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I really do love that your answer to #1 proves #2. There are a handful of companies that are trying to get more women into tech. That's great! However, that do

by ceol 13y ago

I really do love that your answer to #1 proves #2. There are a handful of companies that are trying to get more women into tech. That's great! However, that doesn't mean #1 is wrong. It just means your industry (or even those companies) is in the minority.

ps4fanboy 13y ago
IT is a very big industry, I work in more of the higher end and in that area, there is a huge push to get more women in, these are the same companies that are incredibly hard to get jobs at for men. I think you will find that push to improve ratios is mostly concentrated on the preferred jobs, based on conditions or pay. I dont see anyone trying to improve ratios in female dominated jobs, like Teaching and Childcare, and if they did #2 would be the same for men in those cases. At quite a few companies I have worked at the pre-screening is done by the corporate HR department of which has been 100% female in my experience, then the next level is done by team managers and sales teams, which I have found to be fairly evenly split. It is only when you get into the trenches where the engineers are found that the ratio falls apart. The funny thing is we all work in the same building in the same office, so the company itself has a pretty good ratio its just the engineering jobs that dont have many women, so you cant say its a culture thing because the culture is the entire company not just one job type and/or segment. Anecdotal, when I do work for government clients they have a much higher female IT workforce especially engineers, they however get 3 weeks extra annual leave, 7 day fortnights and in some cases you can even work part time. And because of unions the pay is very competitive and if not more than the private sector. However there is a "glass ceiling" in government as all wages are set by collective bargaining and applies to everyone. Where in the private sector you have much more latitude to increase your earning potential at the expense of your free time and personal life, something that a lot of my co-workers (men) do to increase the opportunities that their families are offered. It is this kind of work that some of the female engineers are reluctant to do this, and I would say rightful so, from my discussions with them they are not motivated by the pay but are striving for a balance with work and family. However the men I work with are under a lot of pressure to cover their wives earnings so she can stay and look after the children, something they (the wives) are asking for. It is a very complex topic but I dont think you can truly have 50/50 ratios in every industry without first removing any difference in motivation to work between men and women, and those with and without families. These motivation factors create a huge bias in how people subjectively choose their working conditions and environment.

by ceol 13y ago

ps4fanboy 13y ago

IT is a very big industry, I work in more of the higher end and in that area, there is a huge push to get more women in, these are the same companies that are incredibly hard to get jobs at for men. I think you will find that push to improve ratios is mostly concentrated on the preferred jobs, based on conditions or pay. I dont see anyone trying to improve ratios in female dominated jobs, like Teaching and Childcare, and if they did #2 would be the same for men in those cases. At quite a few companies I have worked at the pre-screening is done by the corporate HR department of which has been 100% female in my experience, then the next level is done by team managers and sales teams, which I have found to be fairly evenly split. It is only when you get into the trenches where the engineers are found that the ratio falls apart. The funny thing is we all work in the same building in the same office, so the company itself has a pretty good ratio its just the engineering jobs that dont have many women, so you cant say its a culture thing because the culture is the entire company not just one job type and/or segment. Anecdotal, when I do work for government clients they have a much higher female IT workforce especially engineers, they however get 3 weeks extra annual leave, 7 day fortnights and in some cases you can even work part time. And because of unions the pay is very competitive and if not more than the private sector. However there is a "glass ceiling" in government as all wages are set by collective bargaining and applies to everyone. Where in the private sector you have much more latitude to increase your earning potential at the expense of your free time and personal life, something that a lot of my co-workers (men) do to increase the opportunities that their families are offered. It is this kind of work that some of the female engineers are reluctant to do this, and I would say rightful so, from my discussions with them they are not motivated by the pay but are striving for a balance with work and family. However the men I work with are under a lot of pressure to cover their wives earnings so she can stay and look after the children, something they (the wives) are asking for. It is a very complex topic but I dont think you can truly have 50/50 ratios in every industry without first removing any difference in motivation to work between men and women, and those with and without families. These motivation factors create a huge bias in how people subjectively choose their working conditions and environment.