random memes }

Gender balance

Interpolate...

Most recently Tim Bray posted about Moving the Gender Needle relative to the genders in our profession.

Weeks before I was called a "sexist" by a group of guys in a Programming thread on Google+.

At the same time I was discussing sexual harassment with a well-written, well-expressed girl.

I have a very intelligent daughter, who is about to enter college. She has considered tech fields, and could do well easily (her opinion and mine), but at present has a slightly different direction. I raised my kids to make their own choices, and I respect the choices my daughter makes.

Two sides. The genders are not "equal", in a strict mathematical sense. (I have a lot of math in my background. My degree from school is in Physics.) Of human nature, males and females are not interchangeable. Some differences are rooted in our human nature.

Those differences ... still learning what that means.

Exact gender equality is likely impossible. Likely one gender or the other will be more represented in each profession, with exact mapping to the difference in our natures. (I do not pretend to know where that balance lies, or should.)

This factors out the question of gender representation within the software development field into two parts: