[CS-FSLUG] Survey of Women on the List

[K Montgomery]

Don,

You've composed one of the few posts that have drawn me out.  Well 
done. :)
Interestingly, I saw Brenda's post and started thinking about women on 
this list and in geekdom overall.

On Dec 28, 2004, at 5:29 PM, Don Parris wrote:

> (1) Firstly, I'm interested to know how many women are on the list,
> and of those how many are actually in the IT field.

My role for the past 9 years has been in IT at a large university.  
More below.

> (2) What is your experience in working in this field?

Three years working as a student computer lab tech, and just over 6 
years as a full-timer.  (I resigned effective last Thursday so I could 
start my own business.)  While I've worn a variety of hats, all of my 
work has been related to direct technical support to users.

Interestingly, when I was helpdesk staff, the women in the helpdesk 
group greatly outnumbered the men.  There was also a significant number 
of women in management.  Then I moved to a position supervising student 
helpdesk workers, where my boss (male) and I were the only professional 
staff in the group.  Of nearly thirty student employees, only three 
were women.  (Talk about culture shock!)  I don't think the number of 
female students exceeded four in the two years I did that.

My boss at the student helpdesk was very pro-FOSS, and he let me 
implement all sorts of things.  I did MySQL, PHP, web application 
development, and more.  As far as specifically Christian FOSS, I don't 
have any formal involvement beyond this list.

> (3) How do you feel you are treated by the fellas on this list?

Can't complain.  The (very) occasional mild joke or remark doesn't 
cause more than an inward groan.  ;)

> (4) Are there any changes you would like to see in terms of our 
> behavior?

I would only remind the guys that some women have "come out" on this 
list, and you never know who may be lurking.  The latter part is 
important for anyone to keep in mind, male or female.  It's easy to 
take for granted that the active list members are the *only* list 
members -- which I've done.

> (5) Is there anything else you would like to add?

I am wary of women's groups (LinuxChix or other), because it seems that 
wherever (worldly) women band together to the exclusion of men, ungodly 
feminism comes out in force.

I'm surprised that in this day and age, many women still can't 
reconcile their femininity with their interest in male-dominated 
fields.  A "real" woman has learned to coexist interdependently with 
men.  Women who haven't learned that, you'll find running to women's 
groups.

And I wish some women would stop striving to inject females into 
male-dominated occupations for the sake of "equality."  Technical 
fields are always going to be mostly male: Deal.  As long as a woman 
can find acceptance in a field without compromising her womanhood, 
isn't that enough?

- Kathy