Women in IT, an inside look
I work in the field of IT after the end of Baumanka for the fourth year, and during this time I have gone from a production department engineer to a project manager. It's no secret that the proportion of women in the field of IT is small. In our company, for example, girls are exactly one third. Why do so few girls choose this sphere for themselves?
During my studies at the university and in the first year of work I was tormented by a lot of doubts about whether I was right in my place. Unfortunately, there are stereotypes and prejudices about girls in the field of IT, which is probably why women are several times smaller than men here. I feel many stereotypes on myself, so I want to share how it looks from the other side of the barricades. Which of these stereotypes are justified and which are not? How can we deal with them, and should we even pay attention to it?
Stereotype First. The women - fools, and even with red diplomas!
This stereotype is the place to be. But does a red diploma mean nothing? Indeed, the value of school medals and red diplomas has fallen, according to the stories of my parents, whose opinion I trust, “earlier it was better with this.” Below is a chart of the number of gold medals for years for my school in the period from 1966 - 2013. Some tendency is quite noticeable.
')
In our issue, one of the gold medals was received by the teacher’s daughter, who could not name the discriminant formula of the quadratic equation. However, on such a gold medalist there were three more girls who deserved this medal by honest and conscientious work. It turns out that such young ladies are found, but their percentage, judging by my school, is one to four.
With the red diploma, the situation largely depends on the university. In a technical university, where there are 4 girls in a group of 30 boys, there really is some loyal attitude. It is difficult to say whether this is good or bad. However, after 6 years of study in Baumanka, I met teachers (there were not many of them) who, on the contrary, were biased towards girls, and made it difficult to surrender the subject. In the overall standings, the fact that you are a girl in a technical college of higher education (especially if you are also pretty) helps you to study rather than hinder. I also had one friend from another department who fit in well with the company of “geek boys” and together with them “implemented” the project, for which she then received quite a decent stipend and graduated with a red diploma, although objectively her knowledge did not reach proper level.
Thus, sometimes there are girls who have medals or red diplomas, received not entirely conscientious attitude to study, but their percentage is small relative to the total number. And the employer, at the sight of the relevant entries in the resume, is worth noting for itself at a minimum: purposeful, able to finish things, disciplined, focused on results. If the red diploma of universities of the top 10, then I think the percentage of such "red diploma" strive to a minimum.
Stereotype the second. Save yourself, she is not in the spirit today!
Here, unfortunately, I have to agree, periodically I come across myself. It hurts me that girls behave in a similar way at work, undermining the authority of all women in general. Girls, well, we're all emotional, make an effort to correct your behavior, if emotions take up above the mind. However, in defense of women, I want to say that such overly emotional men are not uncommon now, and it is also difficult to interact with them in their work! One moral: “Girls! Such behavior hurts us all! Let's show that we are competent experts who adhere to business ethics. ” To understand what kind of person is by nature - calm or conflicting, probably a good HR manager, or just a person who understands people, probably. There is another beautiful girl in our team - a technical writer, she is kind, smart, calm, working with such women is a pleasure!
Stereotype Third. Beautiful = stupid
This is probably the most popular stereotype. It often happens that they judge me "by clothes".
A funny example of the annual InfoSecurity exhibitions in which our company actively participates. Corporate color is red, supporting traditions, wearing red dress and heels, helping at the stand, telling and showing my product, answering users' questions, collecting feedback. Often they take me for a promotional girl. The most popular dialogue:
- Girl, with whom can I talk about the Scanner-VS security analysis tool ?
- Talk to me, I will be happy to answer your questions!
- Can you talk to some technical specialist ..?
It does not offend me at all, but amuses me, I take it as a compliment! When you answer any technical questions or introduce yourself to the manager of this project, it is fun to watch how many men cannot hold back their emotions of surprise.
In my opinion, the employer should be guided by the principle “if you don’t check, you don’t know,” and listen to the old Russian proverb, “they meet by clothes, but they escort by mind”.
