Comments on: Where are all the Women? http://manwithnoblog.com/2007/02/24/where-are-all-the-women/ Gary Barber rants on user experience, and the controlled chaos of the Web Industry Sun, 14 Mar 2010 11:32:36 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: Gary Barber http://manwithnoblog.com/2007/02/24/where-are-all-the-women/comment-page-1/#comment-119 Gary Barber Fri, 09 Mar 2007 05:29:11 +0000 http://manwithnoblog.com/2007/02/24/where-are-all-the-women/#comment-119 @Lisa - The interesting thing is the introduction of the <a href="http://www.makemeaspeaker.com/index.php?title=NeedMentoring" rel="nofollow">makemeaspeaker wiki</a> since I posted this. It's interesting that the percentage of women putting there hand up is still lower than it should be. I really am considering that the message is not getting to the people we need to communicate with, they are just not plugged into the usual geek communication network. @Kelly - Thanks for the comment. There has been a massive "get girls into tech and science" in Western Australia (over the last decade) to the point where they are now having to balance it a bit as boys are not taking up tech or science but the traditional blue collar career paths because they are intimidated by girls in the classroom. A new twist. I still think the problem is there however as the number of women and tertiary institutions has not increased in the tech area that much. That said a lot of the women (over 25 years old) I know in the web industry in Australia are self taught. And seem to slip of the radar. @Lisa – The interesting thing is the introduction of the makemeaspeaker wiki since I posted this. It’s interesting that the percentage of women putting there hand up is still lower than it should be. I really am considering that the message is not getting to the people we need to communicate with, they are just not plugged into the usual geek communication network.

@Kelly – Thanks for the comment. There has been a massive “get girls into tech and science” in Western Australia (over the last decade) to the point where they are now having to balance it a bit as boys are not taking up tech or science but the traditional blue collar career paths because they are intimidated by girls in the classroom. A new twist. I still think the problem is there however as the number of women and tertiary institutions has not increased in the tech area that much. That said a lot of the women (over 25 years old) I know in the web industry in Australia are self taught. And seem to slip of the radar.

]]> By: Kelly http://manwithnoblog.com/2007/02/24/where-are-all-the-women/comment-page-1/#comment-104 Kelly Thu, 01 Mar 2007 21:10:33 +0000 http://manwithnoblog.com/2007/02/24/where-are-all-the-women/#comment-104 Gary - insightful and interesting post! As one of the few female asian-american speakers on the global circuit these days I do find most often I am the solo female (or I get to hang out with Molly) in the room. A few years ago I started working with a subset of WIT (Women in Technology) to gather female women in the technology world and speak in front of high-school girls to help inspire them to get into the technology industry. We did this for three years and I wanted to extend this into a national experience in high-schools everywhere. It was a wonderful experience. At one point we started looking at percentages of women graduating in electrical engineering and technology fields and talking to women in these areas and it was LOW in comparison to their male counterparts. So we have to start by looking at the % overall - not only from an industry perspective, but from an educational and vocational background. There just aint as many women professing to be in the technology sector! As I migrate out of the tech field and into mainstream speaking and different industries (research, old fashioned print design, fashion design, filmaking, etc.) there is a more diverse spread of speakers and females overall. So in the technology field, this needs to be considered from the start. So - I think it is a question that needs to be looked at from various sides. There are many more factors to consider ... this is a great discussion and topic for more pondering. Gary – insightful and interesting post! As one of the few female asian-american speakers on the global circuit these days I do find most often I am the solo female (or I get to hang out with Molly) in the room. A few years ago I started working with a subset of WIT (Women in Technology) to gather female women in the technology world and speak in front of high-school girls to help inspire them to get into the technology industry. We did this for three years and I wanted to extend this into a national experience in high-schools everywhere. It was a wonderful experience.

At one point we started looking at percentages of women graduating in electrical engineering and technology fields and talking to women in these areas and it was LOW in comparison to their male counterparts. So we have to start by looking at the % overall – not only from an industry perspective, but from an educational and vocational background. There just aint as many women professing to be in the technology sector! As I migrate out of the tech field and into mainstream speaking and different industries (research, old fashioned print design, fashion design, filmaking, etc.) there is a more diverse spread of speakers and females overall. So in the technology field, this needs to be considered from the start.

So – I think it is a question that needs to be looked at from various sides. There are many more factors to consider … this is a great discussion and topic for more pondering.

]]> By: Lisa Price http://manwithnoblog.com/2007/02/24/where-are-all-the-women/comment-page-1/#comment-96 Lisa Price Sat, 24 Feb 2007 14:49:14 +0000 http://manwithnoblog.com/2007/02/24/where-are-all-the-women/#comment-96 Great post Gary - and I think you mention a lot of the complex issues. On the lists of speakers, yes there are out there - but as I commented on Ms Beakman's site, not many of those were relevant to us. We have asked lots of women to participate (admittedly proportionately less than men, but hey, look at the industry). Hopefully as a result of this debate, which is in some places misinformed and vitriolic, one good thing is that we will uncover people from all walks of like who are doing great things out there. Great post Gary – and I think you mention a lot of the complex issues.
On the lists of speakers, yes there are out there – but as I commented on Ms Beakman’s site, not many of those were relevant to us. We have asked lots of women to participate (admittedly proportionately less than men, but hey, look at the industry).
Hopefully as a result of this debate, which is in some places misinformed and vitriolic, one good thing is that we will uncover people from all walks of like who are doing great things out there.

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