I continued to code in 2019 because...
Gif source. I highly encourage people to visit StarTrekGIFs as it is fantastic.
I deserve credit for...
Becoming a master of math
It may not be a tech degree, but it is an extension of my math BA, so woo more math! I like learning the fundementals and learning on the job.
I hope to see my tech community...
I want to see people just be people. Children taught in schools that every career field is viable, so that employers can just hire the best candidate.
I don't see iniciatives in the workplace as a way to help solve representation. While it's well and good to want to hire women as much as men, I personally hate to see women in tech groups formed to find ways to recruit more women. That further reinforces that men and women are split in the workplace (if I have to hear "why aren't you going to their meetings?" one more time...).
Instead, I wish there were more organizations fighting for representation in schools to encourage girls to see that there's more options than getting a "Mrs Degree" and being a stay at home parent. That was the only option known when I was in high school in 2010. And I wouldn't be surprised if that's still the culture at that school in 2019. I didn't need to see companies with stock photos of every shape and color of candidate -- I never would have even looked for those companies in the first place.
Top comments (2)
I just read your sentence out loud to my partner, "… the only option known when I was in high school in …," and I asked her to fill in the blank. She said, "I want to say 1960s, but I feel like you're about to tell me it's later than that." She grew up and attended school in Liberty, Missouri, a suburb of Kansas City.
I never heard of getting a "Mrs Degree" because I attended a special high school for nerds, and it was just expected that we would all go on to college and change the world someday.
I imagine I'm in a club with other men who have previously been oblivious to gender (and otherwise) bias due to any number of factors, including being a man and developing a value system that sees men and women as equal partners in this short trip we're all on. In spite of how I feel, the longer I'm involved in this industry, the more I am aware of my own actions and whether or not they are in line of what I proclaim my values to be.
I'll never be perfect, but I can always be better. Thanks for writing this and informing me that this mindset—a world without options—is still being propagated in schools. We've come a long way, but we obviously still have a long way to go.
Intent is more than half the battle and is absolutely valued and better than none :) I can see the intent behind companies making initiatives to support women and non-binary folks in tech, but I don't have much faith in the impact it will have without targetting rural and other poorer areas. You very succulently helped explain and expand upon my rambles!