Stereotype Fourth. Woman leader - evil in a skirt
Despite the fact that my position as a manager is formal, in practice I cannot call myself a leader. My team is talented, adequate and motivated people for productive work. In the measures of education they do not need, for which they are VERY appreciated. We are like a single mechanism, where everyone is busy with his work. I have all the administrative part, which I regularly carry out, and my team appreciates this.
And here, for example, my husband at work was not lucky with a male manager, sometimes he has to take on part of administrative work. For a programmer, this is morally difficult, moreover, because of this, it is impossible to fully engage in his work, which leads to time shifts and a failure to fulfill the general plan.
It seems to me that the selection of a person for a management position does not depend on gender, but depends on the abilities of a particular person. It is impossible to unequivocally say that the head of a woman is bad, and the head of a man is good and vice versa.
Stereotype Fifth. The famous "women's logic"
Disagree, highly dependent on a particular woman. Parents and education contribute a lot. The ability to build logical connections and communicate them to others is better learned from childhood. I was very lucky with my parents and sisters, they never treated me like a child, although there was a big difference with my sisters (> 10 years), they always tried to communicate on an equal footing, and argued this or that statement. At home, the mind was appreciated, including for the girl, and not the beauty or ability to cook borscht (but by the way, I can cook borscht too).
Engage in self-development, invest in yourself, this is the most profitable investment!
Stereotype Sixth. What are you! She will take it, but she will give birth!
Generally I do not agree that this should be the reason for the refusal to provide the desired position. I’m not a mom yet, but I’m planning, and this approach by many employers reminds me that we still live in a developing, and not in a developed country. For example, in the United States, according to the New York City Human Rights Law (NYCHRL), maternity discrimination is one of the forms of gender discrimination that is prohibited in the workplace. A worse attitude compared to others because of pregnancy is a serious violation of the law.
Communicated with several people who have their own business, learned their opinion. I was shocked a little, briefly thought about the following: I have not yet given birth, will soon give birth, and if I have already given birth to one child, will soon give birth to a second, third, etc., have a child / children = permanent sick leave, time off, etc. if there is an opportunity to take a man, preference is given to him.
“Going on maternity leave” - this motivation of refusal upsets me the most. Any specialist, regardless of gender, can simply go on more favorable conditions. According to such a plan, it is generally better not to hire anyone or hire “mediocre” male specialists without a desire for development, just before retirement you will have half the power. Many employers currently prefer men, which indicates gender inequality. According to statistics from the Global Wage Report 2016/17, the gender difference in wages for Russia is about 28%. Below are other countries.
In general, the situation is getting better every year; in 2005, the female salary was only 60% of men’s, compared to 72% in 2017. Many women in various fields proved that they are not inferior to men in many ways. Many employers for open positions, including managers, are purposefully looking for women, as they often differ in such qualities as responsibility, diligence, accuracy and attention to detail.
Trite, but in all need harmony. We would like male managers to respect the fact that an important maternity mission is assigned to a woman, and women, in turn, once again did not abuse their weaknesses, because it is impossible to work with an employee who is constantly asking for help or is sick .
An interesting fact told one of the employers with whom I spoke on this topic. He has one male worker who often asks for help to take the child to the hospital, as his wife is not allowed to go to work. The balance shifts, therefore, choosing in favor of men, you cannot be sure that there will be no such situations. Then only time will tell what the employee will be.
Results
Summarizing all the above, at the moment the girl in the IT field has to face some difficulties, but if you are a good specialist, all problems can be solved. The trend is only for the better!
I chose the sphere of IT, and there was not a day to regret it. I studied in an excellent university, I work in a company where I am surrounded by interesting and talented people, I adore my development department, I want to grow and only go forward! Lovely girls, do not doubt yourself, though modesty and decorates the girl.
