Marcus -
Well observed, as usual.
You state:
"My experience is that, in the world of software engineering, women are
often easier to work with then men. Often they have better listening
skills and better impulse control -- and so there is less of the Not
Invented Here syndrome which plagues so many projects. But only so many
`family oriented' people will work 12-16 hour days."
When I entered the professional work world, women were already
significantly represented at all levels of Systems/Software Engineering
except maybe management. During my mid career, many women entered
middle and upper management. In general I experienced the same things
(better listening skills, impulse control, and other ego-barriers)
compared to men, although, by that time I had mostly arranged to work
with people (men and women) who had transcended most of that, at least
in the context of my teams.
I found women as direct supervisors to be much easier to communicate
with and negotiate the complexities of my own role as
team/project/small-group leader/manager. While they *could* make the
"hard decisions", they did not seem to feel the need to prove it by
making arbitrary "hard decisions" as some of my male supervisors seemed
compelled to do. Mine is a very small sample set in a very unique
(National Laboratory) environment, so has little if any more than
anecdotal value.
I'm not so sure about your specific statement:
"I think that's nonsense. A good team is made of people
that are engaged in the technical work, and not each other."
I do agree that strong cliques may neither be sufficient nor necessary
but anecdotally they do seem to provide some useful side-effects that
support intra-team communication and cooperation. More than anything, I
find that a "healthy" team can help a new member find resonance with the
teams values and habits (work ethic, quality work product, open
communication, etc.) while an "unhealthy" one can undermine an
individual's natural instincts or choices.
The teams that formed "by circumstance" were often the most effective
and "healthy", the ones formed by "fiat" often never had a chance
(remember the HS habit of making us work in "teams" where there was
always at least one slacker/bozo?).
In a larger pool of individuals with solid technical skills, a
reasonable work ethic, and a modest sense of quality, I believe that, as
I think you imply, teams can form as needed, independent of any specific
"identity". I have seen this in action and in at least one case,
watched subteams form and morph effectively and fluidly from that pool.
I'm not sure what that critical mass is, but it *was* one of the "holy
grails" of SFX, to establish such a pool that could respond to
opportunities quickly, effectively and fluidly. Of course the work
(and the ability to land it) was also required. The paradox of chickens
and eggs.
- Steve
Astra Taylor writes:
``Those women who do fight their way into the industry often end up
leaving -- their attrition rate is 56%, or double that of men -- and
sexism is a big part of what pushes them out. “I no longer touch code
because I couldn't deal with the constant dismissing and undermining of
even my most basic work by the ‘brogramming’ gulag I worked for,” wrote
one woman in a roundup of answers to the question: Why there are so few
female engineers?''
Women form cliques too. I'm all for prohibiting all of this (coalition
formation and politics) from the work place, but that's not likely to
happen. Make it as taboo as sexual harassment. Some people believe
that this is all part of what gives a team good morale and
communication. I think that's nonsense. A good team is made of people
that are engaged in the technical work, and not each other.
My experience is that, in the world of software engineering, women are
often easier to work with then men. Often they have better listening
skills and better impulse control -- and so there is less of the Not
Invented Here syndrome which plagues so many projects. But only so many
`family oriented' people will work 12-16 hour days.
Marcus
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