Working with computers, be it system administration, or software development, as a profession, is a young one. As such, it has many ailments of youth: there is a tendency to lose track of a proper work/life balance, there is rampant professional burnout, there is career euthanasia.
One of the most striking ailments of the computing profession is the lack gender diversity. I have no doubt that having more women practice this profession will benefit it greatly and enhance its contribution to humanity. The few women in this profession, I’ve had the pleasure of meeting in my career, were, with no exception, remarkable and brilliant. I believe improving gender diversity will go a long way in tending other ailments of the profession I’ve mentioned.
So what can we, as veteran practitioners of the computing profession, charged with educating the next generation of practitioners, do to improve sexual diversity on our profession? We can start be telling young people that some of the most important tricks of the trade were dreamed up by woman. We can tell them the story of Grace Hopper.
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