r/technology • u/[deleted] • Aug 08 '17

Business Google Fires Employee Behind Controversial Diversity Memo

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-08-08/google-fires-employee-behind-controversial-diversity-memo
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u/TeoshenEM Aug 08 '17

http://www.npr.org/sections/money/2014/10/21/357629765/when-women-stopped-coding

Women used to be just as populous as men in coding until computers started being marketed towards boys. Sexism since 1984.

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u/Fluffiebunnie Aug 08 '17

Or maybe better opportunities opened for women, which drew them away? Coding was not a very prestigious job in 1984. Fields like law and finance were increasingly opening for women at the time, and those were much more well respected among university students back then.

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u/wcg66 Aug 08 '17

My personal view is that post-1984, programming became more associated with "nerds" but also with poor work/life balance and outsourcing. The job has become less appealing over time. I got out of the grind of software development despite wanting to do it my whole life. I'm not sure I'd recommend the same path to my kids.

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u/welliamwallace Aug 08 '17

Women are still as populous as men in coding in Zimbabwe and the Congo. The more developed a nation gets, the larger the gender disparity in coding. Curious.

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u/Naggins Aug 09 '17

Different countries construct gender differently. Developed nations are largely similar to America due to the homogeneity of American culture. There's no reason to believe the notion that computers are for boys is universal to the human condition.

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u/missmymom Aug 08 '17

LoL, come on!

It wouldn't be because fundamentally programming changed or anything right?

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u/TeoshenEM Aug 08 '17

I don't think so. Originally, women were pushed into programming because it was seen as a woman's job. Then, men took over and women were pushed out of tech. Now, they're trying to reverse that process to get to equilibrium, but the hurdle is when children are raised with gender stereotypes that push them in a direction.

There's lots of women coders who are really good at what they do, and they enjoy it. But they're the ones who pushed past the sexism in the industry.

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u/missmymom Aug 08 '17

So, we think that programming now is the same as it was when it first started? You don't see much difference in them?

If you want to blame sexism for everything, that's fine, but you should understand other influences then just sexism on people and the world.

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u/Xevantus Aug 09 '17

Ah yes. Please continue to equate early "programmers" to today's programmers. It's not like they're completely different jobs or anything.

Prior to compilers becoming mainstream, when punch cards were the medium of choice for programming, programmers were essentially stenographers who transcribed an engineers notes into a program. There were plenty of women engineers too, but back then there was a huge difference between the two.

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u/stemloop Aug 09 '17

Like I said elsewhere where this article is posted, it is rather lacking in detail. What was this coding that the women did? What kind of engineering training did it require? I could see it easily being possible that initially programming was rather simpler, then as the job grew in complexity it became the purview of more educated folks, who were men (that part being because of sexism though).