Welcome to a forgotten corner of the ancient forest.
What is worse that being a computer nerd? Being a computer manager nerd of course and, over the years The Green Man, in his alternate incarnation confesses to having occupied this role. One observation from this time is that when you place an advert for staff no women apply. IT is just not a woman's domain and don't blame me, I'd have employed them if they applied.
Eileen Trauth, professor of information sciences and technology at Penn State university argues against the hypothesis that nerdiness is determined by a gene on the Y chromosome. She looked at how the combination of an Old Boys' Network and the male-dominated IT workplace affected women. Looking at ways that women used to break into these networks. The Green Man suggests, having known quite a few men belonging to these networks, that many women look at them and think "Why would you want to?" It would involve talking to these men afterall and many of them are extremely boring. (Not The Green Man of course. He is very interesting to talk to.)
The researchers think that employers should
create a variety of social networking opportunities beyond playing golf or being on the company baseball team
You have to belong to a baseball team to progress in computing? Boy the US is more different to Australia than I thought. In Australia the only form of exercise many computing professionals get is carrying their 3 litre bottles of coke from the car to their desk.
There are many jewels hidden amongst the leaves in this forgotten part of the ancient forest. Spend some time browsing and you are sure to find some. Click here or continue your search below
or read the most recent entries here.I spent more than two decades doing circuit design, software, and system engineering. Quite often I was the only woman in my department/workgroup. I got along with most people just fine, and I got a reputation for being able to work well with jerks of both sexes. The trick was to treat everyone with respect and politeness, and appear sure of myself without seeming arrogant. That last bit took a few years to get right, especially when self-assurance was often an act!
Women who do enter IT and related fields leave at a higher rate than men. I've joined the exodus at last, studying full-time for a Master's degree in geology. It was always something I wanted to do, but let myself be talked out of it in my undergraduate days. Life is short, and if I'm ever going to do it, I need to do it now. But I'm definitely glad to be done with laboring long hours under ridiculous schedules only to find that marketing mistargeted the product, or the main customer went under, or the company itself ran out of money and shut down. I'm hoping my new profession will permit my success or failure to be more under my own control.
Posted by: Karen at August 11, 2004 11:24 AMI've known several women in the last three years of IT work, and pretty much all of them were every bit as good (and easy to work with) as my male co-workers. I think a lot more women could do IT work, as well; but because of a lot of factors, especially those you mention here, they are usually discouraged from entering a "man's job." Or even worse, a fat slob socially-challenged man's job... not that I work with many people AT ALL who fit that description, but it is a common stereotype.
Posted by: Jonathan at August 11, 2004 11:15 PM
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