First, you are faced with a whole bunch of detractors.
They range from your colleagues, your employers, your prospective employers, your classmates in University last time, your friends (or acquaintances) , etc.
And most of them are MEN.What kind of criticism are we faced with?
They range from the mild/ brutually honest passing remarks to the snide spiteful plain discriminating actions.
Like for example:
a very experienced male colleague of mine told me very sincerely that i was in the wrong field. Simply because of the genetic makeup of being a Female. Apparently it has been scientifically proved that men are more suitable in the IT Field because they are able to use logical thinking better whereas women tend to rely on intuition and depend on emotion. Well, yes it may be true, but how do u expect me to react? I am stuck where i am so i can only smile at him meekly and nod in agreement and continue to do my work. I respect this colleague of mine dearly because he is always sharing his wisdom and i know he only means well. Still, the truth hurts, that i can't do my job as well as men just because of my genetic makeup. It makes me wonder how many ppl out there still have this notion and how it may affect a woman climbing up the corporate ladder in the IT world.
I still remember an even more hurtful comment that i received, from another MALE colleague of mine. Let's call his Mr D ( D for disgusting because i really detest him yet i have to pretend to be civil to him at work). Mr D once told me very truthfully and honestly that he thinks I should just concentrate on doing administrative work. and he had the cheek to tell me that he thinks i am GREAT at doing administrative work and so i should continue doing it and even do his share of it so that he can concentrate on resolving the tougher issues. To him, work in the IT industry should be split between the administrative (filling up of forms, going through beaucratic processes like change management systems, and producing reports) and the technical (resolving issues, doing the hands on work and doing the changes). And of 'cos those who are better at the technical side of things (of course he means himself) should just concentrate on the technical work. PUI. Like who genuninely enjoys doing admin work. I didnt study hard for 4 long years in university, burning time doing programming work and studying abt microprocessors to do admin work. I want to have my fair share of the more exciting hands on work too ok, MR D. i am fed up with having to work with u and have you always stealing the technical work and leaving the admin work for me to clean up. One day i will stop doing the admin work for u and see how u can survive with all the bloody forms that you have to fill. May the piles of paper work drown you while i enjoy and kick of technical work for once.
Ok sorry maybe i digressed (got too emotional when i thought of mr d).
But Mr D is another typical IT guy in the industry who thinks that he is oh- so- good in technical work and that girls should just focus on the admin work. It's hard to survive as a girl, you have to put down ur dignity, put down ur respect and ask a person like Mr D when you want to pick up technical skills. Endure his "oh i am so almighty good in technical skills" behaviour and pretend that you like him (PUI) and pick up the skills from him. Its even tougher when you have to fight for him for jobs to do and when you have to work with him on a project you know that you will just end up with the less meaty task and probably all the administrative work.
See what we girls have to endure with?
Even in University last time i remember how we were discriminated.
During projects formation it was tough to get guys to join our team and we usually ended up as an all girls team.
Unlike the biz faculty, where the guys would probably be queuing up to join the all girls team.
Its tough in Computer Engineering.
I have to admit that its probably true that guys have an advantage over girls in IT due to their genetic makeup. Somehow they are able to grasp programming concepts better and perform better at the technical projects. Girls have to work doubly hard, and even after working doubly hard, they might not be able to grasp the concepts as well as boys.
I know of many females in the IT industry who don't know why they were there and why they are still there. Like myself. Frankly speaking, i don't know why i chose computer engineering (maybe just because i didn't want to go accountancy where the rest of the female cohort was), and i don't know why i ended up in the IT field and am still here (can't find a new job la).
Many of my friends are in the same boat as me, try asking all my computer engineering female friends why they chose CPE. Some will say don't know, some will say my dad asked me to (hey, come to think of it, my dad did ask me to choose cpe). At the end of the day, everyone survived.Congrats to all my female friends! No matter what class of honors we ended with, i believe that we all deserve to be first class because we did work really hard. :)
Everyone says that CPE girls are plain and ugly while the BIZ/ ART girls are glam and pretty. Well, i will tell u why. Not to defend ourselves, but i gather that its because:
1. We spend more time facing the machine than facing humans- and as a result, reduced incentive to look pretty
2. We have to work harder that females in biz/art. Come on, who can deny that. Engineering girls have the toughest timetables and workloads and we have the toughest competition as well. Throw in the fact that we are genetically deficient (E.g: Guys are better than girls in IT because of their genetic makeup)
3. No incentive to makeup and look pretty when the guys in engineering are not good looking and well dressed as well. Frankly speaking, do you want to wear a dress or short skirt to a lecture theatre full of boys in t shirts, berms/ shorts? Not to mention that the percentage of being exposed is super high and they will probably leer at u.
After graduating from university, what do you get?You are faced with lousy interviewers who look down on you and ask tough IT questions.
(when you are looking for a job in the IT industry of course)
I note that these ppl tend to be MALE, ABOVE 30 years old and are really mean.
Have u ever sat in front of a panel of interviewers (all male and above 30 years old), who look at u in the most demeaning and condescending way ever, asking tough technical questions? And when you cant answer the question they will laugh and say mean words. I have even been questioned about my FYP in front of these MEAN MEN, saying that it is not feasible. (IF MY FYP IS NOT FEASIBLE, MR MEAN, then why did my PROFESSOR give me an A for my FYP and how did i even show him a DEMO?)
I tell you, these boys are really mean. They will pretend to say that they do not discriminate girls and that they will hire from all gender. But in the end, deep down in their hearts you know that they look down on u because of ur genetic makeup and because u dont possess that much of a technical knowledge as a boy. Why can't they see that girls may not be as good as guys technically but they have other good points too? I believe that we are more creative than boys and there should be a good balance between both genders in the industry. There are definitely scenarios where girls are more outstanding than boys in the IT industry.
And side note to female friends who are faced with such an interviewer. Never sit down and take their insults. It was a humiliating interview for me and i sat meekly in my seat, accepted their insults and said thank you to them. The next time, i will just stand up, smile and tell them: "Thank you for your time, but i think there is no need to continue with the interview. You are not the employers i wish to work for." and i shall leave the room. So there.
Life's really tough for a girl in the IT industry.
I've always contemplated on leaving the industry and many colleagues have also advised me to do so. Apart from competing with the men, theres the offshoring trend in IT. Where they can easily replace your headcount with 5 other men in Bangalore/ Mumbai.
And that is why i am writing this post, as a tribute to all the girls, who survived or who once fought together, in the IT industry. We were the cause of our own misery (who told you to choose computer engineering when u were 18 yrs old? :P), and some of us are still causing ourselves misery (who asked u to look for an IT job?)
But no matter what, we are still well deserving of respect, even though we may not be as smart of the geeks (boys) or as quick as the nerds (boys).
To all my wonderful GIRL classmates back in CPE, To all my female colleagues and bosses,
We deserve a Pat on our back.
To all the detractors out there: Shut up and let us do our job.
One day, we'll show you that we can make it in the IT Industry.
(or at least until we change a job and get out! :P)
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