4 ms·
Assorted thoughts: 1. While it is certainly good that this study does not show an anti-female bias (not saying the 2:1 preference is necessarily good), I'm see
by random854 11y ago
Assorted thoughts:
1. While it is certainly good that this study does not show an anti-female bias (not saying the 2:1 preference is necessarily good), I'm seeing this hailed as 'proof sexism doesn't exist,' which it is not. Several studies, the most notable one being from 2012 (Moss-Racusin is the author iirc), found that at the undergraduate level, men are preferred and given a high salary. If both of these studies are true, it means that as women age/gain higher degrees/prove themselves, this bias disappears. This makes sense when you think about it, but is still a good thing.
2. While I don't like this bias against men, I don't think men need to worry about it yet. Probably, the only reason the preference is so high is because so few women apply for these positions. Were an equal number of men and women applying for the position, it'd likely be a different story.
3. No one against the broad goal of 'sexism in tech' that I've heard at least is vying for 50-50 representation. If 70% of engineers are men, fine. The problem is that many girls who would become engineers are never exposed to it or are pushed away (some by the attitude that 'women just naturally don't like STEM'—read 'Unlocking the Clubhouse.') Much of the barriers to women in STEM come from childhood (women being less likely to take STEM classes due to low confidence in math etc)—it's good to see women don't need to worry about bias in academia, don't get me wrong. But I see strawmen here. As a woman in tech who got a late start because "math is hard for girls," and who had a programmer cousin who admitted to me that he never showed it to me because he assumed girls didn't like it, despite knowing I enjoyed math/physics—I'm not trying to build a 'fempire' in which women are preferred to men and the 1950s repeat themselves in reverse. I just want girls like me who love what they do to have the opportunity to do what I do.