Day 96 - Sustainability issues for 'keeping our female coders"

Yesterday I wrote about balance.  The fact that finding balance is particularly challenging in the tech industry has been agreed upon for some time, might have something to do with this (not so surprising) demographic analysis  graphic I found in the latest issue of Bloomberg Businessweek issue "What is Code?)

.... demographics from Stack Overflow's 2015 developer survey

Section 2.6 of Paul's Ford's 38,000 word essay shares insights on these demographic mostly related to the discouraging norms in the tech culture (including but not limited to sexual harassment so rampant that today's conferences are including codes of conduct to curtail it).

"The problem is pervasive: There are a lot of conferences, and there have been many reports of harassing behavior. The language Ruby, the preferred language for startup bros, developed the worst reputation. At a Ruby conference in 2009, someone gave a talk subtitled “Perform Like a Pr0n Star,” with sexy slides. That was dispiriting. There have been criminal incidents, too.
Conferences began to develop codes of conduct, rules and algorithms for people (men, really) to follow.

 From our own Local Conference in Burlington Vermont: 

If you are subject to or witness unacceptable behavior, or have any other concerns, please notify a community organizer as soon as possible … 


—Burlington Ruby Conference

"The problem with women in technology isn't the women" concludes Paul Ford in his 38,000 word essay written for  the latest issue of Bloomberg Businessweek (which  devoted  the whole issue to  What is Code?)

http://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/2015-paul-ford-what-is-code/

Day 95: Revising my blogging goal

I set off to post something every day in 2015 that might interest girls in tech or others who are interested in the topics of women in tech.  You might have noticed a gap back in March  and another gap starting late April and early May.

What do those have in common!

 "A parallel increase in the need for 'attention to family'  and 'attention to a big work-related project!"

In March, I found myself trying to juggle a trip to Vermont that centered around some big work related projects and seeing my grandchildren and family.  Turns out "I can't do it all" and my blogging goal was moved to the back burner.

In late April/early May our mobile lifestyle brings us back to Vermont - which  brought both reuniting with my family and  increased professional commitments hurdling at me full force.  The enjoyment of both of these important forces in my life brought back the reoccurring theme  of "I can't do it all"  and again my blogging goal moved to the back burner.

Every time I experience or notice something that definitely should become part of this blog I feel the guilt from putting the TechSavvy Girls blogging goal on a hiatus rise.  But what it comes down to is a struggle I've had all my adult life ~ how to find the right balance between loved ones, profession, and personal goals.  It's a struggle many women feel from Sheryl Sandberg  to Anne Marie Slaughter.
In her recent article  "Why Women Still Can't Have it All"  offers insights on the balance struggles and even offers some recommendations of what must change for us to come close to finding that desired balance.

So in the perpetual search for balance I've decided to rewrite my blogging goal and instead of trying to write 'each day' in the TechSavvy Girls blog,  I'm going to change it to:

write at least 100 post this year that might be of interest to TechSavvy Girls readers... and when I reach the 100th post.. I'll just keep on writing - and stop counting.