Re: [Scientific American] Gender Gap in Computer Science continue s.

Roy T. Fielding (fielding@kiwi.ICS.uci.edu)
Thu, 06 Aug 1998 18:34:12 -0700


>Or, (2) unless you're a software/hardware company that wants to attract
>the top employees, in which case you might feel that you could get more
>female employees by convincing them you have a welcoming environment

Not just female employees -- highly employable dudes like myself will
often turn down a job offer if the work environment appears to exclude
women engineers. That is usually a sign of a very unhealthy workplace.

Another problem with attracting various types of people to computing
that hasn't been mentioned is that you have to get them interested by the
age of 16, since otherwise they are unlikely to be prepared for what is
needed to compete in CS classes and the job market. Right now it seems
that our largest source of new people are unemployed physics/math types,
since the need for a real job finally overcomes their dislike of
computer culture.

....Roy

afterword: [hey, it's en vogue]
One of the more damning criticisms of Microsoft is their tradition
of hiring preferentially from the newly graduated and inexperienced
ranks, such that the new hire does not come in with a preconceived
notion of workplace culture and practices. Easier to meld, more likely
to work beyond reasonable health, and more likely to believe the
Microsoft culture is the one true way to build software.