In my experience men in technical fields are very welcoming towards women (and I have been in the field for 10 years). It is social pressure from other women that keeps them out. They judge each other on their social skills, technical skills get no props.
The solution to get more women on this blog is for there to be more “social” oriented posts so women can use those as an excuse to their friends why they come here, and not have to feel embarrassed. But the deeper solution is for women to put less pressure on each other.
This is a complete mismatch for what I’ve heard from women who find life difficult in technical fields. You may be underestimating the effect of a small percentage of men who are hostile to women or a larger percentage who want to be welcoming but who don’t do it well.
This assumes that people care what their friends think about their doings on the internet. I don’t need to use anything as an excuse for coming to this site, because none of my friends (male or female) are likely to know.
Your solution would apply more to being the only girl going to chess club in high school, and I don’t know any girls who avoided that because they were afraid of ostracization from other girls. For me, it was because I was afraid of looking stupid in front of boys when I inevitably lost. To me, that’s the most threatening part of entering an all-male or mostly-male space: the fear (whether founded or not) that my mistakes will be chalked up to my femaleness.
In my experience men in technical fields are very welcoming towards women (and I have been in the field for 10 years). It is social pressure from other women that keeps them out. They judge each other on their social skills, technical skills get no props.
The solution to get more women on this blog is for there to be more “social” oriented posts so women can use those as an excuse to their friends why they come here, and not have to feel embarrassed. But the deeper solution is for women to put less pressure on each other.
This is a complete mismatch for what I’ve heard from women who find life difficult in technical fields. You may be underestimating the effect of a small percentage of men who are hostile to women or a larger percentage who want to be welcoming but who don’t do it well.
I’d guess it probably varies by geographical locale (and possibly some other factors, e.g. age cohorts, as well).
This assumes that people care what their friends think about their doings on the internet. I don’t need to use anything as an excuse for coming to this site, because none of my friends (male or female) are likely to know.
Your solution would apply more to being the only girl going to chess club in high school, and I don’t know any girls who avoided that because they were afraid of ostracization from other girls. For me, it was because I was afraid of looking stupid in front of boys when I inevitably lost. To me, that’s the most threatening part of entering an all-male or mostly-male space: the fear (whether founded or not) that my mistakes will be chalked up to my femaleness.