Did you know that the first software engineer was a woman? Did you know that this was over a hundred and fifty years ago? Intrigued? THEN WATCH THIS SPACE (not constantly)! (Or solve the mystery on our message board. Go on smartie, we won't be offended!)
Professor Britta Schinzel from the ministry of Science, Research and Arts, Baden-Wrttemberg, recently conducted an experiment to determine gender-based differences in approaches to software development and implementation. "To simplify," writes Dr Schinzel, "we could say that male software developers are generally more oriented toward technical aspects, whereas female software developers are more oriented toward application and the users." Unfortunately experiment results are presently only available in German. Click HERE to learn more. Do you fit the stereotype? Tell us what you think on the message board.
Laurel McKee Ranger provides accounts of personal histories of women in software engineering, speaking with those who were there in the "beginning" when "there was no ladies' bathroom" in engineering faculties and taking us up to the sudden "boom" of women that the industry experienced in the 80s. Click HERE to learn more.
NATHAN ENSMENGER and WILLIAM ASPRAY are historians of computer science who trace the professional history of women in software engineering --- from humble beginnings to "Admiral Grace Hopper receiving her "Man of the Year" award in 1962." Aspray and Ensmenger also provide a catalogue of the stereotypes that are said to be responsible for the dearth of WOMEN IN SOFTWARE ENGINEERING, see if you agree! Click HERE to read their article.
Want to meet a "Free Software developer at the IBM Linux Technology Center in Brazil" and share her experiences of being a woman engineer in a gratuitously "hospitable" environment? Click HERE to read "Women in Free Software" by Fernanda Weiden.
Click HEREfive star hotel in Budapest to read an academic article dealing with gender in open source software development. PDF document.
A second article by the same author, deals with some scary misogyny going on within and beyond the workplace. PDF document. Although we like to accentuate the positive at Women in Software, we cannot pretend that the negative isn't happening. Share your thoughts on our moderated message board.
