Accidentally in Code

Tag: statistics

  • Thinking About Statistics

    Thinking About Statistics

    Fifty years of sports statistics. Hardly recreational reading material, Marty.
    Credit: flickr / Nati Devalle

    I’ve been thinking lately, if we really accepted the statistics about technical women as being likely to reflect our own experiences, how might that affect our behaviour? It can be hard, as technical women, as we deviate from the statistical “norm” for a long time, and it’s easy to think that will keep going… but what if it doesn’t?

    Find a Sponsor

    I personally have had a hard time accepting that hard work and being smart is not enough. There’s a game on, and it involves getting the right projects, and getting noticed. Studies show that women are over-mentored and under-sponsored, and actually have a hard time convincing their mentors they are ready for bigger challenges. I do think mentoring is helpful, I’m so grateful for my amazing mentors, but it’s not a career strategy. That’s getting noticed, and getting the right projects, and sponsorship really helps there.

    Cluster

    Look very carefully at a place where there are no women – do there just happen to not be any? Or are there none there for a reason… maybe it’s a “brogramming gulag” (new favourite phrase). 63% of women in STEM report experiencing sexual harassment, and people who believe they are in a meritocracy (that word, it does not mean what you think it means) exhibit larger amounts of cognitive bias. Clearly, there are places that women would be best to avoid.

    Accept a Slower Trajectory

    Women do not get as many promotions as men. Which is super-depressing. No-one wants that statistic to be true of them, but if it is… how do you find a way to be OK with it? Less responsibility, less money… but more time to live? One idea.

    Expect Burnout In 30s

    Studies show that women leave in their 30s. So if that is the timeframe, what are some options?

    1. Work to burnout, save enough money not to need to work, or work much less at something else.
    2. Maintain or develop other skills, as an exit strategy.
    3. Marry “well” – i.e. another high-earning professional. (I hate this, but… can’t deny it).

    Avoid HR / Quiet Exit

    I think this post from Penelope Trunk is interesting, on reporting sexual harassment. Key quote: “The law is set up to encourage a company to take proscribed steps to protect itself from liability rather than to protect your emotional stability, or, for that matter, your career.”

    Have an exit plan instead. Women often move to other companies to get their next challenge, and I infer from this that it’s best to quietly notice the signs that a situation is bad, or no more opportunities are forthcoming… and move to somewhere where that is not the case.

    Open Question

    I find Facebook’s focus on women interesting, cynically, women are the dominant users of social networking and the drivers of consumer spending. In this context, “understanding women” is not a joke about heterosexual relationships… it’s a necessary business strategy. And I wonder – in that kind context (Facebook is not the only place where this is true) – is it be better for women?

  • Encouragement Beats Re-tweeting

    Encouragement Beats Re-tweeting

    reminders from the dashboard (random acts of kindness)
    Credit: flickr / jillallyn

    I read an article today about why there aren’t enough women in tech. It says, women doubt themselves. This hurts their chances of ending up in Science or Engineering. They think they can’t do it.

    It bored me. I am so tired of reading this. We know it. I must read an article a month – a week even – that says this. But more, I notice it when I speak to female colleagues, technical women friends, female university students, female school kids… non-technical women who tell me when it was that they stopped feeling good at math (or, that they never did at all).

    Articles don’t change anything. What does, is when you take the time to connect with another woman before she leaves. And you share the doubts that you have, the times when you nearly gave up – the reasons why you didn’t, and the tricks you use to keep on going. Studies show, that she’s likely better at math than she thinks she is. I think that’s a piece of information that should be shared.

    When I talk to guys, I end up talking about my job and what I do. When I talk to women, or girls, I often talk about how often I have felt like a complete and utter failure and hopeless case, and then gone and succeeded anyway.

    Maybe instead of hitting “retweet” on some other article that tells us how completely hopeless it all is, we’d be better to invest 15 minutes connecting with another woman and encouraging her.

    Just a thought.

     

  • Why Women are Better Programmers

    How it Works
    Credit: xkcd

    From Programmers Need To Learn Statistics Or I Will Kill Them All

    “I think women are better programmers because they have less ego and are typically more interested in the gear rather than the pissing contest.”

    Love it! And I totally want to learn stats now, too.