I want more competent people in all jobs regardless of their genetic and cultural makeup.
In software development, we seem to be beset by an astonishing array of incompetence. The bar is so low that nobody should argue that any particular sub-group of the population would, by nature, be worse.
However, I am always intrigued that when people talk about "diversity", they always look to balance the high end of the spectrum, and never the low end.
For example:
Between 2003 and 2008, over 39 out of every 40 deaths in (US) military operations in Iraq were men. Where's the outcry about gender imbalance?
Who is in prison, the world over as criminals or political prisoners? The vast majority are men. Where's the outcry about gender imbalance?
In the US, most homeless people are men. Where's the outcry about gender imbalance?
Over 90% of people killed while performing their job are men. Where's the outcry about gender imbalance?
Men on average die three of four years younger than women. Where's all the research into finding out why?
Why on the news, when reporting exam results, is it a triumph that girls have outperformed boys for the last several years?
I read an article once that said that two industries showing the greatest gender imbalance were "programming" and janitoring. The article then went on to talk about systematic gender discrimination in the software field (yes... "geeks" and "nerds" came into it a lot). But why did the article make no more mention of the need to get more women into janitoring?
In software development, we seem to be beset by an astonishing array of incompetence. The bar is so low that nobody should argue that any particular sub-group of the population would, by nature, be worse.
However, I am always intrigued that when people talk about "diversity", they always look to balance the high end of the spectrum, and never the low end.
For example:
Between 2003 and 2008, over 39 out of every 40 deaths in (US) military operations in Iraq were men. Where's the outcry about gender imbalance?
Who is in prison, the world over as criminals or political prisoners? The vast majority are men. Where's the outcry about gender imbalance?
In the US, most homeless people are men. Where's the outcry about gender imbalance?
Over 90% of people killed while performing their job are men. Where's the outcry about gender imbalance?
Men on average die three of four years younger than women. Where's all the research into finding out why?
Why on the news, when reporting exam results, is it a triumph that girls have outperformed boys for the last several years?
I read an article once that said that two industries showing the greatest gender imbalance were "programming" and janitoring. The article then went on to talk about systematic gender discrimination in the software field (yes... "geeks" and "nerds" came into it a lot). But why did the article make no more mention of the need to get more women into janitoring?