[Linux-aus] The Ada Initiative - Should Linux Aus etc

[Jon Jermey]

But -- with all respect -- do they have evidence that it is a problem? 
Or are they merely saying it?

I moderate a discussion group for Golden Age detective fiction. The 
male:female ratio, as far as I can establish it, is about 80:20. I would 
love to believe there are hundreds of women on the Internet who are 
aching for a chance to discuss John Dickson Carr in a caring supportive 
environment, but there just isn't any reason to think so. As far as I 
can tell all the women who want to be there are there, and all the women 
who aren't there don't particularly want to be. The same is true of many 
atheist discussion groups, some of which are currently going through the 
same soul-searching process as this group. And you can substitute 
'non-English-speakers' or 'younger people' for 'women' and still say 
exactly the same thing.

That's why I am asking: is there evidence? If there is, great, put it in 
front of the decision-making groups and let them evaluate it and make 
the appropriate choice. If there is not evidence, and someone wants to 
look for it, then let's fund them to look, provided they have the 
qualifications to do so. But so far I haven't heard anything to suggest 
that anyone is inconvenienced by the current situation -- other than 
those who want to assume that gender equivalence in every population is 
somehow self-evident, and that any imbalance requires us to find a 
scapegoat.

Your link takes me to an abstract of a book, but there are no 
conclusions shown. What does the book conclude?

Jon.

On 23/02/11 16:18, elliott-brennan wrote:
>
> To those who ask who thinks this is a problem: The
> women who have been writing in this thread have
> been saying "this is a problem". The issue itself
> is an area of research:
>
> http://www.google.com.au/search?q=gender+imbalance+information+technology&btnG=Search&hl=en&safe=off&sa=2
>
> A big 'Up' to James: