3 ms·

Isn't this just a density issue - like (for lack of a better analogy) being gay in a small town? I can understand it's difficult when you are too young to choo

by mtkd 13y ago

Isn't this just a density issue - like (for lack of a better analogy) being gay in a small town? I can understand it's difficult when you are too young to choose geographic location - but once you can - the marginalisation is quickly solved by moving somewhere with a higher density of like-minded people. The challenge, I guess, is to advertise that these places do exist - but I see so many 'Geek Girl Dinners' type events I can't believe that is really the case any more.

djcapelis 13y ago
> The challenge, I guess, is to advertise that these places do exist - but I see so many 'Geek Girl Dinners' type events I can't believe that is really the case any more. I wish it was that simple and this was already solved, but even in the Bay Area it can be frustratingly hard to connect with people who come from similar perspectives. I was just at a women in tech event last night and three of us went off for sushi afterward and we all talked about how frustrating it can be to find people who feel like us and how nice it would be if it wasn't so difficult. I think the starkest variant of this I've seen was when one woman asked another: "Why should we even bother trying to increase the number of women in tech? Sometimes it's not even a good field, why should we be working so hard to get women into it?" The other woman's response was simple and to the point: "I do it because it'd be nice to have someone to go to lunch with." The truth of that statement isn't so much in that she couldn't have found anyone to go to lunch with ever, but the relative truth that exists when you feel less comfortable in a group because you're the one who is so different. For many people, tech is a place where everyone is different and different is cool and great. For women, different is often still just different.
dcalacci 13y ago
Viewing it as a 'density issue' takes the root issue (dearth of women in STEM) for granted, as if that will always (or should always) be the case. The lack of women in STEM fields can be largely attributed to cultural and social pressures, not a "natural" tendency for people who identify as women to avoid those fields. Saying 'a solution to feeling marginalized is to move to a place where you are not marginalized' doesn't really make sense when you aren't applying it to a single individual.

by mtkd 13y ago

djcapelis 13y ago

> The challenge, I guess, is to advertise that these places do exist - but I see so many 'Geek Girl Dinners' type events I can't believe that is really the case any more. I wish it was that simple and this was already solved, but even in the Bay Area it can be frustratingly hard to connect with people who come from similar perspectives. I was just at a women in tech event last night and three of us went off for sushi afterward and we all talked about how frustrating it can be to find people who feel like us and how nice it would be if it wasn't so difficult. I think the starkest variant of this I've seen was when one woman asked another: "Why should we even bother trying to increase the number of women in tech? Sometimes it's not even a good field, why should we be working so hard to get women into it?" The other woman's response was simple and to the point: "I do it because it'd be nice to have someone to go to lunch with." The truth of that statement isn't so much in that she couldn't have found anyone to go to lunch with ever, but the relative truth that exists when you feel less comfortable in a group because you're the one who is so different. For many people, tech is a place where everyone is different and different is cool and great. For women, different is often still just different.

dcalacci 13y ago

Viewing it as a 'density issue' takes the root issue (dearth of women in STEM) for granted, as if that will always (or should always) be the case. The lack of women in STEM fields can be largely attributed to cultural and social pressures, not a "natural" tendency for people who identify as women to avoid those fields. Saying 'a solution to feeling marginalized is to move to a place where you are not marginalized' doesn't really make sense when you aren't applying it to a single individual.