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I am also a woman software engineer, but my workplace is significantly different from yours. I'm the principal software engineer at a university with a commitm

I am also a woman software engineer, but my workplace is significantly different from yours. I'm the principal software engineer at a university with a commitment to diversity, and my team consists of 7 men and 6 women (3 developers, 1 dba, 2 QE). We're an agile workplace, so every day we have several meetings, including the stand-up, code reviews, and meetings with our partners. I don't think anyone is into gaming, but you might find the baby talk tedious (2 of us are pregnant, myself with twins, and virtually everyone has a family). The elusive "human touch," feels intrinsic to this job. However, it took me a long time to find the ideal workplace, so I fully understand your frustration. For years, I was the one&only technical woman in the different companies I worked for. That can be very difficult, especially in a start-up environment where (depending on the culture), the atmosphere can be as sexually charged as a college dorm. I've had supervisors hit on me & grope me at parties. Another boss told me he was going to replace me with a nice, docile set of Geisha programmers, or sell me into white slavery if the start-up folded. The new sales guy at one place asked me to get him coffee, and when I explained that wasn't my job, he said I was "too hot to be a programmer." I was not flattered. And then there are the message boards where hoards of young men post their opinions about women being intrinsically incapable of hacking. You have to have a really, really thick skin to be a woman in this line of work.

aswanson 18y ago
We're an agile workplace, so every day we have several meetings Is that what agile is about, multiple meetings every day? That would drive me nuts. How can you concentrate on problems in that type of environment? I don't mind social interaction but that seems over the top.
- dgabriel 18y ago
  My team consists of 13 contributors, wich is knd of large for an agile team. In order for the team to function, we all need to be completely invested in high-bandwidth communication, and we need more meetings than a 3-5 man team. For us, this means at least the stand-up every day. There are frequent code and technical design reviews, at least 2-3 times a week. Requirements clarification will typically involve 1-2 meetings a week with the partner, to ensure we're on the right track. Add on the bi-weekly demo and iteration planning, and you're looking at more than one meeting a day. Not all of the developers are required to attend all of the meetings, but because I'm the ranking dev/technical lead, I need to go to most of them. Also, almost half our team is offshore, so I spend plenty of time drafting emails. If communication and human interaction is your bag, this is a pretty good place to be. That said, I tend to freak out once a month or so, and lock myself in a dark room with the code base for a week. Somehow, I still manage to be the single largest contributor to the project....
  - aswanson 18y ago
    Somehow, I still manage to be the single largest contributor to the project.... Rock on, that much interaction would kill me. I am not a people hater but I just couldn't deal with all of that. Somehow you do it though; my hat is off. {EDIT: Congrats and good luck with the twins.}
deleted 18y ago
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alaithea 18y ago
I suppose that despite the relative lack of women studying computer science at universities (I didn't), universities do tend to be ideal places to find kick-ass women doing both the job thing and the family thing. That sounds great to me, and I think I'd much prefer baby talk over the geeky alternatives. Only one person on our eight-person team has kids. As for the others, I'm not sure if some of them have ever been on a date. Dealing with frustrated young men is... frustrating in and of itself. I'd just like to see some more balance and worldliness from my coworkers. Despite the lack of other women, I have been lucky to be in a pretty egalitarian workplace. I generally feel respected, and many of our executives are women. That said, I have had less than tactful coworkers take a two minute break near my desk to stare at my chest and stuff snacks in their face, like it was some kind of show. That was fun. (<-sarcasm)

aswanson 18y ago

We're an agile workplace, so every day we have several meetings Is that what agile is about, multiple meetings every day? That would drive me nuts. How can you concentrate on problems in that type of environment? I don't mind social interaction but that seems over the top.

dgabriel 18y ago
My team consists of 13 contributors, wich is knd of large for an agile team. In order for the team to function, we all need to be completely invested in high-bandwidth communication, and we need more meetings than a 3-5 man team. For us, this means at least the stand-up every day. There are frequent code and technical design reviews, at least 2-3 times a week. Requirements clarification will typically involve 1-2 meetings a week with the partner, to ensure we're on the right track. Add on the bi-weekly demo and iteration planning, and you're looking at more than one meeting a day. Not all of the developers are required to attend all of the meetings, but because I'm the ranking dev/technical lead, I need to go to most of them. Also, almost half our team is offshore, so I spend plenty of time drafting emails. If communication and human interaction is your bag, this is a pretty good place to be. That said, I tend to freak out once a month or so, and lock myself in a dark room with the code base for a week. Somehow, I still manage to be the single largest contributor to the project....
- aswanson 18y ago
  Somehow, I still manage to be the single largest contributor to the project.... Rock on, that much interaction would kill me. I am not a people hater but I just couldn't deal with all of that. Somehow you do it though; my hat is off. {EDIT: Congrats and good luck with the twins.}

deleted 18y ago

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alaithea 18y ago

I suppose that despite the relative lack of women studying computer science at universities (I didn't), universities do tend to be ideal places to find kick-ass women doing both the job thing and the family thing. That sounds great to me, and I think I'd much prefer baby talk over the geeky alternatives. Only one person on our eight-person team has kids. As for the others, I'm not sure if some of them have ever been on a date. Dealing with frustrated young men is... frustrating in and of itself. I'd just like to see some more balance and worldliness from my coworkers. Despite the lack of other women, I have been lucky to be in a pretty egalitarian workplace. I generally feel respected, and many of our executives are women. That said, I have had less than tactful coworkers take a two minute break near my desk to stare at my chest and stuff snacks in their face, like it was some kind of show. That was fun. (<-sarcasm)