PS And the most important bonus, girls! I almost forgot about him!) Male techies are the best husbands! They are intelligent, intelligent, caring and loving! I strongly advise everyone! But on the humanities specialty FIG guy you find yourself. So decide for yourself where to go!
During my studies at the university and in the first year of work I was tormented by a lot of doubts about whether I was right in my place. Unfortunately, there are stereotypes and prejudices about girls in the field of IT, which is probably why women are several times smaller than men here. I feel many stereotypes on myself, so I want to share how it looks from the other side of the barricades. Which of these stereotypes are justified and which are not? How can we deal with them, and should we even pay attention to it?
Stereotype First. The women - fools, and even with red diplomas!
This stereotype is the place to be. But does a red diploma mean nothing? Indeed, the value of school medals and red diplomas has fallen, according to the stories of my parents, whose opinion I trust, “earlier it was better with this.” Below is a chart of the number of gold medals for years for my school in the period from 1966 - 2013. Some tendency is quite noticeable.
')
In our issue, one of the gold medals was received by the teacher’s daughter, who could not name the discriminant formula of the quadratic equation. However, on such a gold medalist there were three more girls who deserved this medal by honest and conscientious work. It turns out that such young ladies are found, but their percentage, judging by my school, is one to four.
With the red diploma, the situation largely depends on the university. In a technical university, where there are 4 girls in a group of 30 boys, there really is some loyal attitude. It is difficult to say whether this is good or bad. However, after 6 years of study in Baumanka, I met teachers (there were not many of them) who, on the contrary, were biased towards girls, and made it difficult to surrender the subject. In the overall standings, the fact that you are a girl in a technical college of higher education (especially if you are also pretty) helps you to study rather than hinder. I also had one friend from another department who fit in well with the company of “geek boys” and together with them “implemented” the project, for which she then received quite a decent stipend and graduated with a red diploma, although objectively her knowledge did not reach proper level.
Thus, sometimes there are girls who have medals or red diplomas, received not entirely conscientious attitude to study, but their percentage is small relative to the total number. And the employer, at the sight of the relevant entries in the resume, is worth noting for itself at a minimum: purposeful, able to finish things, disciplined, focused on results. If the red diploma of universities of the top 10, then I think the percentage of such "red diploma" strive to a minimum.
Stereotype the second. Save yourself, she is not in the spirit today!
Here, unfortunately, I have to agree, periodically I come across myself. It hurts me that girls behave in a similar way at work, undermining the authority of all women in general. Girls, well, we're all emotional, make an effort to correct your behavior, if emotions take up above the mind. However, in defense of women, I want to say that such overly emotional men are not uncommon now, and it is also difficult to interact with them in their work! One moral: “Girls! Such behavior hurts us all! Let's show that we are competent experts who adhere to business ethics. ” To understand what kind of person is by nature - calm or conflicting, probably a good HR manager, or just a person who understands people, probably. There is another beautiful girl in our team - a technical writer, she is kind, smart, calm, working with such women is a pleasure!
Stereotype Third. Beautiful = stupid
This is probably the most popular stereotype. It often happens that they judge me "by clothes".
A funny example of the annual InfoSecurity exhibitions in which our company actively participates. Corporate color is red, supporting traditions, wearing red dress and heels, helping at the stand, telling and showing my product, answering users' questions, collecting feedback. Often they take me for a promotional girl. The most popular dialogue:
- Girl, with whom can I talk about the Scanner-VS security analysis tool ?
- Talk to me, I will be happy to answer your questions!
- Can you talk to some technical specialist ..?
It does not offend me at all, but amuses me, I take it as a compliment! When you answer any technical questions or introduce yourself to the manager of this project, it is fun to watch how many men cannot hold back their emotions of surprise.
In my opinion, the employer should be guided by the principle “if you don’t check, you don’t know,” and listen to the old Russian proverb, “they meet by clothes, but they escort by mind”.
