>What sane woman would get into tech, when being a lawyer or MBA is so much more lucrative?
I would assume that a rational woman would go into tech for the same reason a man would; because those jobs depend on social skills in a way the tech jobs do not.
I mean, this is changing, some; there are a lot of unemployed lawyers right now, but yeah; the set of people who could be both a good programmer and a good MBA? yeah... uh, that's a small (and very well-paid) set of people. (I mean, sure, most good businesspeople can and probably should learn a little bit of programming... just like most programmers should learn a little business. But for most of us? we can only be really good at one or the other.)
Most of us? we're lopsided. We were born with traits that make it easier to succeed in one are than the other and/or we've been putting effort into one area rather than the other for most of our lives.
This is true of most of the nerds I know, male and female. If you are good at everything? yeah, you get to write your own very expensive ticket. But most of us? well, we chose to focus on one or the other, or we don't and we end up being well-rounded but mediocre.
The thing about this? we make this decision before we are old enough to understand the implications. If you are in college before you decide you want to work with computers, well, I've already spent half my life up to that time practicing. I mean, if you are that much better than me (and really hard working) you can catch up, but I've got a hell of a lead.
This is my personal pet theory to explain the difference in interest; from an early age, boys are taught that they will be valued, mostly, based on what they can do; what they can make happen. I knew that if I could make myself useful, there would be a place for me, society would value me, even if nobody really liked me very much on a personal level, even if I was ugly or unpleasant to be around. Now, I wasn't a girl, so I don't know, but my impression is that this isn't what little girls are taught.
(Now, obviously, I have limited perspective here. This is just what I observe in myself, and what I observe in my peers of both genders. Most nerds seem socially... a little bit broken. It seems to get better with age, but man, the socially optimized have a hell of a head start. I'm sure there are many other factors, but this is how I personally rationalized the decision to become a nerd.)
I would assume that a rational woman would go into tech for the same reason a man would; because those jobs depend on social skills in a way the tech jobs do not.
I mean, this is changing, some; there are a lot of unemployed lawyers right now, but yeah; the set of people who could be both a good programmer and a good MBA? yeah... uh, that's a small (and very well-paid) set of people. (I mean, sure, most good businesspeople can and probably should learn a little bit of programming... just like most programmers should learn a little business. But for most of us? we can only be really good at one or the other.)
Most of us? we're lopsided. We were born with traits that make it easier to succeed in one are than the other and/or we've been putting effort into one area rather than the other for most of our lives.
This is true of most of the nerds I know, male and female. If you are good at everything? yeah, you get to write your own very expensive ticket. But most of us? well, we chose to focus on one or the other, or we don't and we end up being well-rounded but mediocre.
The thing about this? we make this decision before we are old enough to understand the implications. If you are in college before you decide you want to work with computers, well, I've already spent half my life up to that time practicing. I mean, if you are that much better than me (and really hard working) you can catch up, but I've got a hell of a lead.
This is my personal pet theory to explain the difference in interest; from an early age, boys are taught that they will be valued, mostly, based on what they can do; what they can make happen. I knew that if I could make myself useful, there would be a place for me, society would value me, even if nobody really liked me very much on a personal level, even if I was ugly or unpleasant to be around. Now, I wasn't a girl, so I don't know, but my impression is that this isn't what little girls are taught.
(Now, obviously, I have limited perspective here. This is just what I observe in myself, and what I observe in my peers of both genders. Most nerds seem socially... a little bit broken. It seems to get better with age, but man, the socially optimized have a hell of a head start. I'm sure there are many other factors, but this is how I personally rationalized the decision to become a nerd.)