I think that there are a lot of reasons why there are fewer women in tech. Not that we are MIA, but the number hasn't really grown that much in my professional. When I started, there was another woman, she worked in another department and we didn't interact. In the last fifteen years we have added 2 additional women. One in my department and another one was added last week in testing. So I am a woman IT, two girls on a team of 27 boys.
This is going to be an open discussion so feel free to jump in. Yet I warn you: This is not the place to bring bad logic and expect to be praised for it.
One of the reasons is simple, the tech industry is pretty antisocial, and for women it brings some extra contempt – not that everyone is like this, but you will find your share – you don't even have to go looking. It will come to you.
- White male privilege is still a major problem in the industry
- Something that is a problem pretty much everywhere
We have too few women in senior positions
- It is sort of hard since we have so few women in general
The perceived and real problems in the industry keep most sane people out of it.
One of the most humorous things is when engineers cry that they are being stereotyped when they complain about female programmers. They hate being seen as the socially inept engineer archetype.
If you are one of those socially inept engineer types, guess what - I'm pretty sure women are sick and tired of you stereotyping them and continuing to drive the point that women aren't fit to work in the tech field.
Please.
Stop and think for a moment, you see yourself as capable of logic, you pride yourself on it even. So next time you go on a rant. You need to try harder to transparently disguise your disgusting premise with "I was only asking a question," you weren't. And you it was not an attempt to foster an honest and constructive discussion. You're not fooling anyone with that juvenile tactics.
As a woman in tech, I personally have never seen a glass ceiling. It probably helps that I have some specialties (database, system admin, core company technolog) that make me desirable in my area regardless of gender.
But when talking about a glass ceiling what we should focus on is not whether or not you are being paid the current market rate.
You want to look at the more senior engineers in your company: what do they look like? How much of middle management is female, and how much of the executive population? When you look at the salaries of the officers of your company, do you see any patterns?
Most companies I have worked for have had more men than women in senior management positions.
However, more women were project managers and marketing executives. I never wondered why more men were technical/development leads and managers. It makes you hope that it is just because there are so many more men in that field, not because these positions discriminate against women.
Women developers may be scarce in the US and western Europe, but Bulgaria and Romania have no such issues. In Romania at least, it could be connected with the way high school education is organized, exposing all kids to STEM subjects.
The areticle goes on to state that the majority of the best Romanian high schools, which allow you to virtually apply to any university program you like. All of these are heavily focused around Mathematics and Computer Science.
From what I understand students will spend at least six hours a week on math, and 6 more hours filled with Computer Science.
After 4 years of this, you are familiar with what CS is and requires, and if you like it you have the skill set to study it further at university.
I don't think Romanian women study CS because they don't have the luxury to choose a "feminine" subject, but because STEM is not an alien option to them. Women in richer countries – Sweden in particular – pick less well-paid, but more social motivated careers instead.
