is now the 7th most common graduate-level profession for men in the UK. It's more common than teaching. It's easy to miss how pervasive software development is becoming. Even in non-software fields like finance and marketing, you see more and more jobs requiring the ability to put together models in VBA, etc.
- mduerksen 16y ago
  My point wasn't that it's not useful to be able to program. A lot of things are useful and pervasive (like motors), but being able to read is just uncomparably more important. The article claims that it has the same degree of importance, and that's totally exaggerated IMHO.
adam-a 16y ago
The divide between the cans and cannots of computers is wider I think than the car building industry. Most children won't build a car at school but they probably will learn how to drill a hole in a piece of metal, mould plastic, stitch upholstery or some basic electronics. It's not harmful that someone can use amazon or google without being able to build it, but surely there is a value and even a necessity for people to be able to write "Hello, World!" in html and understand how that relates to the professional enterprises.

ig1 16y ago

Software development is now the 7th most common graduate-level profession for men in the UK. It's more common than teaching. It's easy to miss how pervasive software development is becoming. Even in non-software fields like finance and marketing, you see more and more jobs requiring the ability to put together models in VBA, etc.

mduerksen 16y ago
My point wasn't that it's not useful to be able to program. A lot of things are useful and pervasive (like motors), but being able to read is just uncomparably more important. The article claims that it has the same degree of importance, and that's totally exaggerated IMHO.

adam-a 16y ago

The divide between the cans and cannots of computers is wider I think than the car building industry. Most children won't build a car at school but they probably will learn how to drill a hole in a piece of metal, mould plastic, stitch upholstery or some basic electronics. It's not harmful that someone can use amazon or google without being able to build it, but surely there is a value and even a necessity for people to be able to write "Hello, World!" in html and understand how that relates to the professional enterprises.