OK, some women are concerned about sexism in IT. Here “s what I think.

First, I do not like when people curse in public . Not just because that there are women in the audience, but it “s just plain wrong.

Second, there is very small number of women programmers. Is this because some bad guy do not let them in? I doubt it. For some reason, women decided to abandon this profession. Are there some idiots that believe that men are superior? Yes, there are, but they are minority. I “ve never heard that a woman was denied employment in IT because of her gender.

Do women earn less money than men? Most likely. Is it because their priorities are taking care of kids and husbands/boyfriends? Most likely.

Is it wrong?

IT managers need go-getters. Most of the women need to take care of kids and us. They can ‘t stay late. Of course, there are exceptions. But mediocre managers do not want to take chances, and the vast majority on enterprise managers are mediocre.

I “d love to see more women in IT and wrote a section about it in my e-book “Enterprise software without the BS rdquo; (look for “S/he or cherchez la femme “) .

On the other hand, I think it “s wrong that people in the USA are AFRAID to say a compliment to a woman, because they might get sued. My friend had to watch a video during her orientation day in a major corporation. They were showing several episodes. Here “s one of them.

Two men are sitting in a corp. cafeteria. A woman in a short skirt stops by a vending machine. She bends to pick whatever she purchased. The men “s heads automatically turn to see her yes indeed. She files a sexual harassment suit.

Here “s another episode. A secretary makes a compliment to her boss about his neck tie. He can sue her for sexual harassment.

Is this insane or what?

I think that enterprises that force people to maintain gender-less relations are doomed. This is not healthy and not productive. I ‘ve been working with lots of women that were great programmers. Mary, you look so good today, but please do not put me in trouble for saying this!