Do women have a brain to program?
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Not in response to the article, but yes, I know that women have the brain to program. I have known several female software engineers in my short time in the industry who are eminently more qualified than I am. To say that a particular gender is incapable of programming is just plain dumb.
Jon Sagara
You know the world is off tilt, when the best rapper is a white guy, the best golfer is a black guy, the tallest basketball player is Chinese, and Germany doesn't want to go to war. -- Charles Barkley
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*switches into his extremely literal mode* So, you're wondering if we can program women's brains? ;P I don't think so. In fact, if we could, I doubt that the popular opinion that men can never understand women would be true any more... :-D "Yeah, and I invented the spellchecker" - fellow inventor Dan Quayle on hearing that Al Gore invented the Internet.
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While men and women differ in their biological structure there is absolutely no difference in the structure and working of the brain. The brain is quite gender neutral, not just in human beings, but in the vast majority of animals (perhaps even all of them but my zoological awareness is not good enough to confirm that). So it would be quite ridiculous to claim that men are better programmers than women given the exact same circumstances. But again the key phrase here is “exact same circumstances”. Typically women are under more pressure to perform well for the following reasons (and there might be others I missed) :- (1) The majority of programmers are male and therefore women programmers are not very commonly found and bosses and project managers usually form a negative view point about women programmers (quite unfairly in my opinion) (2) There are quite a number of men who publicly say and probably believe too that women programmers are inferior. Thus there is always extra pressure on women coders because they have to keep proving that they are as good as any male coder. (3) Sometimes the fact of their being female gains greater importance than their programming ability. Given two women – one of them absolutely attractive, smart and intelligent (but just average coder) and the other a plain looking but very good coder – the majority of men would choose the smarter girl even if she is not as hot at coding (4) I am not very sure about this, but the monthly period cycle might have an adverse effect on women for 2-3 days (5) Women who get married and have kids (or have kids without marriage) will find it hard to program 10 hours a day during the last couple of months of their pregnancy and might end up missing something important like say the official launch of Everett (6) Women in their 40s might face menopausal problems which might affect their programming But then again I want to stress that “under the same circumstances” men and women coders will perform at equal output levels. If at all women programmers find it harder than men, then we only have the society to blame, and this is worse in the 3rd world countries than in the US or Europe. So westerners might find some of my comments very confusing Regards and thanks Nish
Author of the romantic comedy Summer Love and Some more Cricket [New Win] Review by Shog
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Good computer programmers have a high degree of spatial awareness. Studies have revealed that males tend to have a far greater 'spatial awareness' than females. (BTW: the results of these studies can be found on the internet). This is generalisation and a small minority of some females definetly have a greater 'spatial awareness' than their male counter parts. On a future note, when was I a Junior programmer I worked a hippy female senior programmer who was quite adept a coding. To iterate is human, to recurse is devine.
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The 'man' (and using that term is an insult to other men) didn't even leave his name. Probably can't remember it :laugh: Elaine :rose: The tigress is here :-D
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While men and women differ in their biological structure there is absolutely no difference in the structure and working of the brain. The brain is quite gender neutral, not just in human beings, but in the vast majority of animals (perhaps even all of them but my zoological awareness is not good enough to confirm that). So it would be quite ridiculous to claim that men are better programmers than women given the exact same circumstances. But again the key phrase here is “exact same circumstances”. Typically women are under more pressure to perform well for the following reasons (and there might be others I missed) :- (1) The majority of programmers are male and therefore women programmers are not very commonly found and bosses and project managers usually form a negative view point about women programmers (quite unfairly in my opinion) (2) There are quite a number of men who publicly say and probably believe too that women programmers are inferior. Thus there is always extra pressure on women coders because they have to keep proving that they are as good as any male coder. (3) Sometimes the fact of their being female gains greater importance than their programming ability. Given two women – one of them absolutely attractive, smart and intelligent (but just average coder) and the other a plain looking but very good coder – the majority of men would choose the smarter girl even if she is not as hot at coding (4) I am not very sure about this, but the monthly period cycle might have an adverse effect on women for 2-3 days (5) Women who get married and have kids (or have kids without marriage) will find it hard to program 10 hours a day during the last couple of months of their pregnancy and might end up missing something important like say the official launch of Everett (6) Women in their 40s might face menopausal problems which might affect their programming But then again I want to stress that “under the same circumstances” men and women coders will perform at equal output levels. If at all women programmers find it harder than men, then we only have the society to blame, and this is worse in the 3rd world countries than in the US or Europe. So westerners might find some of my comments very confusing Regards and thanks Nish
Author of the romantic comedy Summer Love and Some more Cricket [New Win] Review by Shog
And men have the 'mid life crisis'. You have this to look forward to Nish ;P The tigress is here :-D
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Good computer programmers have a high degree of spatial awareness. Studies have revealed that males tend to have a far greater 'spatial awareness' than females. (BTW: the results of these studies can be found on the internet). This is generalisation and a small minority of some females definetly have a greater 'spatial awareness' than their male counter parts. On a future note, when was I a Junior programmer I worked a hippy female senior programmer who was quite adept a coding. To iterate is human, to recurse is devine.
