Are There Too Many Women in IT?

A contributor to another site run by my parent company, Jupitermedia, wrote this opinion piece about women in IT fields. I'd love it if any of you who disagree with his position--or could offer him some insight about your experience in IT--would drop him a line.

The column is at: http://itmanagement.earthweb.com/career/article.php/11067_3746501_1.

To reach him, click on his byline.

The Diploma Circle

My friend Amy (Wellesley, '94) attended commencement on Sunday. It was her first Smith commencement and she was there in her capacity as a reporter. Newsweek is profiling one member of the Smith class of 2008 because she and her sister spent their middle school and high school years in foster care, but this year, are both graduating from college. Amy was there recording the event for the story.

Yesterday, she and I got to talking about our shared experience as Smith/Wellesley alumnae, about the "Smith experience," and how we get all goosebumpy and tingly when we see the older classes parade in on Ivy Day or witness special traditions, such as the diploma circle.

We also talked about the frequently felt feeling of failure that comes with believing we have never quite lived up to the expectation of greatness that comes with a Smith or Wellesley degree. One struggles to feel that one isn't a total loser if one hasn't cured cancer, or published a best seller, or made a lot of money. Now a Wellesley alumna is running for President for crying out loud! Talk about raising the bar. :-)

After the talk, I sent Amy the link to the letter I sent to our class on the 13th anniversary of our commencement, addressing some of these feelings. I'm sharing her response with you all because I love so much her articulation of the meaning of the diploma circle.

Here's what she said after reading my letter:

>>This piece is brilliant and beautiful. And, I love the diploma circle’s role in it. It was something I first heard about on Saturday night and knew I wanted to record. While I was there with my mic in everyone’s way, new graduates grumbled about the chaos. Someone said, ‘why can’t they just organize this’ while others complained the circle wasn’t being widened enough or that people with diplomas in hand weren’t leaving. There was much consternation and little celebration, though moments after receiving someone else’s diploma during the ceremony, the student I was recording actually said, “I love that we get someone else’s diploma.”

I was wondering about the value and meaning of the circle, beyond tying legions of Smith alumnae to each other in one final act of tradition. I came up with this: in the chaos that is graduation weekend, there is little stopping—stopping the noise, the energy, the flow of all things. In that circle, the actual act of graduating is prolonged, for some more than for others, and no one has the power to change the time it takes to find her diploma. There’s something lovely in that. And, of course, it’s yet another part of The Smith Experience that is impossible to translate."

We won't be reuning on commencement weekend this time, so we can't witness the Diploma Circle this time around, but I think that the return to campus and the tradition of reunion is another very special part of the Smith Experience, another link in the chain that connects us. I hope you'll join us.

Women Battle "Macho" Culture in Science and Tech Professions

This article from last Thursday's NEW YORK TIMES, discusses a study by the Center for Work-Life Policy to be published in the June issue of the Harvard Business Review, which paints a portrait of a macho culture in the science, engineering, and technical professions, where women are outsiders, and where those who do enter are likely to eventually leave.

Engineering has risen to become the fifth most popular major among Smithies. Smith is the first and only U.S. college to offer an all-women's engineering program.

The new Ford building, the location and size of which I strongly opposed, has struggled to find funding and is not yet completed. It is the first building on campus named after a corporation. It will be the largest building in the entire city of Northampton. It will be the permanent home of the Smith engineering program, as well as home to other sciences.

Perhaps if it does help women to obtain a stronger and more permanent foothold in engineering and the sciences, it will have been worth the terrible price Northampton and the Smith campus have paid for its construction.

Related post:

An Open Letter to Girls Considering a Career in IT

An Open Letter to Girls Considering a Career in IT

I don't know if the author of this piece is a Smithie, but she exudes a Smithie spirit. This opinion piece was published today by one of my colleagues at Jupitermedia. If you have a career in IT, have friends that do, or you have some other career that combines geekdom and creativity, this is worth a read. (It's also relatively short.)

Enjoy.

An Open Letter to Girls Considering a Career in IT

Marjane Satrapi to Speak at Smith April 3rd

Marjane Satrapi, whose autobiographical novel about the Islamic Revolution, “Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood,” was adapted into an Academy Award-nominated animated film of the same name, will speak at Smith College at 7 p.m., Thursday, April 3. More info here.

Smithies in the News

DAILY HAMPSHIRE GAZETTE, March 7, 2008
With her play "Commedia dell Smartass" being performed in Hadley this weekend and next, playwright and Smith alumna Sonya Sobieski '91 has sought to take "an ingeniously new slant" on the American high school experience, notes the Gazette arts reviewer. Unfortunately, the Gazette will not allow anyone to view its content without a subscription, so we can't link to the story. (Stupid Gazette.)

Gloria Steinem '56 speaks at Lafayette College
While she considers this year's Democratic presidential primary a truer representation of democracy than previous contests, Smith alumna and feminist activist Gloria Steinem '56 (right, with Naomi at Smith last fall) expressed disappointment recently, to a capacity crowd at Lafayette College, that media coverage focuses on questions of either race or sex but not both. "The battles for racial and sexual equality have been and should be interwoven," she said. "Where does that leave the women of color?"

Hillary Clinton for President

If you live in Vermont, Texas, Ohio, or Rhode Island, I'm sure you've been inundated by proponents for all the candidates in today's primary. In general, I like to leave people alone when it comes to their voting decisions, but I feel so strongly about today's potential result, that I wanted to take a moment and express my sincerest hope that you and (and everyone else you know in these states) will vote for Hillary Clinton today.

I voted for Hillary because when I told my grandfather that I'd gotten into my first choice law school a few years ago, he said, "Women should be teachers." And when my mother wanted to be an engineer, my grandfather told her, "Women should be teachers. " I want my grandfather to see a woman President in his lifetime. I want my four-year-old niece to see one, too. I want them both to know that women can be teachers, if they want, but that they can also get law degrees and become world leaders.

There are a hundred other reasons why I believe Hillary Clinton is the best choice for the Democratic nomination, but rather than subject you to such a long list, I'll just say I think she will serve our country well.

I love going to the polls and I hope you'll enjoy your trip there today as much as I enjoyed mine on Super Tuesday.

A Female Presidential Candidate

The Boston Globe ran an interesting article today about the predicament Hillary Clinton is facing as a woman running for President. The writer of the piece articulated many of the same frustrations that I articulated in a note to friends, asking them to consider candidate Clinton, that I wrote just before Super Tuesday.

Regardless of your political leanings, you may find the article interesting.

Read the Globe article, "Clinton's Struggle Vexes Feminists" here.
Read my e-mail on the subject here.

If you are a Hillary supporter, you can get yourself a free bumper sticker. Go here to find out how. I didn't want to stick a bumper sticker to my car, so I just taped mine to the window. :-)