Women in Technology

Hear us Roar

Article:		A Fifty Year Wave of Change
Subject:		Disappointed
Date:		2007-09-06 15:57:13
From:		MariaKlawe
Response to: Disappointed
I appreciate the comments you made. It seems my essay wasn't clear enough about how I feel about the situation that women in technology face. I completely agree with you we need to change things about computer science to make it attractive to more diverse populations, rather than change the people (females, African Americans, etc.) who are currently not attracted to studying or working in computing. And I agree with your point that more diversity yields much better results whether it's in learning environments or product design and development. Like you and many others I am angry that women in leadership roles are treated differently than men are. As someone who is naturally vocal and aggressive about my ideas it has often annoyed me that I'm criticized for behaviors that males use all the time. On the other hand, I have gradually realized that learning to be a better listener has made me a more effective leader and manager. In the paragraph that disappointed you so much, I was trying to describe the current state of reality and make the point that women still face much unfairness. It was provided as example to illustrate my earlier claim that not everything is rosy for women in technology.