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Re: Orawomen

From: Mark Richard <mrichard_at_transurban.com.au>
Date: Wed, 08 Jan 2003 13:55:31 -0800
Message-ID: <F001.0052AC0D.20030108135531@fatcity.com>


I think Rodd made a very valid statement... Whilst I think it is good to promote science and other "dorky" things to girls and the end of the day we have to let them do something they enjoy. There's a lot of years of evolution that make us the way we are.

I'm a boy and I really enjoy technical stuff. I spent my childhood messing around in the garage playing with radio controlled cars, building lego and playing on a computer. If someone had tried to force me into a female dominated world I would have been pretty upset. Sure, they can open my eyes to the concept but if I decide I don't like it them I'll never enjoy it. Some guys want to be an actor or a nurse or whatever, and that's fine, but I didn't. I can only imagine it's the same for girls. Most of the girls I meet in IT played with lego as a child and loved it - perhaps we are (at least partly) destined for a type of career before we even realise it?

Like I said - I'm all for equality in the workplace. But at the end of the day there are some jobs that "more" men enjoy than women and vice versa - I don't think this is a "problem" that requires fixing though. Thankfully IT here in Australia has a decent gender balance (perhaps not quite 50/50) but still a damm lot better than many other careers.

Cheers,

     Mark.

PS: If anyone would like to help the gender balance and offer my (computer science graduate) girlfriend a job let me know.

                                                                                                                   
                    Rodd Holman                                                                                    
                    <roddholman_at_ho       To:     Multiple recipients of list ORACLE-L <ORACLE-L_at_fatcity.com>       
                    tpop.com>            cc:                                                                       
                    Sent by:             Subject:     Re: Orawomen                                                 
                    root_at_fatcity.c                                                                                 
                    om                                                                                             
                                                                                                                   
                                                                                                                   
                    09/01/2003                                                                                     
                    04:14                                                                                          
                    Please respond                                                                                 
                    to ORACLE-L                                                                                    
                                                                                                                   
                                                                                                                   




The real key to this issue is not making it a GS requirement, but in getting parents off their butts and being parents. I continually work with my kids, especially my daughters (ages 17,16,12) to be individuals and go for what they like and find interesting. Forget the pop culture and fashion junk you see in the mags and on the tube! I encourage them to be themselves and find contentment in that. This whole "Dork Factor" thing is out of control with the 10-19 age group, especially among girls.

                                                                            
 Rodd Holman                                                                
 roddholman_at_hotpop.com                                                      
                                                                            
 Romans 1:16-17                                                             
                                                                            





On Wed, 2003-01-08 at 07:54, Rachel Carmichael wrote:
     Dorky rules :)

     It's sad that there isn't a requirement for the science/math
     activities
     in the Girl Scouts. The problem is that society in general doesn't
     show
     images of science as being "cool" and definitely doesn't show images
     of
     women as scientists. Or at least, not enough images.


     --- Cherie_Machler_at_gelco.com wrote:

>
> Dennis,
>
> I think that the article is correct that girls and teens are
> sensitive to
> the "geek stigma factor". Even in our 10-year-old Girl Scout
> troop, the
> girls are already concerned about their images and not being too
> "dorky".
> We have many more girls vote for activities involving animals and
> crafts
> than activities centered on math and science. The votes are
usually
> about
> 8 to 1 with only one or two girls voting to do the math or science
> activities. Pretty sad, especially considering that the Girl
Scouts
> organization tries really hard to push those technical and
> math/science
> programs and make them interesting and fun.
>
> The 25% number cited in the article for women in the IT sector seems
> pretty
> close to the number that we have show up at our local Oracle User's
> Group
> meeting. I think that the participation by women in our user's
> group has increased steadily in the last 10 years.
>
> Perhaps more women are drawn to database work than IT in general as
> it tends to be more administrative than say, programming.
>
> I'd also have to say that in many cases, being an Oracle DBA can be
> pretty
> grueling for those with families and for women with families in
> particular.
>
> Cherie Machler
> Oracle DBA
> Gelco Information Network
>
>
>

>
> DENNIS WILLIAMS

> <DWILLIAMS_at_LIFE To: Multiple
recipients
> of list ORACLE-L <ORACLE-L_at_fatcity.com>
> TOUCH.COM> cc:

> Sent by: Subject: Orawomen

> root_at_fatcity.com

> 01/07/03 05:11 PM

> Please respond to ORACLE-L

>
>
> Recently this list had a discussion of female Oracle DBAs. The
> consensus was
> that the numbers were increasing, which I view as a good thing. Here
> is an
> article with industry statistics saying that the number of women in
> IT is decreasing.
> http://itmanagement.earthweb.com/career/article.php/1564501
> Any theories?
>
> Dennis Williams
> DBA, 40%OCP
> Lifetouch, Inc.
> dwilliams_at_lifetouch.com
> --
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-- 
Author: Mark Richard
  INET: mrichard_at_transurban.com.au

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Received on Wed Jan 08 2003 - 15:55:31 CST

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