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I have noticed that female senior technology principles in the military are far more common despite both the military and technology being each male dominated.

I have noticed that female senior technology principles in the military are far more common despite both the military and technology being each male dominated. In the US military technology principles are uniquely designated by a category of ranks called warrant officers. With the exception of pilots all technical warrant officers require completion of a selection program consisting of prior military experience as an NCO with satisfactory combinations of experience and education. Females appear to comprise about 10-30% of the population of information integration principles (255A) and network infrastructure principles (255N) after examination of required professional education participation. Female are also far more likely to achieve senior military grades (O6 and above) than become corporate C-suite employees or even startup founders. I don't know why this is because at every level the military appears to be male dominated, yet provided sufficient talent and ambition the odds of maximal success for females appears to be substantially greater in the military than the corporate world.

toast0 3y ago
I'm not involved in the military, but it feels like there's an expectation that if you put in the work and meet the requirements, you'll get the promotions. I'm sure there's exceptions, and people problems and all that, but the expectations are there. There's also (at least) historically been limitations on combat positions for women, which does limit certain types of promotion, because it's hard to meet the requirements if you can't get posted to the right kinds of jobs. That puts you in a situation where a tech job might be a viable path to promotion. And the military is usually good about training, so if you get into a tech job, you'll get trained to do it right, etc. (Or at least, that's what it seems like to an outsider)

toast0 3y ago

I'm not involved in the military, but it feels like there's an expectation that if you put in the work and meet the requirements, you'll get the promotions. I'm sure there's exceptions, and people problems and all that, but the expectations are there. There's also (at least) historically been limitations on combat positions for women, which does limit certain types of promotion, because it's hard to meet the requirements if you can't get posted to the right kinds of jobs. That puts you in a situation where a tech job might be a viable path to promotion. And the military is usually good about training, so if you get into a tech job, you'll get trained to do it right, etc. (Or at least, that's what it seems like to an outsider)