11:51 AM - Women, technology and the open source problem
As a female computer scientist, I feel greatly outnumbered already. However in the open source world, I feel very, very alone.
This on the surface seems surprising due to the fact there is a surprising number of women getting graduate degrees in computer science. A female computer science undergraduate is more likely than a male student to eventually pursue a graduate degree.
Most fellow women in the field are successful in industry (by this I mean obtain programming jobs).
At my current job, I have not felt discriminated against nor do I feel my gender influences how my colleagues view my work. I am a fellow developer.
In the open source world, it should be natural for a woman to work in a project.
However there is a real problem. If I am talking to someone face-to-face, it's much harder for that person to discount my opinion. The Internet allows the darker parts of human nature to appear. By this I mean it's easier for a (fairly) anonymous person to express his or her opinion without real social consequences.
Some men in the open source world take no effort to hide their sexist attitudes toward women and women programmers.
Another problem is the fact women tend not to become interested in computer science until college.
Computers / programming are viewed as rather dorky hobbies. When I was in high school, guys who liked programming also were magic card players (dates me slightly) and very much considered dorks. No self respecting girl (or so it seemed) would join their ranks. Also, computers are considered a "male" hobby.
Women tend not to have as much experience and may end up learning their first programming language in Computer Science 101. By the time, women are ready to consider open source, we're looking for a job in industry.
It's rather sad how few female programmers are active in open source projects. Open source projects need programmers from all walks of life. Until that happens, I don't see how open source can get beyond power computer users.
This on the surface seems surprising due to the fact there is a surprising number of women getting graduate degrees in computer science. A female computer science undergraduate is more likely than a male student to eventually pursue a graduate degree.
Most fellow women in the field are successful in industry (by this I mean obtain programming jobs).
At my current job, I have not felt discriminated against nor do I feel my gender influences how my colleagues view my work. I am a fellow developer.
In the open source world, it should be natural for a woman to work in a project.
However there is a real problem. If I am talking to someone face-to-face, it's much harder for that person to discount my opinion. The Internet allows the darker parts of human nature to appear. By this I mean it's easier for a (fairly) anonymous person to express his or her opinion without real social consequences.
Some men in the open source world take no effort to hide their sexist attitudes toward women and women programmers.
Another problem is the fact women tend not to become interested in computer science until college.
Computers / programming are viewed as rather dorky hobbies. When I was in high school, guys who liked programming also were magic card players (dates me slightly) and very much considered dorks. No self respecting girl (or so it seemed) would join their ranks. Also, computers are considered a "male" hobby.
Women tend not to have as much experience and may end up learning their first programming language in Computer Science 101. By the time, women are ready to consider open source, we're looking for a job in industry.
It's rather sad how few female programmers are active in open source projects. Open source projects need programmers from all walks of life. Until that happens, I don't see how open source can get beyond power computer users.
location: Work