What didn't he see?

[elsmi]

So probably some of you already know a depressing fact about free software: its developers are about 98.5% male. That's not hyperbole, it's a real statistic; female participation ratios are about 10-30 times worse than for even closely related fields like professional programming or academic computer science. It's a wonderful, wonderful community

Comments

[ciphergoth]

Fascinating, Tweeted it - thanks!

[sartorias]

This is fascinating stuff. I need some time to ponder and follow these links, but thanks for the heads up.

[lutin]

Yeah. What she said.

(Thanks, njs!)
(Thanks also, mippo!)

[elsmi]

You're welcome!

(Mippo is in the wash, but I will pass that on when he returns!)

[elsmi]

Glad you find it interesting!

[garote]

Yes, I was just about to point that out. I found the assumption - that 'fangirls' are the least tech-savvy audience one can find - almost ironic

[shweta_narayan]

Yes, I was just about to point that out. I found the assumption - that 'fangirls' are the least tech-savvy audience one can find - almost ironic.

Er.... you guys realize that bit was irony, right?
Or maybe AYKB is not as clearly that to everyone on elsmi's flist as it is to us here?

[elsmi]

Re: RaceFail, I'm not sure we have a common point of reference. I mostly saw people trying to talk to other people, and I'm not sure what public protest has to do with anything.

Re: male computer geeks panicking around women, certainly that's a factor, but I think if you read those threads (and similar discussions elsewhere) then you'll see that there's rather a bit more going on :-(.

[dichroic]

There's a reason I have a paid account over on Dreamworks! It's a pleasingly female-heavy project and I like being able to support that.

[elsmi]

I bought an account over there too ("njs") for similar reasons, though I'm not sure yet whether I'll end up using it for anything :-). At least I have my name reserved!

[dichroic]

I also like having it as a backup too. At this point, I write everything on my own site (so it's saved somewhere I own, but that site doesn't get the readership or conversation of LJ) and echo it to both DW and LJ - LJ because that's where I read, write and get the most comments, DW mostly in case LJ goes haywire. I don't really have much need for more than one blog, except that my husband and I also have one focused on travel and expat life that we point families etc to.

Even though I really don't otherwise participate in the free software movement, I guess as a woman who still identifies as an engineer, who once earned a living as a software engineer, I sort of feel engineering and programmer women are 'my people'.

[shveta_thakrar]

Thanks for this, Nathaniel.