Did you read the linked article? People believe there's a gender problem in tech because there is a gender problem in tech. These stories are pervasive. I'd encourage you to ask a woman who's been in the industry and while of they've ever been treated unfairly.
Women are almost exactly half of the workforce in the US, but hold only 25% of the jobs in computing. So that would imply the industry is worse than average. And the trend is going the wrong way: women were a much bigger presence in tech 20 years ago. IMHO, stories like the ones in this article are very common and are a major reason why. And that hurts everyone who works in tech.
Moreover, the fact that other industries may also have a gender problem in no way excuses what's going on in the linked article.
I guess I don't know what "major industries" people are talking about. For example, earlier in the thread Hollywood and finance are mentioned -- but these are definitely industries with a long history of law suits in this area.
With regards to "...ask a woman..." and "...the fact that other industries may also have a gender problem..." -- neither of these remarks have anything to do with what I said. I have some doubts about the claim posted earlier, to the effect that tech is worse than other "major industries", because I have never seen anything to back that up -- but two wrongs do not make a right and I never said anything like that.
To support these ideas I guess I would like to know, what are these major industries and what are the axes of comparison?
If this kind of factual scrutiny seems wrong in the face of the present emergency, I have to ask you: when would it ever be right?
The simple math I cited is not enough? You agree that women make up less than half the tech workforce even though they're half of working adults, right?
Why is it important to know how tech ranks against other industries anyway? How is that actionable information? Is the point to be able to claim "it's not our problem"? I don't think that's a useful line of thought. Even if tech were above average (and, again, it isn't) that doesn't in any way excuse the behavior in the NYT article.
