Female Programmers

ravenhead

It's the opposite where I'm working - out of a department of 10 programmers there's only 1 guy! It's such a pain in the A@SE - No craic really at all, I enjoy working with guys, much more of a laugh.

stevenmu

KlodaX wrote:

I know so many lads that assume because they are male they can fix anything that has a screw or circuit board. Where as the female unless she has read the manual inside and back to front wont touch it.

That sounds like me, altough I don't assume I can fix it cos I'm male, I just assume it cos usually I can (or else I have enough fun destroying it more that I don't really care about it not working anymore )

KlodaX wrote:

*edit* Same applying to programming. I know that is a mayjor stero type on my behalf .... but everyone else appears to be doing so! You know what I mean though ... I don't mean to generalise!

I think it's a pretty fair stereotype, altough there's obviously going to be loads of exceptions on both sides. It's probably closely related to the 'asking for directions when lost' stereotype, I'm firmly in the 'I'm not lost, I'm just taking the scenic route !' camp.

Hobbes

Female programmers are few and far between but everyone of those that I have met are exceptional in their field. I suspect there is a slight employment bias over guys with similar skill sets.

jmcc

Talliesin wrote:

What, Engineers are from Mars, Linguists are from Venus? :rolleyes:

Well there is that perception that people who do electronics are from another planet entirely. The specifically male attributes are more likely to be found in extreme courses like electronic engineering because design work brings together the attributes of logic (designing circuitry) / visio-spatial ability (designing printed circuit boards manually) and mathematics (circuit design again). Computer Science by comparison is far more balanced.

Regards...jmcc

jmcc

Calina wrote:

He's reading too much slashdot - ignore him. My experience of programmers is that their gender is of secondary importance when they're coding. It's their attitude to their job is key.

Strangely I don't read Slashdot and the comments were about engineering rather than computer science. Ignoring reality will not make it go away. Computer science is not engineering.

Regards...jmcc

Capt'n Midnight

Talliesin wrote:

In the very old days computer programming was considered to be women's work.

Ada Byron, Lady Lovelace (1815-1852)

saml1

I'm a female programmer/developer. I'm good at what I do and better than a lot of males in the field (not being bigheaded,just telling it like it is).
Women make good developers; they are diligent and patient. However, its not a field that attracts women. It is true that it takes a logical mind, something that man tend to be better at. But when a woman has logical traits, it doesn't mean shes any better or worse than a guy at programming.
Actually a lot of girls I've gone to college with have branched away from programming. Its not the most interesting in the grand scheme of things. but I love it and relish a good development challenge. I was the only girl in my last 2 dev teams. Bit of a pity cos the girls I've worked with have been top notch.
I think theres also (naturally i suppose to some extent) that there is often a bit of suspicion towards girls in a male dominated environment. Not being paranoid, bit its there to a small extent.
I'd be glad to see more girls in development cos they're well able for it.
go on the girls
and theres more to life than slashdot
(nerrrrrds!!)

Prior Of Taize

SolarNexus wrote:

it mean that women are by their nature 'lesser equals'

i agree

Civilian_Target

I don't believe that mathematical brain stuff for a second - I think it's just a social thing that prevents girls from becoming programmers.

In college I found that CS had a M:F ratio of 10:1 or worse, in Physics it was about 5:1, but it was almost 1:1 in Maths, which sometimes made it hard to think logically

saml1

biggest load of ****e i've ever heard.
women are perfectly equal when it comes to all things techy, its only a social thing that means they're not encouraged to follow though on it.

men are only worried cos they're days of dominance in the field are numbered.
its a fear thing that makes then hang onto some irrational belief that they are better at stuff like that. utter ****e. women are no better or worse programmers/scientists. grow up lads and show some respect and appreciation for your fellow human beings.

To quote Abigail Adams, a former US first lady,
"..why should your sex wish for such a disparity in those whom they one day intend for companions and associates. Pardon me, sir, if I cannot help sometimes suspecting that this neglect arises in some measure from an ungenerous jealousy of rivals.."

Prior Of Taize wrote:

i agree

Martyr

men are only worried cos they're days of dominance in the field are numbered.

Don't women mainly computer program as a career?
I don't know any women programmers who do it for fun..but i could be wrong.

Look at the majority of crackers on this site below, no women..at all.

http://www.crackmes.de/

I'm not saying women wouldn't make good crackers, but the fact that there is no interest from females in this area (atleast none that i know of) out of the few thousand members on that site, doesn't square up with your quote.

I'm not aware of any social-entities that encourage cracking software, to either male or female, but it is male dominated, at the moment of course

rsynnott

Average Joe wrote:

Don't women mainly computer program as a career?
I don't know any women programmers who do it for fun..but i could be wrong.

Look at the majority of crackers on this site below, no women..at all.

http://www.crackmes.de/

I think women are less likely to subscribe to such a ridiculous "1337 HAX0R" site. I know lots of women who program for fun, though.

scojones

saml1 wrote:

men are only worried cos they're days of dominance in the field are numbered.

Way to generalise there missy. Look, comparing women to men is a pretty lame way to bring this thread down. Men are more intelligent, Women are more intelligent. Yadda Yadda Yadda. It's the individual that counts not their bloody gender.

Quit being so bloody sexist and grow up.

Martyr

I think women are less likely to subscribe to such a ridiculous "1337 HAX0R" site. I know lots of women who program for fun, though.

I would agree that men are more competitive and so strive to find better ways to destroy each other..in any way possible ;-) including such talk as "DMZ" and "CyberWarfare", "nukers"..et cetera
Then we have "blackhats" and "whitehats"..if anyone was "1337 HAX0R" it is defenitely fools who give themselves ridiculous names like that.

But I don't look at the crackmes as ridiculous at all.
Alot of the work there is quite interesting, and would probably benefit those of you who write software with protection mechanisms that keep being broken by crackers, but thats another topic.

Many of the subscribers enjoy the challenges from other crackers..they don't call themselves "1337 HAX0R" or anything, i'd say alot them are quite talented programmers.

Solving the crackmes is just a challenge.

Might seem childish, but then alot of areas in programming are.