Techism

So, I know I've been gone for almost a full what... like two years?!

What's happened in that time?

Well, I've taken more classes and decided that, ultimately, I'm going to move into the online spectrum.

I now look about as happy as this guy right here:

So now that I'm back in the game, what fun things have I been up to?

Well, I discovered that the region I live in is fast becoming a tech boom and women, in particular, have a focus.


So, by that, what exactly do I mean?  I look at Yahoo and see Marissa Mayer and other companies seem to not even shy away from hiring women in high technological positions... how is "women in tech" new?

After talking to a few people, I noticed just how many women abandon their tech roots.  While countries overseas are soaring with the number of women in tech-related positions, most are on this very minimal incline... particularly the US.

Here's a handy-dandy not-exactly-sanctioned Wikipedia article about it.  This first paragraph pretty much outlines most of what women (particularly in the US) are experiencing:

In the United States, the number of women represented in undergraduate computer science education and the white-collar information technology workforce peaked in the mid-1980s, and has declined ever since. In 1984, 37.1% of Computer Science degrees were awarded to women; the percentage dropped to 29.9% in 1989-1990, and 26.7% in 1997-1998. Figures from the Computing Research Association Taulbee Survey indicate that less than 12% of Computer Science bachelor's degrees were awarded to women at US PhD-granting institutions in 2010-11.

Yeah.

So, instead of me sitting in a computer science class surrounded by one third women, I'm sitting there and watching each of the female colleagues drop out one by one until it's just me and another one that seemed to only take it for the shine factor.

That. Is. Annoying.

I can't even begin to wax philosophic on the number of times that I've been squared away as "not really being interested" in computer science.

When I grew up, all I wanted to do was take things apart and put them back together.  When I found out about home computers, I couldn't wait to get my hands on one.  I wanted to pull its parts from their housings and dig in, finding out the nuances of every circuit, every capacitor, what a resistor was, and the whole nine.

Whenever I said this to people, they looked at me with that kind of "cricket chirping" glare.  They'd divert back to playing dress-up or being a cosmetologist (not that there's anything wrong with that... it just wasn't what I wanted to do and I resented having it forced upon me when really it should have been forced upon my sibling who was obviously more interested).

Finding female mentors in the tech field became this game of finding women who were - in reality - secretaries or administrative assistants TO the computer scientists or engineers, but really not even understanding what they did.  So, asking and learning by association wasn't going to work.

I remember sitting in junior high school classes thinking: I want to be in that one class where you get to build a computer but I was told that it was mostly for boys.  I remember saying "I don't care."  I remember looking at my schedule, asking for it to be added, and then told that it was either full or just plain out "no".  I was suggested, however, to have home economics (in my day, that meant learning how to cook, sew, and shut your dang mouth).

I managed to squeeze into a blueprint drafting course because I told them I had been interning for about FOUR SUMMERS at a local firm and that - yeah - I knew what the heck I was doing.  I was easily demeaned by hearing sayings like: "But yeah, did they ACTUALLY have you do blueprints or drafting?" "Yes." "Like, not for play or just filling up their time?" Me, increasingly irritated, "No, they actually used one of my grading designs for a wheelchair ramp at an amusement park." Them, looking even more frustrated than I was irritated, "Well, they probably just told you that to make you feel like you really did something!" They laughed and laughed and laughed and I just went away at that point because I grew tired of listening to drivel.  I eventually went to a male counselor, who signed me up, immediately.  Oh yeah, I didn't point out that the person denying me earlier was female, did I? (*wink*)

So, the segregation of tech goes on both sides, it seems.  It's not just guys who only see those token females in their classes that really are there to get a profitable boyfriend/husband, but also women who can't imagine what a female would even want with a degree in computer science or just a plain interest in technology.

I know, this blog is supposed to contain what it's like for me to be in college in my 30s, and it is... it's moreso me overcoming the pain of being misdirected from a passion that I'm just now getting back into at this age, whereas the boys got ushered into this world in full swing whenever they showed a peep of interest.

I'm hoping that now, against all odds, I am able to push myself forward.  I am stubbornly determined to seek my dreams and many people have told me so (see, I'm not aggrandizing myself)!  So, it's about putting the pedal to the metal and getting my thinking cap on straight (or whatever sort of metaphors you want to use at this point).

College is the first step.  The second is having the courage to step out there, even if I'm the only one.

{Disclaimer: This is not one of those "Not All" hashtag things.  This is about my personal experience and the challenges that other women, as a whole, tend to face the majority of the time with getting involved within the STEM field. It still occurs to this day, just probably not as visible.  Remember, lack of visibility doesn't mean non-existence.}