[pleasebehonest]

It's disgusting.

You ignore underprivileged male hackers because too many other hackers are male? How is that fair?

I'm sorry, but we aren't going to help you. Why? You have the wrong organ between your legs. Next!

Are you sure what you're doing is even legal? What do you do about trans/intersex applicants, or do they not matter to you?

[delluminatus]

Wow.

Funding applicants based on sex, race, religion, etc. is very common among private schools of all sorts. Of course this results in sub-optimal funding distribution if your goal is to maximize, let's say, "total cumulative aptitude."

If, on the other hand, your goal is something different, for instance, promoting diversity, such a restriction is perfectly reasonable.

"What do you do about trans/intersex applicants, or do they not matter to you?"

Transsexuals identify with one gender or the other. I want you to guess how many intersex individuals have ever applied that don't also consider themselves either a man or a woman.

ETA: Having read the section on funding I see that the school itself is free, and that Etsy is providing small grants to defray the cost of living in NYC for female hackers. I don't think something like paying room for adults, even if others are neglected, should warrant such vitriol.

[cantloginwithg]

Oh, come on now. It's explicitly unfair. Some people in the community feel that there is a chicken and egg problem of having too few women programmers and that it is a bad thing. So HS is purposefully giving a hand up to the female programmers in order to ameliorate the issue. They don't have to be fair here when their goal is long term equality in the future.

Also, should they care if it's legal? How is being unfair in pursuit of a greater good definitely a bad thing? And I presume trans applicants could pitch to be covered as women as they either are or were at one time women, though I expect the most understanding way to treat trans people is as the sex they have changed to and identify with. Same with intersex. So it appears you're using an ugly rhetorical game to cast negative light without saying much at all. It's possible that HS has had no trans or intersex people at their gatherings so it's a moot point anyway.

In short. Fairness need not be ones highest ideal. There are reasons why fairness may need to be traded off for other benefits or fairness over another term. And sorry for my tone. This sort worried impracticality frustrates me. I would have just down-voted and flagged your comment had I been able to log into my own account.

[dinkumthinkum]

Way to take this too far. This is a private company, Etsy, offering grants to women for, I guess, living expenses etc to be a part of the program. Those poor underprivileged males ... I mean, it's not as if going to Hacker "School" is going to make or break you. You are welcome to start a fund. Lighten up a bit on faux-indignation.

[vitno]

your kidding, right? It certainly is legal, colleges practice this all the time!

They give large grants to women, not because they are better, but because they are attempting to equalize the gender ratio.

The money is an extra. They won't accept you if you don't think you belong there. You are not entitled to any money. They are a private enterprise who are entitled to attempt to equalize the gender ratio... through whatever means they chose.

[gojomo]

Whether gender-specific scholarships are legal is a question for lawyers and courts.

But regarding "equalizing the gender ratio", the gender balance for college undergraduates in the USA swung far in favor of women 10 or more years ago. Today, most colleges that want to 'equalize the gender ratio' would have to offer male-only scholarships.

[Jach]

You're aggregating up over all the possible degrees at all US colleges, in which case you're right, but come on. You know that in departments like computer science and pure math and various engineering disciplines and even physics the gender ratio is still heavily in favor of men. That's what's being addressed by scholarships. At many US colleges the female-only scholarships are typically conditional on entering one of the degrees with a predominantly male population and completing it.

[gojomo]

So would male-only scholarships be appropriate in all the other female-dominated majors? And, because of the overall undergraduate imbalance, offering more male-only scholarships than female-only scholarships when netted over all fields? Simply to achieve gender balance, of course.

[Jach]

Sure, if achieving gender balance is desired. Racial balance also seems to be desired by most places, leading to implicit and explicit benefits for different races as well as genders. Just don't expect to see too many male-only scholarships. Few people seem to be concerned over the gender imbalance in, say for rhetorical purposes, English literature. Why do we want a greater balance in CS but not Eng. Lit? Regardless of why, the fact remains that we do, and thus we'll see tricks like scholarships trying to effect that change. Perhaps it would be better if it was all based on intellectual merit, but if you argue for that earnestly you'll be called any of a sexist/racist/elitist or something else. If that's really the path forward it will be a long time before we get on it.