Stereotype Fourth. Woman leader - evil in a skirt
Despite the fact that my position as a manager is formal, in practice I cannot call myself a leader. My team is talented, adequate and motivated people for productive work. In the measures of education they do not need, for which they are VERY appreciated. We are like a single mechanism, where everyone is busy with his work. I have all the administrative part, which I regularly carry out, and my team appreciates this.
And here, for example, my husband at work was not lucky with a male manager, sometimes he has to take on part of administrative work. For a programmer, this is morally difficult, moreover, because of this, it is impossible to fully engage in his work, which leads to time shifts and a failure to fulfill the general plan.
It seems to me that the selection of a person for a management position does not depend on gender, but depends on the abilities of a particular person. It is impossible to unequivocally say that the head of a woman is bad, and the head of a man is good and vice versa.
Stereotype Fifth. The famous "women's logic"
Disagree, highly dependent on a particular woman. Parents and education contribute a lot. The ability to build logical connections and communicate them to others is better learned from childhood. I was very lucky with my parents and sisters, they never treated me like a child, although there was a big difference with my sisters (> 10 years), they always tried to communicate on an equal footing, and argued this or that statement. At home, the mind was appreciated, including for the girl, and not the beauty or ability to cook borscht (but by the way, I can cook borscht too).
Engage in self-development, invest in yourself, this is the most profitable investment!
Stereotype Sixth. What are you! She will take it, but she will give birth!
Generally I do not agree that this should be the reason for the refusal to provide the desired position. I’m not a mom yet, but I’m planning, and this approach by many employers reminds me that we still live in a developing, and not in a developed country. For example, in the United States, according to the New York City Human Rights Law (NYCHRL), maternity discrimination is one of the forms of gender discrimination that is prohibited in the workplace. A worse attitude compared to others because of pregnancy is a serious violation of the law.
Communicated with several people who have their own business, learned their opinion. I was shocked a little, briefly thought about the following: I have not yet given birth, will soon give birth, and if I have already given birth to one child, will soon give birth to a second, third, etc., have a child / children = permanent sick leave, time off, etc. if there is an opportunity to take a man, preference is given to him.
“Going on maternity leave” - this motivation of refusal upsets me the most. Any specialist, regardless of gender, can simply go on more favorable conditions. According to such a plan, it is generally better not to hire anyone or hire “mediocre” male specialists without a desire for development, just before retirement you will have half the power. Many employers currently prefer men, which indicates gender inequality. According to statistics from the Global Wage Report 2016/17, the gender difference in wages for Russia is about 28%. Below are other countries.
In general, the situation is getting better every year; in 2005, the female salary was only 60% of men’s, compared to 72% in 2017. Many women in various fields proved that they are not inferior to men in many ways. Many employers for open positions, including managers, are purposefully looking for women, as they often differ in such qualities as responsibility, diligence, accuracy and attention to detail.
Trite, but in all need harmony. We would like male managers to respect the fact that an important maternity mission is assigned to a woman, and women, in turn, once again did not abuse their weaknesses, because it is impossible to work with an employee who is constantly asking for help or is sick .
An interesting fact told one of the employers with whom I spoke on this topic. He has one male worker who often asks for help to take the child to the hospital, as his wife is not allowed to go to work. The balance shifts, therefore, choosing in favor of men, you cannot be sure that there will be no such situations. Then only time will tell what the employee will be.
Results
Summarizing all the above, at the moment the girl in the IT field has to face some difficulties, but if you are a good specialist, all problems can be solved. The trend is only for the better!
I chose the sphere of IT, and there was not a day to regret it. I studied in an excellent university, I work in a company where I am surrounded by interesting and talented people, I adore my development department, I want to grow and only go forward! Lovely girls, do not doubt yourself, though modesty and decorates the girl.
PS And the most important bonus, girls! I almost forgot about him!) Male techies are the best husbands! They are intelligent, intelligent, caring and loving! I strongly advise everyone! But on the humanities specialty FIG guy you find yourself. So decide for yourself where to go!
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/350848/
All Articles