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Your argument is not sound. If women are less "genetically" suited for programming, then that fact doesn't imply that there are no women programmers or that wom

by nawitus 13y ago

Your argument is not sound. If women are less "genetically" suited for programming, then that fact doesn't imply that there are no women programmers or that women couldn't have been programming's pioneers.

danso 13y ago
You're not characterizing the debate correctly. The argument has primarily been over whether pressures in society and in industry have been unfavorable to women. Those who don't think this is the case sometimes argue, "Perhaps the fault is within women themselves". If that were the case, then we would indeed expect fewer women in tech. Just as if we eliminated gender from Olympic sports, there would be very few women at all competing, and pretty much none on the medal stands (except in sports that are mostly female only). But that is not the case with computing. You have women among the elite of their male peers and not just elite, but pioneers. And they did this during a time, mind you, when women's equality was much, much less of a belief than it is now.
- nawitus 13y ago
  >You're not characterizing the debate correctly. I did not attempt to. I clarified that your argument wasn't sound. My comment was not about the "general discource". >You have women among the elite of their male peers and not just elite, but pioneers. Eh. If women are not "genetically suited" for programming, then there can still be women among the "elite programmers and pioneers". By the way, the fact that many women were pioneers in programming was not related to ability, it seems to be mostly an economical decision, as keypunch operators were often female.
  - moocowduckquack 13y ago
    If women are not "genetically suited" for programming, then there can still be women among the "elite programmers and pioneers". Statistically, it becomes much less likely. the fact that many women were pioneers in programming was not related to ability, it seems to be mostly an economical decision Tell that to Ada.
    - nawitus 13y ago
      >Statistically, it becomes much less likely. Yes, I agree with that claim. >Tell that to Ada. Why? I said "mostly", referring to the era of modern computing. In addition, Ada Lovelace wasn't a pioneeri in programming, she was confused about the subject.

by nawitus 13y ago

danso 13y ago

You're not characterizing the debate correctly. The argument has primarily been over whether pressures in society and in industry have been unfavorable to women. Those who don't think this is the case sometimes argue, "Perhaps the fault is within women themselves". If that were the case, then we would indeed expect fewer women in tech. Just as if we eliminated gender from Olympic sports, there would be very few women at all competing, and pretty much none on the medal stands (except in sports that are mostly female only). But that is not the case with computing. You have women among the elite of their male peers and not just elite, but pioneers. And they did this during a time, mind you, when women's equality was much, much less of a belief than it is now.

nawitus 13y ago
>You're not characterizing the debate correctly. I did not attempt to. I clarified that your argument wasn't sound. My comment was not about the "general discource". >You have women among the elite of their male peers and not just elite, but pioneers. Eh. If women are not "genetically suited" for programming, then there can still be women among the "elite programmers and pioneers". By the way, the fact that many women were pioneers in programming was not related to ability, it seems to be mostly an economical decision, as keypunch operators were often female.
- moocowduckquack 13y ago
  If women are not "genetically suited" for programming, then there can still be women among the "elite programmers and pioneers". Statistically, it becomes much less likely. the fact that many women were pioneers in programming was not related to ability, it seems to be mostly an economical decision Tell that to Ada.
  - nawitus 13y ago
    >Statistically, it becomes much less likely. Yes, I agree with that claim. >Tell that to Ada. Why? I said "mostly", referring to the era of modern computing. In addition, Ada Lovelace wasn't a pioneeri in programming, she was confused about the subject.