Women in Technology

Hear us Roar

Article:		So What?
Subject:		Work / Life Balance
Date:		2007-09-06 18:19:23
From:		julilb

I think part of what keeps women out of IT is the well known poor work / life balance that is common in many areas of the field. I don't know if they still do, but when I was a Cadet Girl Scout in the early 80's one of the career exploration related badges had a requirement of asking a woman in a field you were exploring how their career affects their marriage and family life. I remember many comments from various sources through out junior high and high school about the need I as a woman would have to balance a career with child rearing. (I'm still not sure why that's only a woman's issue or why that's the only work/life balance issue I was supposed to care about.) When I worked in a company with a lot of family friendly policies and benefits, the IT department was predominantly female - not because of who was hired, but because of who stayed. Many of the men who stayed for more than a year or two were single fathers or had special needs children.