Women In Technology, Because We Need More Labels
I didn’t take part in the Creative Camp talk entitled ‘Women In Technology: Grabbing the Blogosphere by the Balls’. Here are some of the ideas that I was planning to speak on.
The title of this topic has two distinct and different strands. Two subtle themes that branch off and build into discussions all their own. Firstly, the participation of females in technical roles and the secondly, women in blogging. You see, these topics really are separate. Some women in technology keep blogs, but not all women in blogging are necessarily into technology. And why should they be?
Women in Technology: ”Participation rates are at X%, let’s try super hard to shoot for Y%. M’kay?!”
Time and time again, the proportion of women working in technology is played like a game of percentages. The obsessive numbers game is demeaning to women already working in the field. Technology is the application of disciplined engineering to solve a problem. The impulse that kicks off the creative journey into technology is curiosity. Ask any child that pulls apart their toys why they do it, and they’ll retort to the effect of “to see what happens”. Curiosity, pure and simple. Adding rules about how the curiosity of children ought to to be doctored to meet numbers that make the PC faction feel good about themselves, amounts to wholesale societal manipulation.
What we ought to be doing as a society is encouraging children from all walks of life and all socio-economic backgrounds to question known precedents, be it in Politics, the Arts or Sciences. Questioning known principles and pulling apart the systems that we use to deliver education, justice, parenting, engineered solutions and every other convention of life pushes us into new ground. Challenging places, past perceived boundaries. This is motivated not by chalking up numbers on a gender scoreboard, but by opening paths for the children of today to pursue.
So, what’s the Secret Sauce? It has to include the provision of positive role models, quality education from tot to teen and community support mechanisms. There’s no easy solution to build a generation of children willing to challenge perceived norms. Curiosity ought to be nurtured. I want to see generations of engineers. Engineers of political science, engineers of education, engineers of parenting, engineers of software development. Is not the core practice of engineering the solution of problems? Does society not deserve the cold eye of reason bent on solving inequalities? Don’t close the problem of under-representation of women in technology into a neat little silo. Hasn’t that been done enough? Are you complicit?
Women and Blogging: “You Need To Be Like X To Be Taken Seriously”
Blogging is an act of expression just like fashioning a sculpture, telling a story or dancing the samba. We each possess our own unique style. Some like to unearth the fallacies that people artfully hide to get on in life, while others help us celebrate the little things in life - the importance of detail.
Expression is all about externalising your beliefs. Those bells that sing to you, help your moral compass, and guide your humour. Stylistically, I like to blog neutral. I don’t harbour any ambition to follow a herd. I simply want to write material that I’d love to read. And isn’t that the primary motivation of a writer? And, returning to my geek instincts, that love of taximonising behaviour, isn’t blogging just a kind-of writing?
But, nowadays, there are talking heads telling women to assume different voices so we can be taken seriously as writers. They tell us to adapt our commentaries, so they fit little boxes of masculinity. Just so the outside world will take us seriously. Is not this the greatest act of advocacy for separating the gender roles of writers? For sexism in a Wordpress edit box? As we brave our way deeper into the gender question, shouldn’t we question what why certain sectors of our society are advocating that women use soapbox artifices when expressing themselves? Why the nanny state advice? What’s in it for them?
Edit: Coherence fix
March 31st, 2008 at 2:56 pm
Brilliant post. And I agree absolutely with all of it. I would also suggest that the “percentages game” you talk aout is insulting to women not in that category. Sometimes the reason why there aren’t a lot of women or men choosing a particular career is because they’re not that interested.
March 31st, 2008 at 4:15 pm
@Anton Are some of those men and women not interested in pursuing those careers because they were never exposed or encouraged to spend time developing their skills in that area? My case in point.
March 31st, 2008 at 7:00 pm
Really loved this Lexi (and not just because I’m referenced in it, obviously!)
I’ve found that my curiosity for just about everything in life has served me well with the old radio and the blogging. Sadly though it’s something I see in so few others around me. I think it’s a dying art…
March 31st, 2008 at 7:50 pm
@Rick: Woo.. thanks * bows * Happy Bday!
Curiosity the root of discovery and it’s sad to see it becoming extinct. I’d say it’s vital for someone in the media, like you are, to be curious about the world.
March 31st, 2008 at 8:42 pm
Sorry for the tweets, Alexia, I missed a few of yours and then I missed the whole context. You’re absolutely right in what you say - we are who we are, and I personally don’t see any need for women to adjust their voices! The beauty is in the diversity - everyone can decide what to read and what not!
I made a sad discovery talking to a few women around me: it can be difficult for girls here in Ireland to embrace a technical career. Studying physics was discouraged in one of my colleagues’ all girls school. Another one phoned a school principal, volunteering to teach a programming language. She was told girls don’t have to know anything about computers - they’re meant to be nurses and teachers.
The main problem seems to be: how do we foster curiosity, when this attitude goes against norms and institutions?!
March 31st, 2008 at 9:10 pm
@Gabriela That’s the challenge for each and everyone one of us. Parents, educators, citizens.. Everyone in society.
April 1st, 2008 at 9:46 am
This is a great post Alexia. Whilst I did glean quite a bit of valid information and some great tips from Sabrina’s presentation, I think you make an excellent point. It’s typical of women though - we are constantly striving for equality but then kick ourselves back a notch by not being consistent with our demands.
When my career was stopped short by motherhood appearing on my doorstep a good ten years before I’d planned, I often find myself struggling at home with two girls who need my attention. Your curiosity point reminds me of a quote I need to call into focus everyday. “Curiosity is the only cure for boredom. There is no cure for curiosity.” This is an excellent quote/advice not only with toddlers, but with people of all ages!
April 1st, 2008 at 11:01 am
[...] or email. Thanks for visiting - Damien.Women? Who’d have em eh? I mean, er, Alexia makes some excellent points about mandatory gender numbers and women in tech. engineering [...]
April 1st, 2008 at 12:56 pm
Excellent post, too many times issues are abstracted to a number and the real point utterly overlooked.
April 1st, 2008 at 1:51 pm
Hi Alexia - so well-written, I really loved this post, especially
a) the call to action for society and parents, etc. to help foster that curiousity and interest and
b) your point about not being exposed to those careers. I didn’t know anyone growing up, men or women, who had a job as a programmer so I went to college thinking that I would be an accountant becauses I liked math.
Exposure and good role models are key and an important responsibility to all of us.
April 1st, 2008 at 2:05 pm
@Deborah Love that quote. That’s something we should all use.
@Thiftcriminal Exactly. I’d love it if the BS around this topic stopped, and people started being a bit more honest.
@Martha Thanks. Like you I didn’t know anyone in technology. Through a long series of coincidences including a horrible bout of verrucas (long story), I found myself here. That’s really not a path I’d suggest anyone follow.
Actually, at first I wanted to be an economist..