About Gender Preference
This post isn't about bias, but it is about something far less insidious. What if you just prefer what feels familiar to you or what is easier to read or you relate to naturally more?
I've had some interactions with some wonderful people lately, some of whom I respect deeply that made me wonder. I know that none of them consider themselves to have any gender bias or even preference. First was a minor argument with Craig in the kitchen after work. I was cooking us dinner and he came in to ask about my day. I told him that our wedding rehearsal was like dragging a drunk stranger to a Las Vegas chapel and having the Elvis minister not show up. He responded, "You know I don't like all of the metaphors. Just tell me what happened?" I was quite upset by this. I told him if he doesn't like talking to me that he doesn't like ME and that he was just rude and I don't get pissed and tell him to stop being so boring and literal when he tells me about his day. I don't insist he tantalize my mind a little. My metaphor took under 30 seconds while I was cooking for us, so really? He would begrudge me a metaphor? Well, it isn't about the metaphor, but I'll get to that.
Some of my favorite male writers have had me thinking lately. I've checked their blog rolls and the list of books they are reading and recommending. Not a single female writer among them. It isn't that I think they are at all biased, because I don't. They simply prefer the writing style of males. Well, also, there is less content to choose from that is topical and well written from females at this point, so I'm not trying to be critical, I simply noticed this and have been thinking about it.
The last and worst interaction I had was mentioning the decline of women in software testing in the last 5 years. You'll notice a huge shift of women out of engineering and software testing and into project and program management or even to management where possible. This isn't because women aren't capable of being amazing testers and software developers. It is because the system of rewards has moved towards processes which have a gender preference for measurement. Soft skills have no value in the measurement system and are given no credit. Style is worth nothing and cooperation counts for nothing of use. What can't be measured is thrown out, assumed to be of no value. When I brought this up to one of the women I most respect she asked me, "Have you asked the women how they felt? If they wanted to stay in testing and engineering?" I said that I hadn't because why would that matter? Why would you want to stay feeling undervalued and like you are in a no win situation? By the time the number of women left has dwindled and the number of new women studying and in the trenches has shrunk substantially, it is too late to get valid data by asking them what they want. They want to be appreciated for the skills they have and if the system is set up to prevent that, why would they want to stay? They will simply do something else.
Having been in software testing for ten years my opinion is that it has become a place with gender preference. Not gender bias, because if you act like a man, think like a man, and play the measurement and process game like a man there is no bias there at all. The way that work is valued has moved away from using cooperation, intuition and teamwork and towards using data, individual performance, and stripped down language. In an environment where there are no points for style and beauty the stark white walls are not pleasing to some of us who have a more feminine style. We won't complain much about the environment, what would be the point? Instead we just vote with our feet and pick somewhere we feel more comfortable. I think it's a loss to the whole industry and it takes software backwards.
So, I ask you for something simple. If you haven't thought about your gender preference, pick one book by a female author, or one blog written by a woman, or one song by a female artist and give it a try. Think about how the style may be different from what you are used to. See if it grows on you. Is there one thing you can do to bring some balance back to software as an industry? Those who need to read this most wouldn't be reading my blog. Instead they would be reading a bulleted list, something based more in data. Maybe you could pass along the essence of the message and ask them to consider their balance and try the ideas of just one female in software, maybe just a link to something they might like in the total menu of their data intake.
I've had some interactions with some wonderful people lately, some of whom I respect deeply that made me wonder. I know that none of them consider themselves to have any gender bias or even preference. First was a minor argument with Craig in the kitchen after work. I was cooking us dinner and he came in to ask about my day. I told him that our wedding rehearsal was like dragging a drunk stranger to a Las Vegas chapel and having the Elvis minister not show up. He responded, "You know I don't like all of the metaphors. Just tell me what happened?" I was quite upset by this. I told him if he doesn't like talking to me that he doesn't like ME and that he was just rude and I don't get pissed and tell him to stop being so boring and literal when he tells me about his day. I don't insist he tantalize my mind a little. My metaphor took under 30 seconds while I was cooking for us, so really? He would begrudge me a metaphor? Well, it isn't about the metaphor, but I'll get to that.
Some of my favorite male writers have had me thinking lately. I've checked their blog rolls and the list of books they are reading and recommending. Not a single female writer among them. It isn't that I think they are at all biased, because I don't. They simply prefer the writing style of males. Well, also, there is less content to choose from that is topical and well written from females at this point, so I'm not trying to be critical, I simply noticed this and have been thinking about it.
