The I.T. Girl
As you can probably tell, I am female. And I am a geek.
I have been around the I.T. industry long enough to be able to comment on how females are treated in I.T. and Internet communities. Of course, my experience will probably be completely different to many others.
First of all, I am certainly not a feminist at all, so don’t worry I am not on my high horse.
I still get people who are amazed that I play games, program or generally know a lot about the Internet and Internet-related stuff. Have I ever felt that guys felt threatened about me potentially knowing more than them (or holding my own when playing the latest FPS)? Hell no! In fact all the guys I know have actually been encouraging and intrigued by it all.
Having said that, it does get frustrating when I get extra attention just because I am female. I remember a few years ago when I was playing Counter Strike (yes that geeky) I was sick an tired of getting the “omg girl”, “omg the girl killed me with the deagle” comments during play that I changed my nickname from “****girl” to “****dude” just so that I could play the game without being hassled.
I don’t really post in forums much. But when I do, I reckon about 60% of the time I get the obligatory reply with “a/s/l? ;P” or “oh girl, wanna chat?”. Of course these posts are just the guys having some fun so I don’t care at all, in fact I find them kinda funny. But it still makes you wonder if comments like that will happen forever? Or will there ever be a time when that kind of behavior becomes extinct?
Work-wise, I haven’t found there to be any barriers at all in the 3 different companies I have worked for. If anything, being female in I.T. actually makes it easier as companies love to hire a female to keep the “equal opportunity” levels right. But you still have to be good at what you do, as being female doesn’t get you all that far once you get your foot in the door.
At work I still haven’t encountered any untoward feelings or vibes along the lines of “she’s a woman how would she know anything about XXX”. This might be because I am the type of person who will say up front if I don’t understand or have a good knowledge about a particular area. But still, the extent of acceptance surprises even me particularly because I am female AND “young”. I kind of expected at least a little bit of wariness or second-guessing at some stage.
Of course I am outnumbered (for lack of a better word) as there are far more males in the office, but as a female in I.T. you have to be pretty darn used to that by the time you get a full-time job. I remember back when I was studying Computer Science at Uni, it was about 5 girls out of 100-strong lecture hall. You get used to it and if anything I find it easier to be friends with guys anyway.
I would be interested to know if my experiences align with others. So please leave a comment. And what about the guys? What kind of interaction do you have with females in I.T. or web communities? Are you one of the “omg girl” type people, and if so, do you just do it for fun?
omg girl has a blog!
a/s/l??
No i dont think comments like that will be forever (it just depends on the maturity of the crowd).
You know you should use it to your advantage, and ill let you decide how you can do that. I think if you are a good developer than anyone should accept you with warm arms. I would say that some guys wouldn’t want a girl to be better than them, but thats insecurity for you.
Good luck and see you around in the CI forums (maybe!)
You, miss, are part of the problem. Drop the “Girl” in your blog title, it’s just another way to part yourself from the group.
blondin: its just a blog post title… which relates directly to what i wrote about. i dont see it as a problem.
it’s just my observations remember. chill.
In my branch of the I.T. deparment (work for the county at the jail), there are 5 people of which I am the only male. Further more, I am the only “white” person.
I think I.T. has deserved it’s stigma, however this, to me, is proof that it won’t be this way too much longer.
i never assume a person is female or male based on a screenname… but that’s just me.
i’m not in IT but it’s always nice to hear about a woman interested in tech culture; as a male it’s hard for me to feel exactly the way you do, but i try to put women i meet in the tech field at ease by addressing them in a way that i’d liked to be.
Good luck!
Someone in Pittsburgh: I agree times are a changing. In my current job I am surrounded by women in my immediate office.
I am not saying this is better or worse. It just “is”.
The point of this blog post wasn’t to perpetuate a stereotype or complain (of which I think I haven’t done either).
It really is just my experience. Its honest. That is all.
If people find it interesting then good on them.. if they don’t agree or give a damn then who cares – let them post their own experience or opinion on their own blog!
As another young woman in IT (24, software engineer at a big company) I would say your generally positive experiences sound very similiar to mine.
The only complaint I have ever had is that once an older male coworker (60 ) asked for a hug (wtf?). It totally thew me…
Ive had to prove myself a bit to people, but thats okay, I don’t mind that. Because once I proved myself, and worked hard…. well, I was accepted as someone who knows what shes talking about when she talks,and asks good questions when she doesn’t.
Personally I havn’t “met” any woman in IT, its really unfortunate
I know a few overseas but thats about it.
Where are you all hiding?
What languages do you program in?
Chris: Fantastic to hear! Hugs from an older male does sound weird in a workplace haha.
Tim: No women at all?!?! That sounds so strange -what country are you in?
josh: vb and html
haha no not really. for web php, for apps c# (not much of this though)
That’s funny, you scared me for a second.
You rock Leeane!!!! ( I bet 9 out of 10 people mis-spell that)
sara: 9.999 people actually
your site looks interesting too.. all the best.
Don’t worry, I didn’t see it as complaining.
I just wanted to point out my scenerio because not only do I.T. departments get this sort of sexist stigma but so do jails/prisons and often local government offices. (not so much here as gov. goes, but when I lived in Idaho… a big boys club.)
I think it’s something encouraging.
Womanz on internest!?!
wut you say?!
Next thing ya know men, cooking …. poppycock!!!
Plow you.
I live in Silicon Valley, where there is a fairly high concentration of women in tech compared to most places. But even so, it’s not as high as it could/should be.
One of the years when I was studying at Stanford University, the computer science department t-shirt logo was a series of 9 male stick figures plus 1 female stick figure. And it was so true! There were so few girls in my CS classes.
I guess the best you can do is make yourself count and set a good example as a woman in tech. And tell your daughters/nieces to study engineering.
u r blog Is very nice
Hahhahahahahahhaah this is freakin funny. GO GO girl show them who is the boss around here. This is excellent and I really don’t see the point why will someone from male side be like “ah she is the girl”. I wish that there is more and more female developers. I’m feeling like a gay with all those males around the globe and almost none of females hahaha
You might consider using something besides three X’s as a wildcard. It’s funny, but maybe not what you meant.
unintended_reference: lol good point! i will keep that in mind for later posts.
hey!
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