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> Would it have been industry sexism that meant I wasn't a developer? No. It would have been lack of exposure to the possibility at a young age. Not being told

by __alexs 14y ago

> Would it have been industry sexism that meant I wasn't a developer? No. It would have been lack of exposure to the possibility at a young age. Not being told that certain opportunities are open to you because of your gender is sexism. This goes beyond child hood. People assume because of you're gender you will or will not be into certain job prospects and other activities. This is sexism.

thisone 14y ago
But is that sexism in the IT industry, or is that stereotyping in the larger community about the IT industry?
Nursie 14y ago
Meh. I wasn't told it was a possibility either, and I'm male and went to an all male school. Depending on how old you are (I'm mid 30s now so school in the early 90s) and how behind the times your teachers were, I reckon it was pretty common for people not to understand that there was a career to be had in computers. This could be down to plain ignorance of how important they were going to become. I only realised it was an interest after starting and hating an engineering course in 96, because all school ever told me was 'here is a machine you can use to write documents and make pictures'. Of course if the reason she wasn't told was because of her gender then sure, inherent sexism.
km3k 14y ago
I don't think that's what thisone was getting at. While I was growing up (late 80's into 90's), developing software and working on computers wasn't encouraged for a career path, for both boys and girls. It was always referred to as a hobby and one that wasn't looked upon very highly. Somehow I had a natural attraction to working with computers and software and that took me to where I am today working as a software engineer. My parents didn't even own a computer until I convinced them that I needed one for high school. If I hadn't gone into software, I may have ended up in some other engineering discipline. Growing up I saw both boys and girls encouraged to go into engineering, but not into computers. Even as a male, I feel I'm working in software despite the culture I grew up with as a child.
- mtoddh 14y ago
  It was always referred to as a hobby and one that wasn't looked upon very highly. I never see this point come up much but I can tell you that when I was growing up "geek" was a pejorative term and the guys who were into computers were largely social outcasts. I can remember in high school the kinds of guys who sat on IRC chatting with their little "cyber friends" being made fun of. And I don't think they ever got much of a chance to "exclude" girls since my bet is most of them never had much luck getting one to talk to them in the first place. I don't doubt that sexism helps fuel the gender gap we see in tech, but sometimes it seems like people forget that the original demographic in this industry was by and large made up of socially awkward males who pursued their hobby despite being looked down upon and excluded by others, not because of the heaps of encouragement they were receiving.

by __alexs 14y ago

thisone 14y ago

But is that sexism in the IT industry, or is that stereotyping in the larger community about the IT industry?

Nursie 14y ago

Meh. I wasn't told it was a possibility either, and I'm male and went to an all male school. Depending on how old you are (I'm mid 30s now so school in the early 90s) and how behind the times your teachers were, I reckon it was pretty common for people not to understand that there was a career to be had in computers. This could be down to plain ignorance of how important they were going to become. I only realised it was an interest after starting and hating an engineering course in 96, because all school ever told me was 'here is a machine you can use to write documents and make pictures'. Of course if the reason she wasn't told was because of her gender then sure, inherent sexism.

km3k 14y ago

I don't think that's what thisone was getting at. While I was growing up (late 80's into 90's), developing software and working on computers wasn't encouraged for a career path, for both boys and girls. It was always referred to as a hobby and one that wasn't looked upon very highly. Somehow I had a natural attraction to working with computers and software and that took me to where I am today working as a software engineer. My parents didn't even own a computer until I convinced them that I needed one for high school. If I hadn't gone into software, I may have ended up in some other engineering discipline. Growing up I saw both boys and girls encouraged to go into engineering, but not into computers. Even as a male, I feel I'm working in software despite the culture I grew up with as a child.

mtoddh 14y ago
It was always referred to as a hobby and one that wasn't looked upon very highly. I never see this point come up much but I can tell you that when I was growing up "geek" was a pejorative term and the guys who were into computers were largely social outcasts. I can remember in high school the kinds of guys who sat on IRC chatting with their little "cyber friends" being made fun of. And I don't think they ever got much of a chance to "exclude" girls since my bet is most of them never had much luck getting one to talk to them in the first place. I don't doubt that sexism helps fuel the gender gap we see in tech, but sometimes it seems like people forget that the original demographic in this industry was by and large made up of socially awkward males who pursued their hobby despite being looked down upon and excluded by others, not because of the heaps of encouragement they were receiving.