The last and worst interaction I had was mentioning the decline of women in software testing in the last 5 years. You'll notice a huge shift of women out of engineering and software testing and into project and program management or even to management where possible. This isn't because women aren't capable of being amazing testers and software developers. It is because the system of rewards has moved towards processes which have a gender preference for measurement. Soft skills have no value in the measurement system and are given no credit. Style is worth nothing and cooperation counts for nothing of use. What can't be measured is thrown out, assumed to be of no value. When I brought this up to one of the women I most respect she asked me, "Have you asked the women how they felt? If they wanted to stay in testing and engineering?" I said that I hadn't because why would that matter? Why would you want to stay feeling undervalued and like you are in a no win situation? By the time the number of women left has dwindled and the number of new women studying and in the trenches has shrunk substantially, it is too late to get valid data by asking them what they want. They want to be appreciated for the skills they have and if the system is set up to prevent that, why would they want to stay? They will simply do something else.
Having been in software testing for ten years my opinion is that it has become a place with gender preference. Not gender bias, because if you act like a man, think like a man, and play the measurement and process game like a man there is no bias there at all. The way that work is valued has moved away from using cooperation, intuition and teamwork and towards using data, individual performance, and stripped down language. In an environment where there are no points for style and beauty the stark white walls are not pleasing to some of us who have a more feminine style. We won't complain much about the environment, what would be the point? Instead we just vote with our feet and pick somewhere we feel more comfortable. I think it's a loss to the whole industry and it takes software backwards.
So, I ask you for something simple. If you haven't thought about your gender preference, pick one book by a female author, or one blog written by a woman, or one song by a female artist and give it a try. Think about how the style may be different from what you are used to. See if it grows on you. Is there one thing you can do to bring some balance back to software as an industry? Those who need to read this most wouldn't be reading my blog. Instead they would be reading a bulleted list, something based more in data. Maybe you could pass along the essence of the message and ask them to consider their balance and try the ideas of just one female in software, maybe just a link to something they might like in the total menu of their data intake.
Do you know why there are more male testers? It's because they have more testerosterone! (Yes, this is one of the few test "jokes" I made up all on my own. I was very proud, seeing as I like to write humor and it's usually very hard for me to make Software Test funny...)
Men and women communicate differently...it's true. Having come from a big family of engineers and being an engineer myself, I originally was much more like a typical "male" in my communication... logical, analytical, academic. When I became a manager, I became more of a people person. And the truth is, I loved it, the pay was better, and I found it much easier than engineering. My personality became more "social" and my writing became less academic. I became more of a "feeler" than a "thinker" on the good ol' Myers Briggs. I suppose my communication style morphed into a more typically feminine style.
I think we typically prefer (or at least understand) people who are more like us. More women than men like "chick flicks." More men than women like shoot-em-up adventures. That doesn't mean these two can't overlap. Most men watch an occasional movie that appeals more to women and vice versa.
I think the same is true in the Tech industry. I like your blog better than most from this industry and it's probably because you write like a woman! I don't mind that we're in a minority. It gives us a more unique voice. A more entertaining voice, in my opinion -- but that may be because I'm biased, being a woman myself and all.
Bottom line is, we're different. Not just men and women, but each one of us. I was pushed into engineering because I was good at math and science and not many women were in the field, but I'm much happier as a manager. The thing is, I don't think I'd ever have found my way to management had I not started as an engineer... Man or woman, we each find our own paths, our own voices and our own passions. Viva la difference!
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That is a cute joke!
I'm an ENFJ on the myers brigg and also on the SDI was the only blue/red in my team. That makes me an aggressive mentor who wants to help and help NOW if you know you need it or not.
Despite my feminine style I've always loved research and science. I have a natural ability to fix things and persistence to figure out complex problems. Formal logic was really the only math I ever loved.
I don't want everyone to be the same. I agree, the difference is great. I just don't want the abilities and talents of capable women to be dismissed due to a difference of style.
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Being a male, here is where I disagree with you:
Female authored books on my shelf and my recommendations list on amazon.de: Agile Testing from Lisa Crispin and Janet Gregory, Fearless Change from Mary-Ann Manns and Linda Rising (at least I got two). I love listening to Nightwish, when I'm in the mood for it and I love to watch family humor and I was out as the only guy with 8 other females (don't tell my wife
Now, finally this is where I agree with you:
There is some maybe bias, maybe preference for the gender in software. When reflecting the numbers of new student subscribed to computer science back in my university years, I think you're right. Thus far computer science seem to not have attracted that many women. But there are different professions that also hold the same. For example car repairs is a male-dominant craft. There are several other examples of it. This does not mean something, this does not mean something bad. This is just data. I have worked with a larger number of females on my team, and with a larger number of males on my team. Both teams differed in some specifics, un-balancing the team in general is not something good - in either way.
