CyberNerd Posted December 13, 2007 Posted December 13, 2007 Traditionally IT was dominated by women. Men did the programming and were typically university graduate scientists and general IT was done by women picked from the typing pool. - probably because they were the fastest typeists and were easiest to exploit with lower pay.
Ueline Posted December 14, 2007 Posted December 14, 2007 It's all about stereotypes, isn't it really! If you're not an 18-25 male with spots and glasses then you can't work in IT. I do not fit into a stereotype and people find that difficult sometimes. Bottom line is that the way to change things is to set an example. At first I was insulted by the 'Look Sir she's fixed it!!!!!!' and the disbelief of staff. But then when you think about it you're making headway with people, particularly kids, changing their ideas about what sort of person IT techs can be. Encouraging kids to think about their choices of career by setting an example....maybe they can do anything they set their mind to. Happy winter holiday
HodgeHi Posted December 14, 2007 Posted December 14, 2007 I can't see a problem with women in IT at all. Beats staring at the monitor all day :-)
plock Posted December 14, 2007 Posted December 14, 2007 I can't see a problem with women in IT at all. Beats staring at the monitor all day :-) I agree!
HodgeHi Posted December 14, 2007 Posted December 14, 2007 Do you mean face-wise. I usually don't get that far up the body ;-)
intrigue Posted December 14, 2007 Posted December 14, 2007 I just get annoyed at things that actively state that we MUST get more woman in IT. I ask why? Whats suddenly wrong with men in IT? Why try to push woman down at path that generally they dont seem to find appealing. Its one thing to inform but another to push. Also where is the push to get men into nursing or any other female dominated industry? It just seems like sexism reversed. I agree in a sense more then anything i think why try and push ayone down any path, why not just inform people and let them make the choice. Surely thats upto the careers advisors in schools etc? If i'm a career advisor and i see someone keen and interested in computers no matter what age, race, sex, then i would recommend IT. What's wrong with pursuing the goal of attracting people who are underrepresented. Please enlighten me with other crackpot theories like 'sexism reversed' Whats right with it? Who cares what particular group of people are underrepresented? Oh yeah the people that decide i need 3 more women in my company to fullfil my quota. Is it right that i am more likely to get an interview to be a fireman in my city if i am within a particular ethnic minority? Oh yeah thats right i think they call it positive discrimination. Which to my mind is still discrimination but at least its only discriminating the well represented so thats ok. You just showed your ignorance by using the word 'ethnics', For decades 'ethnics' as you refer to us and women and indeed 'ethnic females', the disabled and other minority groups have faced huge obstacles to achieve parity. The idea that we are now experience 'reversed sexism' or even reversed racism (which I know you're not suggesting becuase you couldn't be that stupid) is an insult to those who have exeprienced real life-or-death racism or women who've experienced trautmatizing cases of sexism. Be careful how you bandy about the use of the term 'sexism'. If it was parity i wouldnt have a problem its when its an advantage that i have a problem? (i am sure that statement will bug the hell out of you) My grandad is asian and i have seriously considered putting british asian on application forms to see if i am more likely to be selected for interviews after all who would question my ethnicity in an interview? Matt
DanRF Posted December 14, 2007 Posted December 14, 2007 I think people generally agree that all things should be equal, the discussion is if it is equal and which way places are biased. Yes it has been the case that generally male applicants were more regularly put before female applicants in IT. I agree with the increasing emphisis on political correctness/equal rights (and in some regions maybe too much praise for hiring female employees rather than the best person for the job) that increasingly in recent years people might experience bias towards a female applicant. But this is all regional to the company and area you are in. As we don't live in a perfect world some places will be male biased because it's the 'traditional gender' and some places will be female biased because "it varies the workforce and looks good with regard to equal rights". Neither are right and I hope more places would judge on skills and talent than gender. Personally I wouldn't be happy knowing that I was refused a job because the other person was female (with no other justification). I imagine the person who got the job wouldn't be happy knowing that the only reason they got the job was because of there gender. (and vice versa) In an ideal world I should be able to apply for a job and get the same response regardless of if i've changed nationality or had a sex change operation. Also about getting more people into IT, i'm all for computer clubs and raising awareness of the jobs in IT but I don't agree with the exclusively for girls computer clubs, if your going to have one you should leave it open for anyone who's interested to attend, treating people differently in school because of there gender will only make things worse in my opinion. Daniel
intrigue Posted December 14, 2007 Posted December 14, 2007 Also about getting more people into IT, i'm all for computer clubs and raising awareness of the jobs in IT but I don't agree with the exclusively for girls computer clubs, if your going to have one you should leave it open for anyone who's interested to attend, treating people differently in school because of there gender will only make things worse in my opinion. Daniel Don't get me started on female only Gyms! My point is if you want to be equal be equal, don't praise the fact that through equality and over the top PCness you are now getting added bonuses like the above.
