Re: not a new subject - women in electronics and computing?

Since you're soliciting postings "from women especially"... I'm a woman
with a career in computers - a systems engineer, encompassing
microarchitecture, firmware, operating systems, even the application
layer.

First, a rant. For constructive comments, please skip to the next
paragraph :).
The comments in this thread so far pretty much sum up all I've
heard/experienced as a female engineer in my life. It's the usual mix
of disparagement (variations of the theme "a female engineer is only
nominally a female"), and condescension ("a female engineer? how very
brave").

I think there are certainly some barriers to entry for female
engineers. The barriers are of two kinds: (1) the ones imposed on young
girls/women by society etc., and (2) whatever innate lack of desire
exists in the women themselves against engineering professions. Maybe
(2) is not really "innate lack of desire", but also a result of nurture
- I really don't know if I can answer it one way or another yet. I
think (1) is addressed best by the rise in prominence of skilled female
engineers/scientists, who are actually brilliant at what they do. But,
we must *carefully* avoid the trap of being "helped" along the way by
undeserved promotions, and "you're so special" pats on the back. That
only detracts from the overall goal of being recognized for skill, not
for being a woman with some skill. Survival of the fittest :-).

As for addressing (2), the lack of desire in young women to become
engineers, I think here's where we should look at the differences in
motivating factors between girls and boys. So, the question is, what
truly motivates a guy to become an engineer? And, if (1) didn't exist,
would it also motivate women? If you show a girl the Golden Gate
bridge, does she think "I wish I could build that?" or does she think
"Hmm, I ought to get a guy to build that for me?". I think the best way
to find out is to *ask* young girls what motivates them! You'll get the
usual statistical distribution of motivating factors, but at least it's
better than guessing ;). To avoid peer pressure, you ought to ask them
to jot down their answers on a blank piece of paper, anonymously, and
stick 'em in a box. And to be absolutely honest about their answers.
Because it doesn't matter if a girl wants to build the Golden Gate
bridge herself, or have one built for her. The end result is that she
caused the bridge to be built.

.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: not a new subject - women in electronics and computing?
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