While I do agree with what you say, I think part of it is also due to upbringing. I was very lucky, my parents always treated my brother and I exactly the same way, we both washed up after dinner, we also both mowed the lawn. I do however remember the shock on a primary school teachers face in the mid-eighties when she asked if I would like to be a secretary when I grew up. I remember quite clearly saying "No, when I grow up I'll have a secretary, not be one!" :laugh: Oh well - fortunately kids aren't streamed so much anymore, and most get encouragement to do whatever they want. I don't have my own secretary (btw. I have the greatest respect for secretaries! Our CEO's PA has the most difficult job in the whole organisation), but I do have a professional programming job at least :)
It's much better than the term "embedded," though. I'm tired of hearing about embedded reporters. That must be a lousy job, like having a career as a suppository. - Roger Wright
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Good computer programmers have a high degree of spatial awareness. Studies have revealed that males tend to have a far greater 'spatial awareness' than females. (BTW: the results of these studies can be found on the internet). This is generalisation and a small minority of some females definetly have a greater 'spatial awareness' than their male counter parts. On a future note, when was I a Junior programmer I worked a hippy female senior programmer who was quite adept a coding. To iterate is human, to recurse is devine.
SledgeHammer wrote: Good computer programmers have a high degree of spatial awareness Your proof is ? Spatial awareness is different for men and women. Men tend to be more aware of objects around them and women of themselves. Elaine :rose: The tigress is here :-D
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What do brains have to do with programming anymore ? Just ignore that idiot. - V
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No, I tried to re-program several girls to my likening, but it never worked out as intended. oh.... you meant... ups. Flame me but: In general, no. The "typical", "average" female seems to be less capable of programming than the "typical", "average" male. I can go on reasoning forever, but the point is: most coders are male. I think it would be reverse for training AI's: The male analysing, separating, micro-commanding approach wouldn't work well here. Once AI research gets beyond the turing threshold, I see a bright future for women ;)
Italian is a beautiful language. amare means to love, and amara bitter.
sighist | Agile Programming | doxygen -
SledgeHammer wrote: Good computer programmers have a high degree of spatial awareness Your proof is ? Spatial awareness is different for men and women. Men tend to be more aware of objects around them and women of themselves. Elaine :rose: The tigress is here :-D
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No, I tried to re-program several girls to my likening, but it never worked out as intended. oh.... you meant... ups. Flame me but: In general, no. The "typical", "average" female seems to be less capable of programming than the "typical", "average" male. I can go on reasoning forever, but the point is: most coders are male. I think it would be reverse for training AI's: The male analysing, separating, micro-commanding approach wouldn't work well here. Once AI research gets beyond the turing threshold, I see a bright future for women ;)
Italian is a beautiful language. amare means to love, and amara bitter.
sighist | Agile Programming | doxygenFlame me but: In general, no. The "typical", "average" female seems to be less capable of programming than the "typical", "average" male. I can go on reasoning forever, but the point is: most coders are male. This fails to establish a cause/effect relationship. Tim Smith I'm going to patent thought. I have yet to see any prior art.
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This strikes me as an excellent argument in favor of limiting posts here to identified members. Browsing and learning from the site should be anyone's privelege, but posting should require accountability. "Please don't put cigarette butts in the urinal. It makes them soggy and hard to light" - Sign in a Bullhead City, AZ Restroom
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Catherine Björk wrote: Anyone care to respond to this article? Yes. What's the point? It's just another, almost entirely subjective, "Us vs. Them" type scenario - my God is better than your God, my OS is better than your OS, blah blah. Proponents and oponents for and against any and all emotive arguments - irrelevant and idiotic trolls aside. Frankly, it's a waste of time - another vacuous attempt to create substance out of hot air. Of course that's just my opinion ... ho hum.
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Flame me but: In general, no. The "typical", "average" female seems to be less capable of programming than the "typical", "average" male. I can go on reasoning forever, but the point is: most coders are male. This fails to establish a cause/effect relationship. Tim Smith I'm going to patent thought. I have yet to see any prior art.