chrbb Posted December 14, 2007 Posted December 14, 2007 Does that mean that all the 18-25 year old males that post on here have spots and glasses? I think we need photographic evidence to prove otherwise! :glasses9: (Waits for the 'don't lets discriminate against people with poor eyesight and/or dermalogically challenged' rant to start.) Aren't we all just Anoracks though or is that just reserved for train spotters, if I realise I'm boring people with a technical explanation I usually end the conversation with "I'll just get my anorack and go" Just seen the comment on Girls only computer clubs - I refused to run the cc4g club because it's only for girls - there would be hell to play if a school had a boys only club! Yes I am female but I have 2 sons who over the years have realised that as males they have absolutely no rights to have anything that's exclusively male without a backlash from the do gooders.
torledo Posted December 14, 2007 Posted December 14, 2007 I just get annoyed at things that actively state that we MUST get more woman in IT. I ask why? Whats suddenly wrong with men in IT? Why try to push woman down at path that generally they dont seem to find appealing. Its one thing to inform but another to push. Also where is the push to get men into nursing or any other female dominated industry? It just seems like sexism reversed. I agree in a sense more then anything i think why try and push ayone down any path, why not just inform people and let them make the choice. Surely thats upto the careers advisors in schools etc? If i'm a career advisor and i see someone keen and interested in computers no matter what age, race, sex, then i would recommend IT. What's wrong with pursuing the goal of attracting people who are underrepresented. Please enlighten me with other crackpot theories like 'sexism reversed' Whats right with it? Who cares what particular group of people are underrepresented? Oh yeah the people that decide i need 3 more women in my company to fullfil my quota. Is it right that i am more likely to get an interview to be a fireman in my city if i am within a particular ethnic minority? Oh yeah thats right i think they call it positive discrimination. Which to my mind is still discrimination but at least its only discriminating the well represented so thats ok. You just showed your ignorance by using the word 'ethnics', For decades 'ethnics' as you refer to us and women and indeed 'ethnic females', the disabled and other minority groups have faced huge obstacles to achieve parity. The idea that we are now experience 'reversed sexism' or even reversed racism (which I know you're not suggesting becuase you couldn't be that stupid) is an insult to those who have exeprienced real life-or-death racism or women who've experienced trautmatizing cases of sexism. Be careful how you bandy about the use of the term 'sexism'. If it was parity i wouldnt have a problem its when its an advantage that i have a problem? (i am sure that statement will bug the hell out of you) My grandad is asian and i have seriously considered putting british asian on application forms to see if i am more likely to be selected for interviews after all who would question my ethnicity in an interview? Matt The ignorance of people some people on here is mind-boggling. So now asian and black people now have an advantage and can use the colour of the skin to their advantage That statement does bug me because 'reverse racism' doesn't exist. And this is how positive discrimination works, say you're an IT tech with hearing difficulties or a speech impedement or a physical disability. One or all of those things will likely mean you are unable to do the job as effectively as an equally qualified and technically skilled person. You may be techically as good but you're communications skills might not be as good through no fault of your own. So if we went by the level playing field of ability alone, then no individual with a disability could be offered a position over an able bodied person with the same technical skills and experience. That's what equal opportunities mean to me, i think the issue of ethnicity comes into the occasion very very rarely, and in the cases where it does it's a necessity of the job. If you work in a job centre in the middle of a predominantly asian district you may need to converse in punjabi or urdu. In an ideal world people would embrace the culture of the 'host country' but deep seated attitudes take generations to change, so you may come into contact with a lot of people whose first language isn't english but who'll still need your help. With the cost to the council tax payer of translators i would have thought it made sound financial sense to have people who can converse in urdu, punjabi, somali or whatever language is spoken in those districts. A council or public body has to be representative of the people they work for. To that end the workforce has to be from all ethnic groups who play a part in the life of the city, if they aren't recruiting from those groups for whatever reason (cultural attidutes, social mobility etc.) councils have to go out and actively attract these people to redress the balance. In general this is a fair country where people are given opportunity to make something of themselves. I'm just a bit fedup with people whingeing about being discriminated against when that clearly isn't happening to young able bodied people of any ethnicity. The elderly and disabled are the ones getting the rough end of the stick in a lot of aspects of day-to-day life. People seem to be obsessed with 'political correctness gone mad' stories that they can get their teeth into, most of which are complete non-news stories.
