Just read through yet another article stating how there needs to be more women in tech, and putting forward the notion that it's all because there isn't anything specific or special in place for women.
I can tell you the two main reason why there were less women into computers/science whilst I was at school. One, because it wasn't seen as the 'cool thing to do' and two, because young girls generally are extremely bitchy between themselves and belittle anyone that seems to be on a different path from the zeitgeist of magazines, trends and popular society. Young boys are often the same, but more in the direction of vying to be the best, and poke fun at those that are weaker.
To be honest there were hardly any people (notice no gender there) that were into computers, and I mean really into them, in terms of actually seeing and understanding the power and beauty of structure and code. In fact most people really didn't have the time of day, and those that were good at programming, or science, or maths were shunned and bullied as geeks. I knew a few girls who were geeks but they were shunned just the same as the guys; the downside being that they were probably shunned by their fellow girls more than the guys.
So whereas the BBC article below does state that there is a "worryingly" small percentage of women in the tech industry, the article doesn't put it in perspective and state that actually, there aren't many people in this country in that industry (hence the reason for the recent drives towards coding)... and if the teaching I received is anything to go by — when computers were far easier to hack and understand — I am not surprised things have not improved.
What I'm trying to get at is there shouldn't be any special implementations for Women, there should just be a better drive towards the fun side of programming (which seems to be happening at least in some places); to show people what you can really achieve and how flexible your career can be. It should not just be based on 'hey, you can make lots of money in the latest gold rush' i.e. Apps (my main reason for disliking cheesy companies like Treehouse), or 'hey look, so many open source coders have done the work for you so you can just bolt third-party code together and job done!' which seems to be the extent of many newbie coders abilities.
100 Women: Why tech needs a makeover to attract girls
TBH. Isn't that BBC title rather sexist? Or does my definition of sexism require a `brew update`?
Disclaimer alert!
Before I get lynched, a little disclaimer. I am not stating that Women coding in the current work place do not have a harder time than their Male equivalents; I know of a number of Women who do hit problems that guys would not. This is mainly due to old-guard idiotism, unchallenged assumptions, or foolish macho behaviour. Sometimes it can also be down to the Women in question being more sensitive to a situation and cautious before making a move, which can be the difference between having an idea backed or a promotion given... basically there are definitely problems. My belief is the only solution is to get more people happy and confident with coding. What you most definitely should not being doing is involving positive discrimination.
