The biggest systemic factor is the absurd gender ratio
I grew up in Columbus, GA in the highly racist America Deep South. Blacks and whites each constitute roughly 49% of the population of Columbus, GA. This has failed to turn it into some kind of racial paradise. Also, from what I gather, black slaves on plantations often outnumbered the white owners and their family members.
I don't think gender ratio has a thing to do with it. Using that metric as justification for the problem amounts to excusing it.
Many people have the instinct to turn to anti-harassment policies and enforcement, but that's like trying to fight cancer with aspirin. It might help a little bit but it's no cure no matter how much you use, and too much will cause problems without solving any.
I do agree with this. This is not a path forward.
But "we need more women in tech" is just the problem statement.
I don't think we need more women in tech. We need to figure out how to treat the women already in tech like human beings instead of whoopi cushions. This needs to be done regardless of how many women there are. Waiting until we hit some quota is just excusing bad behavior in the here and now and that will tend to keep it alive.
Nobody seems to actually know how to get there from here.
Or maybe there are people who have some idea, but no one takes them very seriously. In part because not taking them seriously conveniently serves to keep sexism alive and well while looking totally innocent to most onlookers.
> I grew up in Columbus, GA in the highly racist America Deep South. Blacks and whites each constitute roughly 49% of the population of Columbus, GA. This has failed to turn it into some kind of racial paradise. Also, from what I gather, black slaves on plantations often outnumbered the white owners and their family members.
Race and sex are different. There is no biological imperative to couple off with someone of a different race, such that an imbalanced ratio creates aggressive competitive pressure over a limited supply of partners.
> I don't think gender ratio has a thing to do with it. Using that metric as justification for the problem amounts to excusing it.
It's completely fair to blame individuals for their misbehavior, but when you see misbehavior at scale, there is some systemic problem.
If admitting that the problem is bigger than just one person has the effect of excusing that person, that doesn't make it any less true.
Saying that gender imbalance in the industry is not really the problem in no way denies there is some systemic problem. I agree there is a systemic problem. But I believe gender imbalance is a symptom, not a cause.
I grew up in Columbus, GA in the highly racist America Deep South. Blacks and whites each constitute roughly 49% of the population of Columbus, GA. This has failed to turn it into some kind of racial paradise. Also, from what I gather, black slaves on plantations often outnumbered the white owners and their family members.
I don't think gender ratio has a thing to do with it. Using that metric as justification for the problem amounts to excusing it.
Many people have the instinct to turn to anti-harassment policies and enforcement, but that's like trying to fight cancer with aspirin. It might help a little bit but it's no cure no matter how much you use, and too much will cause problems without solving any.
I do agree with this. This is not a path forward.
But "we need more women in tech" is just the problem statement.
I don't think we need more women in tech. We need to figure out how to treat the women already in tech like human beings instead of whoopi cushions. This needs to be done regardless of how many women there are. Waiting until we hit some quota is just excusing bad behavior in the here and now and that will tend to keep it alive.
Nobody seems to actually know how to get there from here.
Or maybe there are people who have some idea, but no one takes them very seriously. In part because not taking them seriously conveniently serves to keep sexism alive and well while looking totally innocent to most onlookers.