Guest Guest Posted December 14, 2007 Posted December 14, 2007 Im sorry torledo but you are moaning about people being racist and ignorant yet you are the most ignorant and racist person i have EVER spoke to on a forum. You really should be ashamed of yourself and grow up. You have obviously been the "victim" of "racism" but have you ever stopped to consider that the reason why people treat you badly has nothing to do with the colour of your skin or which faith you follow but simpley becauase you are a twat? You really are abit of a tard fella, goto the doctors and have your head looked at because your "everybodies always picking on me" attitude only fuels the fire of racism. Freaks like you are the single biggest cause of racism
Butuz Posted December 14, 2007 Posted December 14, 2007 The ignorance of people some people on here is mind-boggling. So now asian and black people now have an advantage and can use the colour of the skin to their advantage That statement does bug me because 'reverse racism' doesn't exist. It sure does exist to some extent in some areas, particularly in organisations where race quota's seem to exist, and racial equality is in the public eye - eg the police. This thread has got well out of hand and will probably be closed soon. Butuz
torledo Posted December 14, 2007 Posted December 14, 2007 The ignorance of people some people on here is mind-boggling. So now asian and black people now have an advantage and can use the colour of the skin to their advantage That statement does bug me because 'reverse racism' doesn't exist. It sure does exist to some extent in some areas, particularly in organisations where race quota's seem to exist, and racial equality is in the public eye - eg the police. This thread has got well out of hand and will probably be closed soon. Butuz You're right butuz, this thread has got a little out of hand.... I'm not even going to dignify j12sparky's slander with a response. I may be a twat but atleast I'm an informed twat, that's the last I'll say on the subject.
Guest Guest Posted December 14, 2007 Posted December 14, 2007 Oh no, the moral high ground. You really are pulling out all the stops aint you. Sorry son but you have the attitude and inteligence of a 12 yr old. Would you like to explain "slander" as im not sure you understand the term. "Mummy, the big bad white kids are picking on me. Lets get the race card out again, thatll teach em."
Butuz Posted December 14, 2007 Posted December 14, 2007 sparky I'll be the first person to admit I don't particularly like the way Toledo comes across on here - but then he doent like me either so we're cool with each other. But your going well over the top and getting very personal! Butuz
ZeroHour Posted December 14, 2007 Posted December 14, 2007 Right this thread served its purpose so I am locking it. Its getting too personal and to much of a flame war. I could post tons back but it really is not worth my time. Generally we all want to see more women in I.T. which is good. Some places have more woman in I.T. related jobs then others but generally there is not a HUGE amount. Torledo you should really accept the fact that not all people see the world from your eyes and to blatantly write someone's comments/experience off as you *know* best is wrong. It does happen. FACT! j17sparky, if you have experiences please don't have a tit for tat approach and take the high ground. Responding with personal comments don't do this forum any good so its best to keep it to the facts. You experiences are valid, more just the presentation is the problem. This thread got far to confrontational and personal. Everyone has different experiences and they should all be respected. This is not a perfect world. Its one thing to ask questions about their experiences but its another to dismiss them as junk because you don't agree. This is a discussion, nothing more. Locked and ended. Complaints, PM me.
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