Women in IT

Posted on | 26 May 2008 | No Comments
Tags: conference | duchess

A couple of months ago Linda van der Pal and I, representing Duchess, gave a talk at FOSDEM 2008 on the issues about women in IT today. Here is the abstract:

TITLE
Duchess, Ladies in Java
link: www.jduchess.org

ABSTRACT
Female programmers are rare. Female Java programmers are even more rare. As female Java programmers ourselves, our interest in this issue led us to start Duchess, an organization to support and promote women in the Java industry and hopefully to encourage more to join. Our approach to the shortage of women Java programmers includes making the problem and
arguments for involving women in IT visible. Why is it good to have more women in the industry?

Why are there so few women in IT and why there should be more
Communications and Language Skills
First, there is the image of IT as only for men because men are better at it. However, according to an article “Why More Women Should Consider a Career in Computer Programming”, V. Berba Velasco Jr. (the author) argues that women can contribute a lot to the field because of their intrinsic language and communications skills. People with better language skill produce better code because the code would be more readable. This would in turn lead to lower development and maintenance costs. As Martin Fowler
once said, “Any fool can write code that a computer can understand. Good programmers write code that humans can understand.” A team must understand each other to produce the software together. Furthermore, better language
skills lead to better documentation, which helps the intended audience use the software.

Diversity = Productivity
A diverse workforce is more productive. Therefore, there should be more women in the IT industry. In a recent article on the NYTimes, Scott E. Page, a professor of complex systems, political science and economics, said that homogeneous organizations get stuck more often, while “diverse groups of people bring to organizations more and different ways of seeing
a problem and, thus, faster/better ways of solving it.” In his study, he used mathematical models and case studies to support the claim that diversity = productivity. Men and women complement each other. In a BBC article reporting on Helen Fisher’s speech at DAVOS, she said that “Having only men or women on your team would be like hopping on one foot instead of walking.”

Economy
A second reason for so few women in IT is related to economy. In some countries, the IT industry suffers from the same issues that lead to the general lack of women in the workforce. In these countries, the lack of affordable childcare and flexible hours in the workplace means that women often stop working completely. The price of childcare outweighs the salary of the woman in the family, so that it is often financially unwise for a woman to return to work after having children. In this case, the women staying home is the optimal economic configuration for the family. But for the economy as a whole, a shortage of labor often impedes economic growth. In these countries, governments and businesses can encourage women to return to the workplace by providing affordable childcare and promoting flexible hours.

Stereotypes
We realize that some of the things we said about women above are considered stereotypes and of course, not everyone fits in to a stereotype, but the fact is that men and women ARE different. The important thing is to be aware of the stereotypes, so you can see how a person – male or female – fit in.

About Duchess?
Duchess is an organization of women Java programmers. It provides a platform for women to organize themselves online and offline for real life networking. Our short term goals include arranging technical sessions, study groups, social outings, and discounts for external events and courses. Our long term goals include establishing local branches all over the world and reachout programs in schools and universities.

If you are a female Java programmer, why should you join Duchess?
Network. Extending your network is always good for your career.
Learn. There is a chance to learn from workshops and courses accessed through Duchess.
Share. Share your experiences will deepen your knowledge and support other women in IT.

References:
http://www.scienceblog.com/cms/does-diversity-increase-productivity-15193.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/08/science/08conv.html?_r=1&ref=science&oref=slogin
http://www.streetdirectory.com/travel_guide/10105/women/why_more_women_should_consider_a_career_in_computer_programming.html
http://www.informit.com/articles/article.aspx?p=360842&seqNum=4
http://www.unescap.org/esid/GAD/Events/EGMICT2001/apctt.ppt
http://www.unu.edu/unupress/unupbooks/uu37we/uu37we0k.htm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7209353.stm

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