Safetygoat

Rant about the “tech girl”

Monday, July 13th, 2009

I just watched this talk from Adriana Gascoigne, who is the creator of Girls in Tech.  She’s very charismatic and a good speaker, but I think the facts that she presented were the wrong ones.  I knew what she was fundamentally trying to say, but her figures didn’t say it, and talking to a predominantly (tech) male audience, they didn’t mean anything. She forgot that…

The disparity between the sexes is old news.

I’m really torn between those that are saying, “Women in tech aren’t getting the recognition, there’s only 8 women that are hear of fortune 500 companies… blah blah” and the other side that says, “Sorry, but there just aren’t as many women in tech, and proportionately the same amount that are doing anything really amazing.”  I don’t want to hear mediocre women speaking about mediocre things.  I want experts, same as everyone else.

It’s something brought up so often, but I still find myself wondering about it. We’ve beaten this topic to death, but why do we keep bringing it up? Because we’re still lonely, us girls in tech.
We’re just oh so lonely. And, frankly, it’s kinda embarrassing.
Where are you, ladies?

The question is, why aren’t there many women in tech?

While I consider myself a designer first, I do spend 80% of my life coding these days, so I guess I’m a tech girl, and my two closest tech girl friends here in London are probably the most fierce, competitive, self-starting, and definitely intelligent ladies, but also developers.  No one would call any of us timid.  Is this lack of traditional “girliness” a requirement for these lonely female developers? First thought, maybe, but that’s not it, I’m sure of it.

Something scary about being surrounded by men?

Fact: if you’re in tech, you’re going to be surrounded by guys. Is that why there aren’t more girls in tech?

No, because the guys in tech are very open to having girls around.  They WANT there to be more talented girls in tech (well, most of them… there’s always a few haters).

Most teams don’t want to be all sausage, and often a sole girl will have a bit of an advantage over an interview with a similarily qualified male competitor.  (note: I hate the idea of a girl getting a job just because she’s a girl– I am very hard on my female techs: they better be at least as good as their competitors. None of this, “Oh, we need to get the male/female ratio right” bullshit.)

But it’s ALL men.  My work is 5 guys and me.  My graphic design course in highschool (to learn photoshop/illustrator) was 22 guys, and 2 girls, and most other start-up tech teams I’ve met have been predominantly male (with a token female every once and a while).  If, as a girl in tech, you’d like a bit of female companionship, you’re going to be well out of luck. If you’re not a confident lady, it’s not easy being amongst all men, no matter how nice everyone on the team is.

Why haven’t more girls gone into tech?

I’m really not sure, but I think it has a lot to do with nerdiness.

There doesn’t seem to be the same high level of awkward girl nerds around as there is for guys (not saying that all tech are awkward, but we definitely are nerds!). And to be really good, you have got to be a full on, hardcore nerd since you were 12 years old.

My friend Margaret, a java developer, told me that she used to fix the computer for the teacher when she was in primary school. She was excellent at math. I was always in the top of my math classes in primary school and high school. I spent HOURS on our Mac LC3, reorganizing, designing, learning new applications, creating clubs, designing newsletters.

I asked a few of my dev guy friends what they wanted to be when they grew up, and many have said, “I’ve always wanted to do something with computers.”

Everyone around is touting about becoming an expert taking 10,000 hours. Coincidence that these guys have been honing their skills in every possible moment of spare time since they were pre-pubescent? I doubt it.

These guys, and the token female nerd, definitely have an advantage over those people that only decide to do computers in university. Growing up, none of my girl friends liked computers that much. Why? Because they were nerdy, possibly. I know I did, but then again, I was a huge nerd. Complete with glasses and a mushroom haircut.

Computers are a lot cooler than they have been in the past, so maybe this will start changing. I hope so, because then I will be on the cutting edge of cool.

It’s a man’s world

I love computers.  I love design.  I love learning new stuff.  But, as much as we don’t want to admit it, I’m a girl in a guy’s world.  It was not built for me, and because it was built by enthusiasm, and continues to move fast, it’s still predominantly built by guys.  Should that matter?  No.  Does it make a difference?  Sure.  A great rugby player who joins in a soccer match will have to adjust to a very different game, same as a guy who becomes a stay at home dad.  It’s not his world. I don’t mind: I think they’ve built it very well, but maybe that’s a barrier to some of these girls getting their feet wet.

Women are supposed to be fantastic at languages, and while we’re on the sexual stereotypes, they’re also great communicators. What is a computer built on? A language. In my high school, the girls were equally good at math and science as the guys. Where’s the barrier to going into computers?

Side note: I hate the “girl in tech” winers

I really hate them. Just because you’re a girl in tech doesn’t mean you should get recognition.  Just because you’re the only one you know doesn’t mean you should get some award.  Sure, it’s difficult not having the same-sex companionship and community, but I’m tired of seeing mediocre design and dev girls wondering why they’re not rock stars.  Or, the mediocre dev girls that become rockstars because everyone feels like they have this obligation to have equal opportunity.  I don’t want to hear about your mediocrity.

And as much as the guys want some eye candy around, I’m sick of mediocre devs/design girls becoming popular just because they’re gorgeous.

Okay, maybe I’m just jealous.

But, I love being a girl in tech

First and foremost, I love all the guys I’ve worked with. They have been so supportive, encouraging, and, while sometimes harsh, have always done it in a way that makes me continually improve. I think being a girl on the team, and especially since I’m an outgoing one, adds a good balance and fun that they wouldn’t have without me. Of course, they may think differently….(but I’m sure they’re too scared of me to tell me! hahaha!).

Joining the team

I’ve joined some women in tech groups (there are LOADS of them, for design and for dev). So far, I haven’t seen them making much progress in getting publicity. Maybe that will change, but right now, it’s pretty much a love-in for ladies scratching their heads wondering why they’re not getting results. Hopefully my membership will become more useful as the number of talented ladies increases. If any of us does become famous, I just hope it’s not just because we’re a girl though.

Is it a bad thing to use your lady status?

Sometimes I really wish I weren’t judged on being a girl. But you know what, I am one. Saying ‘people shouldn’t judge’ is a complete cop-out that takes reality and chooses to ignore it. Sometimes being a girl is a disadvantage, but I also believe that you use everything in your arsenal to your advantage. Standing out is the only way to get ahead, and I plan on doing it morally but smartly. I’m a decent designer, but definitely not the best, and definitely not within the top 1% (maybe top 5%… there are a lot of crappy designers out there!). In the world of women though, I’m pretty darn good. In the whole field, I wouldn’t be noticed as easily if I were a guy. This doesn’t mean I think I deserve this extra publicity, but I’m going to take it. You know what, I’m going to take every advantage that I can. And when I launch an app that I have lovingly crafted, that I get 3% more traffic because I’m a girl in tech, well, I’ll take the gender divide to my advantage, thank you!

Someone wants to give me a little bit extra because I’m a girl? Is that bad? I don’t think so, because I’m definitely not coasting on it, and in all honesty, it’s really not giving me that much extra.  No one could say that I’m not hungry to get better, to create constantly, and it’d be difficult to hold people’s attention without substance.

And you know what, if I get really good (which I plan on doing), I will definitely become a mentor.  I wish there had been a lady around to mentor me.  We ladies like to have mentors.

Then maybe we can stop talking about this, and just get on with it!

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