[Linux-aus] geek feminism - from the other side

[Eyal Lebedinsky]

On 01/03/2011 13:07, Russell Coker wrote:
> On Tue, 1 Mar 2011, Eyal Lebedinsky<eyal at eyal.emu.id.au>  wrote:
>> Mmm. I resent the claim that men (which I am one) are somehow inferior
>> to women in IT.
>
> Whenever there is a factor which makes it more difficult for a group then
> members of that group who participate will tend to be more dedicated, and this
> usually results in being more effective.
>
> When I worked in London in 1999 Australians were well regarded in the IT
> industry.  The Australians I worked with in Australia through the 90's didn't
> seem to work any harder than the British people I worked with in London.  But
> as London is about the furthest place from Australia that one might go to
> advance their career the Australians in London were quite dedicated and did a
> good job.  I'm sure that any British people who moved to Australia to advance
> their career would be equally dedicated.
>
> When I was at university in 1991-1993 among the Australian students in my
> course there weren't many women, but the few women were very dedicated.  They
> knew what they wanted and worked hard to get it.  Having a slight preference
> for hiring a female applicant would reduce the probability of getting a
> slacker.
>
> I don't think that men are inferior.  It's just that the women who are less
> dedicated departed long ago.  But the IT industry is still a place where a man
> with minimal talent can earn a decent salary.

Maybe I am in a different industry segment (product R&D) but we do not hire or
keep untalented people. Even the ones we do *not* hire (budget is always scarce)
are ofter very talented. Everyone here works hard for their bread.

Maybe in other IT jobs one can adjust pay to talent and accept a far wider range,
but in R&D the bar seems to be set high.

But this says nothing about the original subject (women in IT).

Eyal