women in IT article

[torledo]

Came across this article from one of my favourite tech websites, the
iseries/AS400 information website itjungle.com....

i found it to be very interesting, and a good unbiased analysis of the situation - it's a longish article for those with a short attention span, but worth a read;

http://www.itjungle.com/tfh/tfh011507-story02.html

[SYNACK]

Interesting article, I do think that there should be more women in IT as for the moment at least in this country it seems to be a very barren landscape that could desperately use some terraforming. It depresses me, really.

[cookie_monster]

Sorry to divert the thread here but i just noticed that SYNACK is from NZ so i have a question.

What is the I.T market like in NZ i have some relatives that live in Auckland and i was thinking about an extended stay and the possibilities of work (contract or otherwise) assuming i could get a working visa.
-------------------------------------------------------

Back on the article i feel that girls really aren't encouraged to get involved at an early age especially while still at school so it seems like they're disadvantaged early on. Also with it being so male dominated it must be off putting, it must be hard work if all of your colleagues are the opposite sex.

[localzuk]

There's a letter in Computing this week by someone on women in IT. Their opinion is that the IT industry is sexist and ageist, so many women don't even try because of that.

[Jake]

I totally agree with the whole article, should be many many more women in IT I say

[SYNACK]

Sorry to divert the thread here but i just noticed that SYNACK is from NZ so i have a question.

What is the I.T market like in NZ i have some relatives that live in Auckland and i was thinking about an extended stay and the possibilities of work (contract or otherwise) assuming i could get a working visa.

I'll PM you with some information, same goes to anyone else who wants it

[Sirbendy]

I say yes, more women! Although, yes, it is sexist. My missus did a year as IT tech at a secondary...she was constantly "talked down" to, and frequently had people go past her to the males in her dept...and with my Missus, that's not clever (or wise).

After a year, she was at the "I'm going to bloody kill the NM" stage, and she was that down and generally low-level angry/frustrated that I suggested a change of career..she's now a full time web developer/php/sql coder at a close-knit small firm local to us, and she's never been happier. She said she'd never go back into schools IT unless she had no choice.

[mac_shinobi]

I say yes, more women! Although, yes, it is sexist. My missus did a year as IT tech at a secondary...she was constantly "talked down" to, and frequently had people go past her to the males in her dept...and with my Missus, that's not clever (or wise).

After a year, she was at the "I'm going to bloody kill the NM" stage, and she was that down and generally low-level angry/frustrated that I suggested a change of career..she's now a full time web developer/php/sql coder at a close-knit small firm local to us, and she's never been happier. She said she'd never go back into schools IT unless she had no choice.

I agree , where is Jen ?

[torledo]

I say yes, more women! Although, yes, it is sexist. My missus did a year as IT tech at a secondary...she was constantly "talked down" to, and frequently had people go past her to the males in her dept...and with my Missus, that's not clever (or wise).

After a year, she was at the "I'm going to bloody kill the NM" stage, and she was that down and generally low-level angry/frustrated that I suggested a change of career..she's now a full time web developer/php/sql coder at a close-knit small firm local to us, and she's never been happier. She said she'd never go back into schools IT unless she had no choice.

I'm not sure what the figures are, but i'd imagine women IT professionals are better represented in fields such as consultancy and systems analysis, than IT support. I think the reasons outlined in the article are all contributing factors, certainly i think young women discount a career in IT becuase of the 'geeky' mail-only image. But as we know from the recent hobbies thread most IT professionals in schools are surprisingly well-rounded individuals ....the important thing is to promote a career in IT as a viable profession for female school leavers and graduates.

working in a mixed sex team has a number of advantages, and certainly female co-workers add a different dimension to a team beyond technical competencies.

[cookie_monster]

The IT sector is definitely ageist as well, i've known talented people who have been fobbed off with poor excuses when it's pretty obvious it's due to age. It’s also a shame that a sector that is generally filled with intelligent people is so riddled with sexist attitude it doesn’t say much for the society we live in as a whole.

[torledo]

I agree , where is Jen ?

I wish i had a jen as my team manager, then again i'm not sure i'd get any work done having to work with a woman so finger-licking-hot.....sorry, drifted into douglas mode there

[Pete10141748]

No doubt that the IT industry is sexist, but at the same time, I'm pretty sure that a national survey would show that the majority of people who are keen on / personally interested in /actually want to work in IT (in the sort of job most of us here do) are male.

As for being ageist, well, it almost goes without saying that youger people are going to be better to employ in the long-run than more "senior" people. After all, technology moves so fast, and you need someone who can keep up for as long as possible.

Not to provoke "ageist" arguments, but I've seen evidence of this throughout my school here. The SMT, older staff and even the IT coordinator are all drastically oposing Vista / VLP's / anything new, as they feel they can't cope** with such a change and want things to stay the same (i.e. crap but they know how to use what little there is) whereas the technician and I (and most of the NQT's and certainly the kids!) are more than happy with the Vista stuff we have, have great expectations for the Virtua Learning Platform we are setting up, want "helpdesk" software for the staff to report problems to us, and are generally always looking for the next new thing to try out.

It's no suprise that as people get older they dont want to have to 'cope' with new things - thats why the Digital Divide came about (the difference between those who like and use technology (under 45's) and those who see no reason/don't want to use it (over 45's). I'm not sure I got the ages right but that's the jist of the "DD".)

Hopefully, now that everyone is growing up and having to use technology for almost everything (I'm talking about the younger-than-10's here), things like the Digital Divide won't happen so drastically in future, as everyone will know how to use the commonplace forms of technology which are around and most people will not think much of learning something new, as they have done so throughout their life.


**"cope" is a word I hear a lot here from the SMT + 'senior' staff as well.
To me, "coping" with something is just another way of saying "I'll put up with it being around but don't expect me to bother learning how to use it / use it at all if I can help it".

[mac_shinobi]

No doubt that the IT industry is sexist, but at the same time, I'm pretty sure that a national survey would show that the majority of people who are keen on / personally interested in /actually want to work in IT (in the sort of job most of us here do) are male.

As for being ageist, well, it almost goes without saying that youger people are going to be better to employ in the long-run than more "senior" people. After all, technology moves so fast, and you need someone who can keep up for as long as possible.

Not to provoke "ageist" arguments, but I've seen evidence of this throughout my school here. The SMT, older staff and even the IT coordinator are all drastically oposing Vista / VLP's / anything new, as they feel they can't cope with such a change and want things to stay the same (i.e. crap but they know how to use what little there is) whereas the technician and I are more than happy with the Vista stuff we have, have great expectations for the Virtua Learning Platform we are setting up, want "helpdesk" software for the staff to report problems to us, and are generally always looking for the next new thing to try out.

It's no suprise that as people get older they dont want to have to 'cope' with new things - thats why the Digital Divide came about (the difference between those who like and use technology (under 45's) and those who see no reason/don't want to use it (over 45's). I'm not sure I got the ages right but that's the jist of the "DD".)

Hopefully, now that everyone is growing up and having to use technology for almost everything (I'm talking about the younger-than-10's here), things like the Digital Divide won't happen so drastically in future, as everyone will know how to use the commonplace forms of technology which are around and most people will not think much of learning something new, as they have done so throughout their life.

agree with you on trying new technology and all that but Im still not keen on vista.

Personally I would prefer os x leopard ( been converted an all that )

[mac_shinobi]

I wish i had a jen as my team manager, then again i'm not sure i'd get any work done having to work with a woman so finger-licking-hot.....sorry, drifted into douglas mode there

lol too tempting not to click the "thank you" button lol

[ZeroHour]

Please be careful with this thread. The last one we had in regards to woman in IT had to be locked as it all got a little personal and tit for tat.
Just a polite reminder