[game_edu] Implications of students going into a male-dominated industry?

[Nathan Runge]

On 21 September 2011 12:33, Maria Droujkova <droujkova at gmail.com> wrote:


> Yes, the most interested 1-2% will engage in their chosen endeavor even if

> they have to do it illegally, barefoot in the snow, starving, and so on and

> so forth.

>


That's making the situation a tad more dramatic than the reality, isn't it?



> Upon seeing no women in a company, most girls (as young as 12 or 13) and

> young women conclude they won't be able to procreate if they choose to join

> - for multiple reasons. The main reason being the company is likely to be

> clueless about motherhood.

>


I'm not sure that's true. Firstly, the rights of women to have children and
the legal protections offered are well known in most developed countries.
Furthermore, that seems like a strange leap of logic. The organisation
doesn't need to "understand motherhood", and making the assumption that,
because the majority or entirety are men, the organisation won't comply with
legal requirements or be supportive is a tad incomprehensible. We all have
mothers, afterall. I snap polled all my female friends I could grab at short
notice, and not one has ever thought in that manner, and many find the
thought entirely puzzling. Some are stay at home mothers. Some work in
female-dominated industries such as nursing, and others are engineers (I
know a few of those).



> This choice (a job vs. a family) is a bit too tragic and heroic to make

> during peaceful times. Moreover, women tend to be more flexible in job

> choices than men, overall, and less likely to be absolutely sure they will

> only be happy in this one chosen endeavor. I don't think people who decide

> to avoid strong anguish, by following an alternative they like just fine,

> are necessarily weak-willed.

>


 I agree that avoiding unnecessary hardship is not a demonstration of low
willpower, but the leap of logic required is staggering, not to mention
deliberately ignoring well-known and well-established legal protections that
most larger companies have policies supporting.

Nathan Runge
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