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This is interesting: Of the 100 top academic authors in computer science today, per Microsoft, 96 are male: http://academic.research.microsoft.com/RankList?ent

This is interesting: Of the 100 top academic authors in computer science today, per Microsoft, 96 are male: http://academic.research.microsoft.com/RankList?entitytype=2&topDomainID=2&subDomainID=0 http://academic.research.microsoft.com/RankList?entitytype=2... The owner of this site appears to be a woman. Again, 20 males: http://www.bestcomputersciencedegrees.com/author/2admin/ http://www.bestcomputersciencedegrees.com/author/2admin/ And there is a preponderance of white males in the annals of computer history: http://inventors.about.com/library/blcoindex.htm http://inventors.about.com/library/blcoindex.htm Even among software professionals, there is divergence in the types of roles women take vs. men. Search LinkedIn (3rd & everyone else) for SQA, and you get about 25% women. Search "Full Stack" and you get about 10% women. Is this really YC's problem to solve?

ZoFreX 13y ago
> Is this really YC's problem to solve? I think it's up to everyone to do their part. This problem, like all big problems, is made up of lots of little problems.
- 11thEarlOfMar 13y ago
  I don't think there is much they can do. A similar review of Human Resources professionals, also courtesy LinkedIn, shows about 70% are women. In another report, in 2013, 41% of college seniors that elected majors in Physical Science were women. Yet, only 18% of those who chose computer science or engineering were women. It seems they'd be equally capable in chemistry and physics as in computer science and engineer. But their major choices indicate it is not about ability and something else is going on: http://www.directemployers.org/2012/08/16/the-college-class-of-2013-current-demographics/ http://www.directemployers.org/2012/08/16/the-college-class-... I believe that the whole dust up is a matter of gender-based difference in interests. Nothing more, and not a real problem. Which is why YC is scratching their heads about how to solve it.
  - GFK_of_xmaspast 13y ago
    How does your "gender-based difference in interests" explain the last thirty years of (proportional) decline in women majoring in CS?
    - 11thEarlOfMar 13y ago
      30 years is plenty of time for the interests of a demographic to shift.
      - erichocean 13y ago
        It's also shifted downwards among females majoring in the humanities, but no one cares—there's no "Girls Read" initiatives, for example. That's why trends are just not that useful in convincing people, especially people whose job it is to be logical week in, week out, and to generalize aggressively. So these people look at you say "the trend is down" and then see you make that a primary reason for action, and then they immediately go and look at all the trends, and then notice the participation trend is down even more in the humanities among women (also having peaked in the early 80s, which makes me wonder what changed then), but regardless, they also see that the downward participation trend in the humanities is not a reason for action there, and wonder WTF? It seems like special pleading, because it is. There are good reasons for promoting CS to females today (as ever), but "the numbers show a downward trend in CS" is not one of them.
  - ZoFreX 13y ago
    > I believe that the whole dust up is a matter of gender-based difference in interests. Nothing more, and not a real problem. Which is why YC is scratching their heads about how to solve it. This argument doesn't entirely follow and in my opinion unfairly misrepresents pg's position. Pg hasn't said that there is no "real problem", what he said was that he didn't know what he could do to solve it. Personally I have witnessed a lot of sexism and even discrimination, so I don't believe there is no real problem. Maybe women are less interested in computer science than men, but maybe a few of them drop out due to the pervasiveness of sexism in the field? Or maybe interest would be higher if it didn't have this reputation?

ZoFreX 13y ago

> Is this really YC's problem to solve? I think it's up to everyone to do their part. This problem, like all big problems, is made up of lots of little problems.

11thEarlOfMar 13y ago
I don't think there is much they can do. A similar review of Human Resources professionals, also courtesy LinkedIn, shows about 70% are women. In another report, in 2013, 41% of college seniors that elected majors in Physical Science were women. Yet, only 18% of those who chose computer science or engineering were women. It seems they'd be equally capable in chemistry and physics as in computer science and engineer. But their major choices indicate it is not about ability and something else is going on: http://www.directemployers.org/2012/08/16/the-college-class-of-2013-current-demographics/ http://www.directemployers.org/2012/08/16/the-college-class-... I believe that the whole dust up is a matter of gender-based difference in interests. Nothing more, and not a real problem. Which is why YC is scratching their heads about how to solve it.
- GFK_of_xmaspast 13y ago
  How does your "gender-based difference in interests" explain the last thirty years of (proportional) decline in women majoring in CS?
  - 11thEarlOfMar 13y ago
    30 years is plenty of time for the interests of a demographic to shift.
    - erichocean 13y ago
      It's also shifted downwards among females majoring in the humanities, but no one cares—there's no "Girls Read" initiatives, for example. That's why trends are just not that useful in convincing people, especially people whose job it is to be logical week in, week out, and to generalize aggressively. So these people look at you say "the trend is down" and then see you make that a primary reason for action, and then they immediately go and look at all the trends, and then notice the participation trend is down even more in the humanities among women (also having peaked in the early 80s, which makes me wonder what changed then), but regardless, they also see that the downward participation trend in the humanities is not a reason for action there, and wonder WTF? It seems like special pleading, because it is. There are good reasons for promoting CS to females today (as ever), but "the numbers show a downward trend in CS" is not one of them.
- ZoFreX 13y ago
  > I believe that the whole dust up is a matter of gender-based difference in interests. Nothing more, and not a real problem. Which is why YC is scratching their heads about how to solve it. This argument doesn't entirely follow and in my opinion unfairly misrepresents pg's position. Pg hasn't said that there is no "real problem", what he said was that he didn't know what he could do to solve it. Personally I have witnessed a lot of sexism and even discrimination, so I don't believe there is no real problem. Maybe women are less interested in computer science than men, but maybe a few of them drop out due to the pervasiveness of sexism in the field? Or maybe interest would be higher if it didn't have this reputation?