Jen Looper is Head of Academic Advocacy at AWS with over 22 years' experience as a web and mobile developer, specializing in creating cross-platform web & mobile apps.
Perry, it sounds as if your department is doing very much the same thing that you decry: "The department sponsors several woman-specific clubs and programs". Sounds like you're not on board with your department's values, which is not my business. It also, however, sounds as if you disagree with the value of programs such as those your own department sponsors as well as ours, which is my business. So let me just respond, and then I'm going to get out of this pigpen, because I have a lot more important things to do, like organizing about 10 events in the next couple of months and traveling to do some incredible things with my sister Vixen in Argentina, who responded above.
I'm not very interested in having my own program mansplained back to me, so let me just mention that if you look more closely, we are interested in education for women and people who identify as such, and we are happy to have the help of mentors from all walks of life who are TRULY interested in doing something about the abysmal percentages of women in the industry. Perhaps you might become such a mentor?
This is not about special treatment. This is about welcoming new voices who very often don't feel heard or welcomed. You quote great numbers from BU for introductory classes. That's fabulous. But what about your higher level CS classes? What are you doing to ensure that attrition doesn't happen because of underlying attitudes such as those we meet EVERY DAY in this industry? How many women graduate from such a program? And do you have any idea how many women drop out mid-career because they've simply had enough?
We do. We are here in the trenches (not in the academy) mentoring women who are trying to start out (fixing the pipeline) and making sure to mentor mid-career women who face significant challenges in their careers as they attempt to progress. We are in the business of making changes, not throwing obstacles in peoples' paths. Can you say that you do the same?
Thank you, that's all that I'm going to say. Perhaps I'll see you in a Boston meetup where we can meet face to face. Or perhaps you'd like to attend a conference talk, I give many worldwide on bleeding edge tech, as do many of our Vixens.
best,
Jen
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Perry, it sounds as if your department is doing very much the same thing that you decry: "The department sponsors several woman-specific clubs and programs". Sounds like you're not on board with your department's values, which is not my business. It also, however, sounds as if you disagree with the value of programs such as those your own department sponsors as well as ours, which is my business. So let me just respond, and then I'm going to get out of this pigpen, because I have a lot more important things to do, like organizing about 10 events in the next couple of months and traveling to do some incredible things with my sister Vixen in Argentina, who responded above.
I'm not very interested in having my own program mansplained back to me, so let me just mention that if you look more closely, we are interested in education for women and people who identify as such, and we are happy to have the help of mentors from all walks of life who are TRULY interested in doing something about the abysmal percentages of women in the industry. Perhaps you might become such a mentor?
This is not about special treatment. This is about welcoming new voices who very often don't feel heard or welcomed. You quote great numbers from BU for introductory classes. That's fabulous. But what about your higher level CS classes? What are you doing to ensure that attrition doesn't happen because of underlying attitudes such as those we meet EVERY DAY in this industry? How many women graduate from such a program? And do you have any idea how many women drop out mid-career because they've simply had enough?
We do. We are here in the trenches (not in the academy) mentoring women who are trying to start out (fixing the pipeline) and making sure to mentor mid-career women who face significant challenges in their careers as they attempt to progress. We are in the business of making changes, not throwing obstacles in peoples' paths. Can you say that you do the same?
Thank you, that's all that I'm going to say. Perhaps I'll see you in a Boston meetup where we can meet face to face. Or perhaps you'd like to attend a conference talk, I give many worldwide on bleeding edge tech, as do many of our Vixens.
best,
Jen