Interesting post over at zeldman.com regarding the underrepresentation of women in technology.
Much more interesting than the article itself is the lively comment thread below it. I think few women with experience at more than three positions would disagree that misogyny still exists in the workplace. I’m not prepared to say that it’s more so in IT than in any other industry, as I don’t have experience working in other fields. However, judging by the looks I get when I offer up unsolicited code suggestions or mention my terabyte server in front of people who don’t know me, I’d say that it’s a little unusual to be a “nerdy” female.
With this experience — which I don’t believe is uncommon — I find it a bit bewildering to read all the men who post things like “there’s two women on my team, so there’s no sexism in the workplace.” I understand that it can be frustrating to read about bias towards a demographic that you’re not a part of, particularly when you don’t notice any prejudice around you. But I find it to be an incredibly naive argument to say “since I don’t see a problem, there must not be a problem”. We all know that attitudes about gender are something that have evolved drastically over the last 100 years. Is it really so surprising that some people who are part of older generations might retain some prejudice? That some young people might have been raised by prejudiced parents?
The number of generations that have passed since women gained the right to vote in the United States can be counted on one hand. Of course people aren’t used to girls who kick ass at Nintendo.