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posted by Fnord666 on Friday May 11 2018, @11:11PM   Printer-friendly
from the controversial-topics dept.
Arthur T Knackerbracket has found the following story:

Over the last several months, I’ve witnessed many controversial discussions among my friends, in my San Francisco community, and on online forums about James Demore’s memorandum. People of both genders are wrestling with the fact that fewer women go into computer science and trying to find explanations that balance their experience, empathy, and ethical aspirations. I’ve heard lots of good-intentioned people consider discouraging theories of biological superiority because they can’t find any other compelling explanation (like this post on HackerNews, for example). As a woman who studied computer science, worked at some of the top tech firms, and has founded a software startup, I’d like to share my take on why fewer women go into CS and my opinion on how to address the issue.

[...] I graduated from Stanford with a BS in Mathematical & Computational Sciences in 2015, interned at Apple as a software engineer, and worked as an Associate Product Manager at Google 2015-2017. In October, I founded a video editing website called Kapwing and am working on the startup full-time. Although I’m only 25, I’ve already seen many of my female friends choose majors/careers outside of STEM and have been inside of many predominately-male classes, organizations, and teams.

This article is one person’s humble perspective, and I do not speak for every woman in tech. But hopefully having the view of someone who has “been there” can help people trying to understand why there are fewer women in tech.


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  • (Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday May 12 2018, @01:59PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday May 12 2018, @01:59PM (#678818)

    It's truly astounding to me how many people here clearly don't understand the difference between "befriend" and "sexually harass."

    Let me introduce you to the ladder theory. http://laddertheory.com/ [laddertheory.com]

    Once you accept this theory as possible and probable you will see it from that angle. But tl;dr Women tend to like to have friends. Men tend to want to fuck everything. The theory tends to smooth out as people get into their 40s and up.

    MOST men can not do the 'friend' thing. They are not interested in that *at* *all*. You can not force interest in something or someone especially if they are afraid. It does not work. You can try to persuade people to do that. But the status quo is the ladder theory. Men are usually not interested in being friends with women. They are one #metoo moment away from having their entire life turned inside out. Women can get away with #metoo moments because our society allows it and even welcomes it. You may disagree but it is what I see going on. So as a male I keep my mouth shut head down and do not approach. Sorry if you feel bad about it. But I am going to protect myself. I have had a couple of close calls here and there. I am not alone in this thinking. My wife agrees with it too. She has watched *many* of her friends turn into vindictive assholes and use sexuality as a weapon. Men do not have that weapon. Until women own up to the idea they are also fucking things up nothing will change. You can not have one side lose everything and the other win everything. You want a win-win. Otherwise the other side just walks from the negotiation.

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