[TriLUG] The biggest deterrent for women in tech

[John Vaughters]

I feel fairly confident that the issue is not opportunity and the old school "Women shouldn't do this job" died when the 90's College Grads started becoming managers. The comments about teachers were interesting, My Sister has an Industrial Engineering Degree and chose child rearing and teaching math. She worked in a Plastic Injection Molding company and hated it. Dirty, Chemicals, Nasty workers. Meanwhile, I worked in Telecom Factories with the same ugly features and loved it. Some of the issues to me are tolerance that women have in their environment. Engineering is often not a pretty place to be working. Oddly Men love it and women hate it. So let's throw on gender tolerance differences. How many Women do you know that want to fight mosquitos while going in after a Hurricane to get the Electrical Grid back up? 
 
Of course that does not explain the Computer programming aspect, but I have seen that side increasing in Women, again, albeit slowly. My idea of a Role Model though is more women like Meg Whitman, and that new Yahoo CEO from Google. Not that the average person has them to guide, but as potential posibiltity. Those numbers are increasing, but it takes time. But on the aggressive talk, How many Women have the desire to conquer, which to me is critical in Technical tasks. The mind set that I am going to solve this issue or die trying. I do not see that as much in women. So we force that into them? Again, I am dangerously raising the Gender differences at risk of Carly Fiorina calling me tonite to have me recant `,~>
 
I will say this, It is not because Men don't want Women in the field, When I was in college the ratio of women to men in Engineering was a deterrent for Men.
 
 It's a mystery, and I am confident that we will all be paying for more wonderful studies to figure it out and still not have the answers.