I'm a female .Net developer, deeply emersed in Ajax these days. I've spent my entire professional life working almost exclusively with men. I think that part of the problem is that this is a self-perpetuating system: women are intimidated because they see the field as being so male dominated; men are protective of their boys' club work lives.

I went to an all-girls high school which encouraged us to go into math and science. Teachers told us that anything that a man could do, we could do. I believed them and I have thrived in this world. But I know that most girls do not get these messages in high school and college and that CS courses are predominantly taken by men. I truly believe that if we want more women in technology, we need to start with the messages we send little girls and the encouragement we give them to pursue their interests in math and science. We need to ensure that these interests continue to be encouraged through high school and college and that the IT workplace is sufficiently welcoming and nurturing to women.

Well on behalf of my experience i can say that women are not so logically sound so you won't find a women programmer more than the male programmer..i just don't want to hurt the feeling of women section but it really comes out of the experience what i have which may not be sufficient..Thank You

>If you are at least somewhat concerned about this >trend, you may want to consider some easily >accessible remedies, including being more >inclusive >in your dealings with women (inviting them to the >seminars/sessions...

Karen,

Your suggestions won't work. You can not force women into technology. I'm not going to hire a Java programmer just because the candidate is a woman, even though I like working with women.
I'm leading the Princeton JUG, men/women ratio there is 7/1. Do you think if I'll be sending special invites for women they'll show up? I doubt it. Traditionally, most of the women take care of kids/husbands/boyfriends in the evening and not attending JUG meeting.

I'm for more women in technology, but against affirmative actions of any kind.

First of all, most Web development conferences have a high male/female ratio - I was at one in Dallas and I estimated then that the ratio was around 10 to 1. Web development, like software development, like computer engineering, is still primarily made up of men, and unfortunately, this trend is going in the wrong direction. While more women than men are now entering college, the rates of women enrolling in STEM fields (science, technology, engineering, and medicine...er, well, maybe not medicine) are declining.

Admittedly, my comments do not provide any insight into the reasons why. I have not studied this, and my own personal experiences have been rather limited to the still female-dominated field of library science. I would venture to suggest that the causes are deeper and broader than this site is meant to handle.

If you are at least somewhat concerned about this trend, you may want to consider some easily accessible remedies, including being more inclusive in your dealings with women (inviting them to the seminars/sessions, re-examining resumes to look beyond the technobabble, and providing ample opportunity for women in sessions to respond or ask questions), as well as fostering a new generation of girls whose interest in science and technology is often dampened by the social pressures of the real world, which still projects the image of computer geeks as short, shy, socially-immature men with pocket-protectors, by volunteering to give a programming class to a Girl Scout troop.

OK, I guess I did venture into the reasons a little more than I had planned. But I wanted to grab my opportunity to speak while I could.

On Monday, I've been watching live SYS-CON.TV coverage of the 'Real-World AJAX' seminar in San Jose. The speakers were great, but beside enjoing the presentations, I was looking for women, or forgive my French, I've been cherchez-ing la femme.

On Monday, I've been watching live SYS-CON.TV coverage of the 'Real-World AJAX' seminar in San Jose. The speakers were great, but beside enjoing the presentations, I was looking for women, or forgive my French, I've been cherchez-ing la femme.

On Monday, I've been watching live SYS-CON.TV coverage of the 'Real-World AJAX' seminar in San Jose. The speakers were great, but beside enjoing the presentations, I was looking for women, or forgive my French, I've been cherchez-ing la femme.

On Monday, I've been watching live SYS-CON.TV coverage of the 'Real-World AJAX' seminar in San Jose. The speakers were great, but beside enjoing the presentations, I was looking for women, or forgive my French, I've been cherchez-ing la femme.