John D. Mitchell's Blog

Gender bias in the tech recession?

As I've been walking around, sitting in sessions, and generally being a nuisance, I've been struck by the fact that there seems to be a noticeably larger percentage of female developers at the show than in previous years.

Yes, this could be explained by the fact that there are fewer total people here this year so perhaps it's just more striking to my less saturated brain but.... What about in the overall technology world? Given the relatively small percentage of female developers floating around, are they getting laid off less than male developers?

I also think there's some sort of inverse correlation with total number of "booth bunnies". I only saw two booth bunnies (at the SpiritSoft booth) and they seemed to have been dismissed after the first half of Tuesday.

Comments

• Don't Stare John You'll scare them all away!!!!! :-)

  Posted by: flipster on June 12, 2003 at 10:51 AM

• Don't Stare John I already scare them away. :-)

  Posted by: johnm on June 12, 2003 at 02:59 PM

• A different perspective John, I just wanted to comment on the number of female participants at Javaone. I recall how few women there were at the first JavaOne (I never ran into one in the restrooms) and didn't notice a remarkable improvement in 1999 or this year. I counted the folks in my Architecture Certification Prep class and found the female percentage to be about 10%. This probably is better than in 1996 but not nearly representative of organizations I have worked with. The IT staffs I work with have been at least 30% female. So, If it is a gender bias, it is probably related to their lower salaries!

  Posted by: scneo on July 15, 2003 at 10:11 AM

• A different perspective

  Thanks for the perspective!

  Do you think that another part of the issue is that many women in IT don't particularly want to attend these male-dominated conferences? In my experience, it's only at the really academic conferences that women attendees drive them as much as the men (or at least a whole lot closer to parity).

  Is perhaps another issue that the women in various IT staffs aren't as assertive as many men are in pestering their bosses to approve these kinds of trips?

  Posted by: johnm on July 15, 2003 at 10:22 AM

• A different perspective

  Thanks for the perspective!

  Do you think that another part of the issue is that many women in IT don't particularly want to attend these male-dominated conferences? In my experience, it's only at the really academic conferences that women attendees drive them as much as the men (or at least a whole lot closer to parity).

  Is perhaps another issue that the women in various IT staffs aren't as assertive as many men are in pestering their bosses to approve these kinds of trips?

  Posted by: johnm on July 15, 2003 at 10:26 AM

• A different perspective I know that the cost is frequently a deterrent to many people of both genders, but I think women will tend to shy away from the time and costs more so. ( I am an independent consultant and consider it a cost of doing business.) The high male attendance probably doesn't come into play for most women, except as a plus! (Perhaps this should be advertised.) The length of the conference may play a factor. Women tend to carry a heavier load at home so leaving both job and family for a week leaves a tough return. I used to attend EDI conferences and men attending used to ask why it seemed so female dominated. I would tell them it was one of opportunity. When EDI started, it was viewed as a clerical issue. Women were positioned to grow as the strategic components become important. Well, thanks. Yyou made me exam why there is never a line for the women's room at JavaOne!

  Posted by: scneo on July 15, 2003 at 11:39 AM

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