[OSGeo-Discuss] new: OSGeo women mailing list

[Miles Fidelman]

Landon Blake wrote:
>
> My main point is that we should encourage more diversity in our 
> professions. Software development and land surveying would benefit 
> from more women, and nursing would likely benefit from more men. 
> (Ironically, I have a good friend that is in school for nursing right 
> now, and he is a man.)
>
>  
>
It's really a thorny problem.

I can't speak much to cultural issues in engineering that might turn off 
women.  Certainly engineering professions are disproportionately 
populated with those of us with crude senses of humor.  On the other 
hand, I've worked with an awful lot of women engineers over the years, 
and the culture didn't seem to bother them (several with pretty crude 
senses of humor of their own).  There's certainly some self-selection 
going on, but that presumably applies to guys as well.

The verdict seems to be out on whether there is selection going on based 
on developmental and/or cognitive differences in male and female 
brains.  Again, though, I've worked with some very competent women 
engineers, and I know lots of guys who can't think logically if their 
life depended on it.

A somewhat clearer issue has to do with preparation for engineering 
school.  A while back, I spent a few years as volunteer "educational 
councilor" for MIT - alumni who both interview applicants, and who do 
outreach to high school students and guidance councilors.  MIT has had 
female students since almost the beginning, and a pretty high percentage 
of female students and staff, BUT... at least when I was interviewing, 
we kept running into guidance councilors who would steer girls away from 
math and science classes.  At a school with a very stiff math 
requirement for entry, and where almost every incoming student has taken 
a year of calculus in high school, that put a real dent in our ability 
to recruit women.  I expect this situation has gotten better, but then, 
at least in our local school system, there's been a general deemphasis 
on science and engineering in general - somewhat problematic in a suburb 
of Boston with lots of MIT grads (and professors) living here.

Then there's the question of role models, mentors, and such.  Again, I 
expect this has gotten better over the years, but like senior 
management, senior engineering ranks are still populated by a generation 
of largely male engineers.

Whether these are issues that can be addressed at the level of a 
specific project, or group of projects, is unclear.  It would seem more 
an issue for the academic world, professional societies, and groups like 
AMITA (Assoc. of MIT Alumna).

Having said that, I'll pose the question:  How many women are working on 
OSGeo projects?  How many are visible in the profession, and/or in 
academic circles?  Seems to me that the best way to attract more women 
to OSGeo ranks are for the women who are already here to be highly 
visible to their female colleagues.

-- 
Miles R. Fidelman, Director of Government Programs
Traverse Technologies 
145 Tremont Street, 3rd Floor
Boston, MA  02111
mfidelman at traversetechnologies.com
857-362-8314
www.traversetechnologies.com