There is a serious problem in the tech world and no, it’s not gender equality. The news, feminists and anyone else involved in the debate all like to argue that the tech world is run by misogynous men who have 1950’s views on women in the workplace. The tired argument of women finding it hard to get a tech job is also flaunted. None of this is true.
You know why there aren’t as many women in tech (especially programming)? Because well, there just aren’t as many women interested as there are men. It has nothing to do whether you have man parts or women parts, it’s just a matter of difference. You could argue that there aren’t enough male nurses and while there are some, most men are just not interested in being nurses.
If there are people out there as it is reported running their companies as male dominated environments with exception of maybe a woman out on the desk as the receptionist, then that’s not an industry problem, it’s a personal problem for the person running the company.
Hire the best, regardless of them being a man or woman. If they have the experience and skills to suit the position, you’re losing out if you’re not hiring them. Period.
Sadly, the industry feels a bit like this. If a company put up a sign that said, “Male applicants only” people would be screaming from the mountains, people would be protesting and morning talk shows would make it their discussion topic of the morning. But if a company were to put up a sign that said “Female applicants only” and it was a female dominated environment, people would be congratulating them and being supportive.
I personally have never witnessed gender bias in the tech industry myself. I’ve worked at numerous places and yes it’s mostly been male developers and a mixture of female/male designers.
The sad and truthful reality is: most women don’t want to be developers or work in tech at all. This whole issue of gender equality is only an issue because people are making it one.
Oh and PS. If Marissa Meyer who is greatly respected for her work at Google and now CEO of Yahoo! can get to where she is being a woman in tech, is there really an issue?
