|
I am not really convinced this applies more to say, programmers, than other professions (such as management), so I don't think this is the reason. In any case, it doesn't matter really. We don't know what the truth is, and AFAICT no one is really looking for it (I unfortunately don't have enough (interest/(resources*time)) to do a study). From small anecdata I have, I had several smart women told me that they want to quit because they themselves feel they are not smart enough or skilled enough to do programming. I have never heard of somebody wanting to quit (the field) because there was some idiot thinking they can't do it. In fact, having to prove yourself may actually be motivational. And I think I am not righteous enough to claim that when a person says "the reason is that I don't feel I can do it", then there must be something in the environment causing it. It may simply be their preference, and I have to respect that. Maybe their thinking is delusional, but unless they clearly say, "this external reason is the reason", we can't do anything about it if we respect personal freedom of choice. So yeah, we should do a study, ask women, why they don't want to do it, and if they say, "it's boring", just accept that as a fact of life and move on and stop searching for reasons in patriarchies and whatnot. And I don't think it's quite morally correct to try to somehow correct people's preferences, however silly they might be. If they should be convinced for economic reasons (say, STEM is important), then it should be done with money. |