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Technology's Man Problem

posted by LaminatorX on Monday April 07 2014, @08:51AM   Printer-friendly
from the Don't-be-a-jerk! dept.

Ethanol-fueled writes:

Written in a New York Times article and summarily paraphrased here,

Elissa Shevinsky can pinpoint the moment when she felt that she no longer belonged. She was at a friend's house watching the live stream of the TechCrunch Disrupt hackathon, when she saw that it opened with two men who developed an app called Titstare. After some banter, one of Titstare's developers proudly proclaimed, "This is the breast hack ever."

Ms. Shevinsky felt pushed to the edge. Women who enter fields dominated by men often feel this way. "It's a thousand tiny paper cuts," is how Ashe Dryden, a programmer who now consults on increasing diversity in technology, described working in tech. Women in tech like Shevinsky and Dryden advocate working to change the tech culture from inside-out, but other women like Lea Verou write that,

' women-only conferences and hackathons cultivate the notion that women are these weak beings who find their male colleagues too intimidating...As a woman, I find it insulting and patronizing to be viewed that way.'

This all being hot on the heels of engineer Julie Ann Horvath's departure from Github as a result of similar concern.

Any of you care to address your own personal experiences or opinions regarding the subject matter; as well as the accuracy of the articles' stories compared to the industry-at-large?

 
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  • (Score: 1) by SuggestiveLanguage on Monday April 07 2014, @12:49PM

    by SuggestiveLanguage (1313) on Monday April 07 2014, @12:49PM (#27428)

    Software developers, SAs and EEs want to be considered a mature, respected profession alongside accountants, doctors, structural engineers etc., yet indulge and excuse behavior and gross ethical violations worthy of a board review and a suspension of license or immediate dismissal. Are we professionals or are we not?

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday April 07 2014, @04:03PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday April 07 2014, @04:03PM (#27588)

    Note that you didn't include "App Developers" in your list of professions.

  • (Score: 2) by Grishnakh on Monday April 07 2014, @05:36PM

    by Grishnakh (2831) on Monday April 07 2014, @05:36PM (#27633)

    Hey, don't lump the EEs in with the app developers and IT people.

  • (Score: 2) by Grishnakh on Monday April 07 2014, @05:55PM

    by Grishnakh (2831) on Monday April 07 2014, @05:55PM (#27642)

    Also, electrical engineering has been a mature, respected profession for over 100 years now. Did you think that the power distribution network which supplies power to your PC to write that message was invented within the last few years?

    • (Score: 1) by SuggestiveLanguage on Monday April 07 2014, @08:10PM

      by SuggestiveLanguage (1313) on Monday April 07 2014, @08:10PM (#27734)

      You are indeed correct. Unlike far too many app cobblers and hackers, EEs have at least a minimal exposure professional ethics. Please accept my apologies.