Jesse Jackson: Too many White and Asian men in tech (solution, companies)
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That is so goddamn offensive that I am LITERALLY shaking my head.
I'm female. I've worked with computers since I was a kid. SINCE. I. WAS. A. KID.
I've worked in tech MY ENTIRE ADULT LIFE.
I PROGRAM DATABASES FOR A LIVING.
I'M FEMALE, DID I MENTION THAT?
While we're on the subject of discrimination in I.T., ever tried being a white female pushing 40 in this field? You want to talk about DISCRIMINATION.
How many girls were in your Math classes, physics classes, EE classes ?
There were only 3 girls in my graduating class from college getting CS degrees (engineering).
I majored in Computer Science and I've only had one black guy in any of my tech related classes and He was a Nigerian.
I owned an electrical construction and maintenance firm. I was asked on one of these forums just the other day how many Blacks I employed in my business. NONE. I never had a Black to even apply to become an apprentice electrician. That is really sad.
Let's see here: there are roughly 350 to 400 players in the NBA. And as a physical sport it is pretty clear who makes the cut and who does not.
How many thousands of people work in the tech industry? And computer programming is a skill that many people can learn if given the opportunity. The same can not be said for dunking a basketball.
Math and computer programming are equally as measurable, more, than basketball talent.
Can't speak about Blacks but women in CS peaked in 1984 with 37% of degrees going to women. In 2011 it was less than 12%.
I don't know why. The most exciting years were from 1990 through today as tech burst in innovation.
I never had to share a room when traveling. There was never a line at the women's bathroom at trade shows.
But I did have one beef..all the tshirts were men's sizes and even a small was huge on me.
It's hard work that most of today's youth just don't want to do.
They're always looking for the easy way out.
And when I'm teaching/subbing/tutoring in the schools I point out that it's a good career with lots of areas to specialize in.
Tech is the future and China/India are stomping all over us in that area.
Brazil, Vietnam, Singapore are all catching up quick as well.
That is so goddamn offensive that I am LITERALLY shaking my head.
I'm female. I've worked with computers since I was a kid. SINCE. I. WAS. A. KID.
I've worked in tech MY ENTIRE ADULT LIFE.
I PROGRAM DATABASES FOR A LIVING.
I'M FEMALE, DID I MENTION THAT?
While we're on the subject of discrimination in I.T., ever tried being a white female pushing 40 in this field? You want to talk about DISCRIMINATION.
As a female, I must say this isn't about offending your sensibilities or trying to discriminate against women. It's an unfortunate fact that women simply do not choose, at the same rate as men, to major in STEM fields. Your being a minority in the field is your advantage actually, as it would be for non-whites or non-Asians as well. I find it difficult to believe you face discrimination in IT hiring if you have that much experience and are female. I, as well as many of my fellow companies, love to hire experienced female programmers/DBAs. Generally, and yes, this is a generalization, but generally female ITs are better at client interaction, briefs, and understanding social graces in a business setting. I have plenty of talented programmers who I affectionately call 'paste eaters' (you know, those kids that ALWAYS had to eat the white paste in kindergarten). They're super talented programmers but not fit for public consumption. I actually had to tell one that it was not appropriate to wear flip flops to a business meeting with some clients.
I desperately wish more girls were into math in school but I think it's the very math-adverse female teachers who are causing this to some degree. Teaching is dominated by females and nine times out of ten, those teachers were those same girls in school who whined about how much they hated math. These are the now grown women who are teaching our girls in school. Can we wonder, then, why math is still considered a largely male pursuit? I ran into a few of these types of teachers in my daughter's school. Most of my daughter's math teachers were male, by the way. I was never a favorite of the math hating variety of my daughter's teachers, by the by. I can live with that.
There will always be 'some' girls who are into engineering, math, and computers but unless there is a massive cultural shift, I think females in this industry will continue to be smaller in numbers than males. I suspect the same is true for blacks and hispanics. Jesse Jackson, though, wants us to believe it's some grand conspiracy to discriminate. It's not. However, I suspect Jackson needs things like this to latch onto because of his lack of relevancy, even if there's no actual discrimination taking place.
"The government has a role to play" in ensuring that women and minorities are fairly represented in the tech workforce, Jackson told a USA TODAY editorial board meeting. He said the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission needs to examine Silicon Valley's employment contracts.
..
Jackson, 72, discussed tech-sector hiring with the EEOC via phone Monday. The former two-time Democratic presidential candidate said he'll continue pushing the issue and has no plans to retire. "The struggle for emancipation is my life," he said in an interview. "It's my calling."
Horrible and dishonest thread title. Someone who wants more diversity in tech hiring is not saying there are too many of any group if people.
Of course the US government has a role to play to ensure that tech companies aren't practicing racial or gender discrimination in hiring practices. The government can also encourage tech companies to look at schools they may not normally look at for candidates.
Horrible and dishonest thread title. Someone who wants more diversity in tech hiring is not saying there are too many of any group if people.
Of course the US government has a role to play to ensure that tech companies aren't practicing racial or gender discrimination in hiring practices. The government can also encourage tech companies to look at schools they may not normally look at for candidates.
If the schools don't have them there's not much any company can do.
The big tech companies would love to have minorities so they can play up their "diversity".
The fact is that there just aren't enough graduating.
Horrible and dishonest thread title. Someone who wants more diversity in tech hiring is not saying there are too many of any group if people.
Of course the US government has a role to play to ensure that tech companies aren't practicing racial or gender discrimination in hiring practices. The government can also encourage tech companies to look at schools they may not normally look at for candidates.
He's encouraging the wrong group. He should be encouraging black males and females to go into STEM degrees. Frankly, we look for candidates everywhere, if they're qualified. But let's be honest here. That's not Jesse Jackson's thing. Instead of looking to encourage the young black students, he's looking for someone to blame. This is the reason he deserves the scorn he is rightfully getting on this thread.
Non-Asian minorities and women are underrepresented in the tech industry. I also own a business in the industry as well. The previous poster is correct-- there are not enough non-Asian minorities and women majoring in STEM majors that lead to tech careers.
Tech careers are accessible, and well recompensed. Is it a problem? I think so.
Unfortunately, minority dominated inner city schools don't seem to graduate students with the requisite math and science skills. It's an institutional problem. Further more, I think our industry would benefit from more diverse less male dominated viewpoints (and management). I don't particularly care what Jesse Jackson has to say, but that doesn't mean you can dismiss the issue entirely.
The issue shouldn't be dismissed. But it has nothing to do with Google, Microsoft, etc. It is all about the familiy structure and the value they place on K-12 education. Have you been in major university's computer science program? It is whites and Asians, mostly male.
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