27
BigTony
6y

Im gunna get a lot of flak for this but just hear me out:

People keep asking me what it's like working in a male dominated industry. They have conferences for women in tech empowerment and I get forced to go to them because I'm the only female in the office.

The thing is. I don't feel oppressed. I get that we "need" more women in tech but from my experience and from talking to various women at my old university, the reason women are avoiding the tech industry isn't because it's male dominated and they feel out of place. It's because a) it doesn't interest them or b) they never thought of it as an option (like myself).

Computer programming should be in grade schools and highschool's just like math and science to help educated not only women but people in general that it's an option. That's what's going to help more women get in the tech industry. Not these bullshit conferences and women's rights in tech movements, and hiring women over men (even if she's worse than him in skill level) just because she's a woman.

Frankly I think it's downright shameful that companies that are male dominated feel the need to hire women over men just because of gender. If I'm applying somewhere and there's a better male candidate, hire him! I'd much rather your company have a good team then a "balanced" team. Great tech teams are what will bring along new and better technologies, not balanced ones.

Keep in mind I'm talking about Western Civilization here, I get that a lot of countries are still struggling with the balance of women's rights at all but this is Canada.

I also get that there are probably some women who want to join tech but won't because it's too male dominated but frankly that's a shit poor excuse. If you really wanted to join tech then being surrounded by make co-workers wouldn't deter you from living your life the way you want to. If you feel so uncomfortable around men that you won't go into an industry you love because it's male dominated then I'm sorry for you and you should probably see a councillor to get that worked out.

I feel more oppressed by having to put aside my programming and being forced to go to these conferences than I do in the every day workplace. My boss is literally more offended that I don't feel offended about being a woman "minority". He spent a week pestering me about how I would feel about this, that and the other thing if it happened to me.

I'm not saying nobody ever says anything even remotely sexist to me but frankly I could give two shits- I'm here. I'm coding. I'm good at what I do and I'm comfortable enough with myself that I can just blow off the comment (which probably wasn't even meant to offend me) and continue working. But you're going to get that wherever you go, this isn't a flaw of the tech industry. This is a flaw of the world and it goes both ways (men get flak too).

Comments
  • 3
    I think it's because women criticise and doubt themselves more. A woman that can't/doesn't want to program is more likely to not go into that field because she knows she'll suck. A man might delude himself into thinking that he will become a hotshot programmer even if he is bad at it.
    (This is my personal opinion).
  • 2
    @jsframework9000 I think if that was the case then all fields would have a lack of women-- personally though I know more confident women then confident men... I think there's probably a solid balance.
  • 4
    If a company has the choice, they should try to balance it. I think diversity benefits everybody, to have people from all backgrounds improves creativity.
    At least in my mind.

    Working in a white male environment can be kinda boring.

    P.S. I'm curious, why did you choose to have a male avatar and a male name?
  • 7
    @plusgut I'm hiding from my coworkers lol
  • 2
    @BigTony :D fair reason

    What do you think about my counter argument, why a company should try to balance it?
  • 5
    @plusgut variety can be useful for sure and if a white male candidate and a woman are up for the same job and are similar in skill level then sure go for diversity but if the male far outweighs the woman in skill than highering the woman is the wrong choice.
  • 2
    @BigTony alright, I agree.
  • 2
    @BigTony oh wow, thanks for all the ++'s
  • 2
    @plusgut have another! Lol thanks for having a short but civilized and productive conversation with me
  • 4
    @BigTony sure thing :) Welcome to devrant, you probably will have lots of conversations like that.
  • 2
    @plusgut thanks :)
  • 2
    Couldn't agree more. It's so annoying to see all this "diversity" bullshit shoved down people's throats (even in school, in my experience).

    Equality means everybody gets the same opportunities and treatment, not the same result. And that result should only depend on personal merit
  • 5
    @endor The idea of "equality" has been significantly tilted to benefit the minority (specifically in the male vs female debate) to the point where women almost have more rights then men:

    A woman claims a man sexually assaulted her? Man is imprisoned and/or charged based on heresay.

    A man claims that a woman sexually assaulted him? People laugh in his face.

    ---------------------------------------------------------

    Your parents are divorcing and your mom has proven to be less capable than the dad? Doesn't matter. Mom gets the kid "a kid needs his mother during early years of development"

    ----------------------------------------------------------

    A woman applies to a male dominated industry such as tech? Better hire her, we need equality.

    A man applies to a female dominated industry such as child care? Can't hire him, he's probably a pedophile.

    -----------------------------------------------------------

    (In the actual practice of the justice system, this stuff actually happens. Written law may have equality sure but theory is different from practice)
  • 3
    Couldn't agree with you more. I think merit of one's ability should outweigh any personal background be it gender or race. Recently a close friend of mine came to me to help start a project where we get young people interested in code. She never saw coding as a career option growing up and only started by chance. So teaching young students both male and female what it is and how it can be a viable career option is very important to her.
  • 1
    @eggory that is SO awesome to hear! I hope it takes off!
  • 1
    @BigTony respect++
    You're the woman I've been looking for. I'm so gonna post this rant in a lot of places coz when I say the same things to people, they say it's my sexist mind.
  • 1
    @exceptionalGuy it's absolutely not! It's just the fact of how it is... But because it comes from a man's mouth, even if it's the truth, it's bigoted.
  • 1
    Sorry, I just gotta day that male avatar is really disorienting in a conversation about women...
  • 2
    @Lasagna that really is interesting and I'll respond to it later. I have to think about it, what you just said there. I feel like there are lots of wrong assumptions.
  • 0
    @ribchinski go for it lol
  • 0
    @SecondThread sorry about that
  • 0
    @Lasagna eloquently put
  • 1
    Requirements and expected output. That's must be all that matter for any business decision. But nooooo we have CSR, equality, ethic, good will bla bla bla yada yada yada. Just extra problems to solve. Well probably we are just free and bored.
  • 3
    I'm looking for a year now for reinforcment for my team.. I don't even have the choice for diversity, I would take anyone who fits the requirements.
  • 2
    @plusgut exactly. But you only have such freely make decision when your company is small. Once it reach a certain size, you have no choice but to consider all those things. 😔
  • 0
    @ribchinski if you do post it, link it to me! I'd like to read the responses :)
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