Recently I watched a documentary in which a researcher told of how he was ridiculed for studying happiness, even though nobody saw anything wrong with studying depression. Then I saw a documentary where a handful of really skinny people were put on a ridiculous diet and their physiological changes were tracked.
Instead of trying to figure out why there aren't MORE women in science, math and engineering disciplines, perhaps we should be talking to the ones who are already there? It seems to me that if we've really had to jump over extra hurdles and deal with lower wages, there has to be something very compelling that keeps us here.
We think these answers are obvious. Maybe they aren't?
ETA: I interviewed with Etsy in 2010 or 2011. It seemed as if I did very well, but it wasn't a career move that warranted relocating the home to Brooklyn. At the time, I thought they were just excited by me, as a professional. I'm feeling a bit sad that it might have just been a "hire more women" drive instead. Bleh.
Whast extra hurdles did you have to jump over? Are you sure your wages are lower? Those differences are not very obvious for office jobs, in fact the other day I linked to astudy showing women in tech earn more than men ( till age 30 anyway, have no data on otherrs).
My degree is in audio tech, not computer tech. I have always found the latter to be far less challenging in the gender bias department, and had a much easier time, in general making a career "in computers." I do have experiences where I was passed over for positions where men with less experience were hired (I trained them). Also where male peers received training I was denied. Also where I was harassed until I resigned while I was pregnant. I've been asked if I was okay with working 40 hours a week because I have kids or what my kids would do during the day while I was working. Even writing one sentence per experience would make this response tedious.
I have no personal examples of being paid less, because I've more or less felt I was being paid enough to make it not worth asking anyone else what they were being paid. From what I understand, that is a big no-no. The examples I have of women being paid less are from other women in tech, a couple of these for which there is direct proof.
The question was, "I can hear your kids in the background. Are you sure you're okay with working 40 hours a week?" From a female recruiter for a previous employer when I specifically inquired about FTE. Her boss (also female) certainly didn't think it was fair to ask.
I'm male and not really OK with working 40 hours a week (with a 2 year old at home). I find it annoying that people automatically assume I'm OK with it. Not sure what to think, I mean why the question is offensive. Maybe it is illegal to ask (like pregnancy status)?Edit: I don't know what FTE means.
"Are you willing to work a 40 hour week" (ie, the industry standard full-time week) is code for "are you sure your motherly obligations aren't going to get in the way of your job?"
I cannot rightly say I've ever been up against another female candidate. But I have a lot of opinions about how I am different, at least from a personality standpoint, from most of the women I work with. None of which are objective. :-)
Instead of trying to figure out why there aren't MORE women in science, math and engineering disciplines, perhaps we should be talking to the ones who are already there? It seems to me that if we've really had to jump over extra hurdles and deal with lower wages, there has to be something very compelling that keeps us here.
We think these answers are obvious. Maybe they aren't?
ETA: I interviewed with Etsy in 2010 or 2011. It seemed as if I did very well, but it wasn't a career move that warranted relocating the home to Brooklyn. At the time, I thought they were just excited by me, as a professional. I'm feeling a bit sad that it might have just been a "hire more women" drive instead. Bleh.