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I did wonder whether I should post the comment. Take a look at the site. The photos show how many folks showed up at the event. Guys aren't prohibited and in fa

I did wonder whether I should post the comment. Take a look at the site. The photos show how many folks showed up at the event. Guys aren't prohibited and in fact are often leading the seminars. Stereotypes or not, the format works. When I go to traditional developer meetups only single women who aren't moms tend to show up. You have to, at some point, wonder whether the format of the events has something to do with the low turnout of women. But yeah, let's focus on the stereotypes. I've been here long enough with a low karma that I don't really worry too much any more about being controversial.

DeusExMachina 15y ago
I think this is different than stereotyping, though. One thing is to say "women today ditch startups because of children, so women don't really want to do startups because they'd rather have children instead". This is stereotyping. Something along the lines of "we want to improve women attendance; today women might not be able to attend at night events because they have children; let's put it on saturday morning and see if it works" is not stereotyping IMO. It's looking at (apparent) causes and try to find a solution to work on them. Causes don't go away just because you don't want to stereotype. If you want to make a lasting change in the mindset you need to find ways to attract more women, working against what might impede them in today's society. You have to start somewhere, and I think this is a good place to start. EDIT: typos.
- maaku 15y ago
  How are the two any different? The first isn't stereotyping at all, it's just stating a causal fact. The second is a solution to that fact. Generalizing isn't stereotyping, if it's a largely correct generalization.
  - infinite8s 15y ago
    While neither is a stereotype, the second part of the first one ("so women don't really want to do startups because they'd rather have children instead") is ascribing a motivation that does not necessarily follow from the first part.
    - maaku 15y ago
      Semantics over a poor choice of words. I took the OP and the original TFA to mean "women, more so than men, choose family over careers. that doesn't mean they didn't want their career, just that they ultimately chose a different path instead.

DeusExMachina 15y ago

I think this is different than stereotyping, though. One thing is to say "women today ditch startups because of children, so women don't really want to do startups because they'd rather have children instead". This is stereotyping. Something along the lines of "we want to improve women attendance; today women might not be able to attend at night events because they have children; let's put it on saturday morning and see if it works" is not stereotyping IMO. It's looking at (apparent) causes and try to find a solution to work on them. Causes don't go away just because you don't want to stereotype. If you want to make a lasting change in the mindset you need to find ways to attract more women, working against what might impede them in today's society. You have to start somewhere, and I think this is a good place to start. EDIT: typos.

maaku 15y ago
How are the two any different? The first isn't stereotyping at all, it's just stating a causal fact. The second is a solution to that fact. Generalizing isn't stereotyping, if it's a largely correct generalization.
- infinite8s 15y ago
  While neither is a stereotype, the second part of the first one ("so women don't really want to do startups because they'd rather have children instead") is ascribing a motivation that does not necessarily follow from the first part.
  - maaku 15y ago
    Semantics over a poor choice of words. I took the OP and the original TFA to mean "women, more so than men, choose family over careers. that doesn't mean they didn't want their career, just that they ultimately chose a different path instead.