Programming, women, and H1-B

[roo_ster]

http://isteve.blogspot.com/2011/07/programming-women-and-h1-b.html

"In 1987, 42% of the software developers in America were women ... [Is that true?] From 1984 to 2006, the number of women majoring in computer science dropped from 37% to 20% — just as the percentages of women were increasing steadily in all other fields of science, technology, engineering, and math, with the possible exception of physics.

But, here's another factor that helped drive American women away from programming careers: H-1B. Bill Gates and other zillionaires have added even more billions to their fortunes by getting the government to let in lots of foreign programmers to do for less money the lower level programming that American women tended to be doing.

Funny how one lefty piety trumps another: foreign-ness trumps female-ness.

H-1B is bureaucratese for "technologically-savvy indentured servant."

Funny stat that is more than likely repeated for every tech position:
Twice the number of women who get through the hiring process get offers than men do.  Tech companies are desperate for any reasonably competent female techie.  They want the duh-versity numbers and usually push them too hard through mentoring and accelerated programs for promising management types.

[MicroBalrog]

Can I also become a tech-savvy indentured servant, please?

[AZRedhawk44]

Anecdote <> data, but I can count the number of COMPETENT female computer programmers or dba/sysadmin types I've met on one hand, and have digits left over.

They DO exist, but I think that the growing medical tech careers (various forms of sonography) are attracting them away from conventional IT/IS careers.

[Perd Hapley]

I am disappoint. You led me to believe you had found a way to program women to do what we want.

[roo_ster]

I am disappoint. You led me to believe you had found a way to program women to do what we want.

Femtechies, not Fembots.

But, if you want to persist in your quest, history shows all it takes is the right combination of money and woman.  (My wife worked, for a time, and saw THAT sociological phenomenon regularly.)  Just get rich and use dead presidents instead of Java, C, or Perl.

[AJ Dual]

[MechAg94]

I first read this as "programing women"

Since they picked 1987 as their year of comparison, could the reduction in the % of women simply be the influx of a lot more people into that field in the late 80's and early 90's as the computer industry picked up?