Month: January 2009

Ada Lovelace Day

Ada Lovelace is considered by many to be the world’s first programmer. The programming language ADA is named after her.
Today, March 24th, has been designated in her honor as a way to recognize women who have made a contribution to technology and thus, are potential role models for those who wish to enter tech-related professions. Ada Lovelace Day is the brainchild of Suw Charman-Anderson, a British social software consultant and writer.

Stumbles

First Holder. Then Richardson. Now Panetta.
Seems like the gloves are coming off already, two weeks away from the coronation, er, inauguration.

It’s NOT Me (Part 2)

Since posting the link to Computerworld’s article on why women drop out of IT, I’ve read most of the 300+ comments that accompany the article.
Besides commenting on the article itself, the common theme seems to be that IT is a lousy profession, and those who escape it are lucky.
Well, well, well and well.
I’ve read a lot of nonsense through the years about why more women don’t enter the field, and agree with the person who said that this article comes closest to an explanation that makes sense to me.
What the article doesn’t do is propose a solution that makes sense.
The tired suggestion of mentoring, which relegates “older” developers to a ridiculous in loco parentis role is appropriately denegrated in the comments section.
Some one states the obvious, that when you get critical mass, the problems will go away on their own.
Based on my experience, you need a very strong, savvy COO type who has been empowered to crack some senior management heads.
In other words, someone who will take a swing at their peers. Because that’s where the problem is.
Of course, I – and everyone else who has ever worked in an American office – have yet to meet such a person.

It’s NOT Me

Certain people in my life have claimed for years that the issues I’ve had with development departments are somehow or other my fault.
Thus, it is with tremendous relief – as well as sadness – that I discovered I am not alone. In fact, I’m very much in the majority:
Last year, Harvard Business Review published a research study which found that 52% of highly qualified women in tech drop out because of the corrosive attitudes of their male colleagues.
India was found to be slightly better than the US, which does not surprise me: recently, the youngest person ever to obtain their Microsoft certification was (you guessed it) a 9 year old Indian girl.
I relate to the following especially: “A women fails and is never seen again. A woman cannot survive a failure. So they become risk-averse in a culture where risk is rewarded.”
“It’s almost like a time warp” observed one of the researchers. “Engineering and tech cultures are worse than scientific, but across the board there

“Your Last Letter Blew My Mind”

I was going through old photos and cards today, and I came across a letter which I’d forgotten about, from my adoptive mother, dated June 26, 2002.
The letter is honest, direct and heartfelt. It’s in response to one that I wrote. I don’t have a copy of my letter, but it seems from her answer that I had tried to explain the pain of my growing-up years.
The letter goes like this:
“Your last letter blew my mind. I’ve written draft after draft trying to answer it. Thought I’d start with the past and work my way up to the present.

Continue reading “Your Last Letter Blew My Mind”