Answering Anonymous

My last post was about the local Microsoft campus and their Tech Camp for young girls. I thought (and still think) this rocks hardcore.

Then I got an interesting comment from an 'anonymous' who said:

I hope they have a similar program for males! That's true equality. However, maybe males are inherently more interested in computer technology and gadgets. I know my girlfriend can't tell the difference between hi-definition tv and regular old tv.

That comment reminded me of this cartoon:



Same principle at work with Anonymous. My girlfriend doesn't understand high tech TV, therefore women in general don't understand/care. We'll come back to that later...

I think it's important to address comments like this one, which claim that whenever girls are offered an opportunity, it's somehow "reverse sexism" on young boys.

I think you'll find that's not the case. It took me two seconds on google to get a hit on an article that explained more about Microsoft tech camps. And here's what I learned :

Over 10,000 students -- boys and girls -- have taken advantage of these technology classes over the past few years. This high-tech camp focuses on girls, Dopps says, because there is a general lack of interest from women to pursue careers in high tech. (emphasis mine)

Okay, you may ask how they know that there is a lack of interest? They've seen it.

"In general, at any IT event, there is a higher percentage of boys that attend than girls," Dopps says.... "This is a way for them to be around other girls who are interested in technology and to hear from women who made careers in technology, and this will help them understand what their opportunities are and get answers to questions that they might have -- such as what steps they should take next."

Of course, when young women see that technology and science are for girls too (and hey look, here's a bunch of them that currently work in the field and enjoy it) -then yes, more girls will gain confidence in their ability and pursue a dream outside the box.

I think our generation of American women have enjoyed more freedoms and opportunities than any generation of mothers and grandmothers before us. We have legal birth control and more job opportunities and legal protections than ever before. However, there are still serious barriers.

Not enough women run for political office. Not enough women pursue their dreams in science and technology and yes we can credit some of that to sexism . There are people who believe it goes against women's nature to be interested in those male-dominated fields. There are even people who believe women aren't smart enough. So many young girls grow up playing with the Rose Petal Cottage instead of a children's chemistry set (when have you EVER seen that marketed towards girls?). We need things like Girls Tech Camp to encourage the bright minds of young girls who previously thought, (even subconsciously) that "that stuff isn't for me."

Girls consistently rate themselves lower than boys on computer ability and have less positive attitudes toward computers, according to a 1998 American Institutes for Research study, "Gender Gaps: Where Schools Still Fail Our Children. And women earn only 18 percent of doctorates awarded in computer science in the United States, according to a 1999 report in The New York Times.

So there you have it, Anonymous... maybe your girlfriend never felt particularly welcome in a tech atmosphere. Or maybe like me, it's just not her bag. But I can tell you one thing, her lack of reverence for your high-def TV has absolutely nothing to do with her woman-parts. Just sayin.