It's something that needs improvements and I think there are good females out there showing us the differences. Hopefully the preference or bias may end in some future years, we'll see, but like any change this may take time....
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Good point. I only noticed by coincidence some of the blog authors I read had this imbalance. Obviously, this isn't true for all. James Bach is one of my favorite writers and he also has a balanced list with some female, some males. I'm not trying to say changing a list is the answer, because the list should reflect what you really like and read. I'm just saying that I noticed and was surprised that I had more than one writer who I read often with no females at all on their lists of books they sent me or their blog rolls. I didn't mean to imply that was true of all of the authors I regularly read.
Also, I don't mean to imply that all teams should have a certain number of women. All I mean to say is that dedicated and qualified women should be appreciated and have equal opportunity to succeed in software as anyone else. Part of why I say this is I've been told countless times to adopt a more "male" style, or basically not be myself in order to go further. That by simply having a feminine style I'm limiting my career. I'd like that to not be true.
You might be interested to know that my first college course was in auto repair. I can repair brakes and also arch weld. I was the only female in the course at the time. I stopped taking the classes partly because the cost of tools to get started was more than I could afford. I passed the courses by the way (they weren't graded, but certification was pass or fail). Part of the reason I changed direction away from car repair was I didn't like the people involved. Also, I fell in love with computers that year and got online. I wanted to be on the computer every day for my job.
My point in this blog is that there are fewer women in software testing than five years ago. Fewer women are taking computer science in college. We aren't making progress, we are going backwards as an industry. I think that this trend is disappointing.
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I definitely feel more comfortable working with people who think like middle-class men of mammalian descent, raised in Vermont, in the 70's. I'm more comfortable with self-educated people, too, and extroverts whose idea of fun is to challenge each other loudly with brainteasers.
But to be good at my work, being comfortable must not be my highest priority. I learned early on, through direct experience, that a diversified test team is stronger and better, all other things being equal, than a monolithic team. This is because diversity helps us serve a wider variety of clients, and diversity helps us think of more kinds of solutions. (The general systems basis for this is called "The Law of Requisite Variety".)
You are seeing this industry trend as a rejection of soft skills as the craft turns more to skills more comfortable for men. I think I'm looking at the same trend, but from my point of view it looks like something more general: deliberate dumbing down of testing. This trend is propelled by incompetent managers who, instead of learning how to manage intellectuals, prefer to transform testing into something mechanical. Much easier to manage that way, despite being worse testing. But mechanical testing emphasizes automation, therefore programming, and programming is generally more popular among people who aren't very social... and there are more men like that, I bet.
The social side of tech is why I stopped being a production programmer. I prefer testing because testing is more talky. I also prefer testing because I get to work with modeling and metaphors as a fundamental part of the work. I don't see this as a gender thing. I think it's an intellectual thing.
Speaking of using one's intelligence, excuse me, but Craig does not speak for men when he begs you not to use metaphors. Men can handle metaphors. Call him a "lion" and he doesn't say "get to the point" does he? He was probably just worn out from the fact that you were talking at all. And of course, the example you gave wasn't a metaphor, it was an analogy. And yes, when it comes to analogies, men are like when those animals do that stuff. In other words, we're great with analogies.
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Your use of "mammalian descent" gave me the giggles as I thought of the people of "reptilian descent" I've met. I came from a middle class family too and being raised without a television educated myself using the local library and my own experiments with bees, jars, and the freezer more than what I learned just at school. Fun is being discouraged and nearly outlawed in the workplace in a way I've not seen before anywhere. It is quite discouraging and that has nothing to do with gender. Why is work in software becoming dehumanizing in some cases? I think you are right that this goes far beyond a gender issue.
It was odd to me that he asked how my day was and then was worn out from less than a minute of talking. I saw his asking me a question as an invitation to interact. Maybe it was obligatory on his part. Many people ask me to speak more plainly. I understand why they want that change, but I still judge them and wonder why they are mentally lazy.
I am seeing this trend in job descriptions which unintentionally rule out most females.
Craig has many good moments and I didn't mean to be unfair to him by bringing up only a crappy one, but I agree with your point here. Craig processes words far differently than I do. I've read 41 books so far this year and he's still reading "Altered Carbon" which he started reading late in 2007. He has read a few books on coding since as needed, but he doesn't like words for fun the way I do.
Often I've been told to simplify what I'm saying. It amazes me how lazy most of us are when it comes to listening or reading. As I try to find my writing voice I try to consider how I can present my content on a platter while still being me. It's a tough balance to find.
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