Melinda Gates Has A New Mission: Women in Tech

[HardOCP News]

Instead of just sitting around bitching and moaning about there not being enough women in tech, Melinda Gates is actually doing something about it. It's kinda nice to see someone putting their money where their mouth is and doing something besides complaining.

It’s personal. Gates got her start in tech. After graduating from Duke with a computer science degree (and an MBA), she spent a decade working at Microsoft. That was back in 1987, when just over a third of undergraduate computer science degrees went to women. Nearly 30 years later, fewer than one in five CS degrees are earned by women. That, according to Gates, constitutes a crisis. “This has got to change,” she told me when we met to discuss her efforts last week.

 

[Ducman69]

Meanwhile, women are not fighting to enter the construction field to build highways in 110oF heat under the sun with jackhammers and heavy machinery, sanitation such as garbage and sewage which is almost entirely male, or break into other dangerous fields like underwater welding or powerline work etc, or enter into emergency services like firefighting, EMS, or stressful like air-traffic controllers, etc., and somehow prefer fields that are comfortable, social, and safe like nursing, elementary school, social services, meeting and convention planners, counselors, HR, etc.

Maybe we need to accept there are no barriers to entry, particularly with schools handing out scholarships to females in male dominated fields, with far lower acceptance requirements, with in fact more women than men graduating from colleges, and unofficial quotas in businesses that roll out the red carpet for anyone remotely qualified, and realize that women work the jobs they WANT to work.

Most don't want jobs that are seen to be anti-social and focus more on self-reliance than teamwork, are physically demanding, dangerous, or stressful... and that's FIIIIINE, people can choose what they like best, but also accept that jobs that are unusually stressful, dangerous, physically demanding, and singularly focused on the individual will tend to pay more for obvious reasons.

 

[dvsman]

I'm all for it, as long as people understand the concept of "Equal opportunities, not necessarily equal outcomes" If a woman wants to be in tech (or anything else for that matter), they should have the opportunity to compete to be in it. No quotas or artificial crap that would take away from an equally talented and qualified male.

This use of statistics to create a "problem" takes the assumption that organically men and women should be doing everything in a 1 to 1 ratio, which we all know this to not be true.

There are less women interested in tech than there are men just as there are less men interested in fashion than there are women.

Is she going to also say there aren't enough men in fashion and we should do something to get 50% men / 1 to 1 ratio there as well?

 

[heatlesssun]

Is she going to also say there aren't enough men in fashion and we should do something to get 50% men / 1 to 1 ration there as well?

Guess you never saw Zoolander.

 

[BreezeDM]

The money would be better spent getting more women in politics, where gender might actually matter. Code is code, adding more women to CS isn't going to improve overall quality.

 

[Ducman69]

dvsman, the important thing to remember about feminists is that men and women are exactly the same with the exact same capabilities, but women are also better (you see this in female oriented magazines all the time how there are NO DIFFERENCES WHATSOEVER, and women can do anything a man does just as well, except the positive differences in women's favor that they are better entrepreneurs, better at multitasking, more empathetic, less violent, and heck the other day I was reading even "divorce better")... but, but, also exactly the same... but aso better, and the same.

You just gotta swallow that blue pill.

Equal outcome, not equal opportunity, as long as that outcome is something women want (equal pay for unequal hours worked, sure, but not say equal treatment in getting off a sinking ship, reciprocal violence in physical altercations, equal punishments by the judicial system, equal custody treatment or child support payments, or say equal drafts to the front line in WW3, or stats like the fact that males are the most likely to suffer physical violence against them, are more often the victim of domestic violence in non-reciprocal altercations, or far more likely to be homeless).

 

[the_servicer]

After Microsoft, the Gates couple have provided reasons to doubt they can be trusted. That is why this particular effort can be cautiously welcomed: It isn't as risky. Better for her to work on a project with limited consequences than allow her to permanently alter the planet.

 

[dvsman]

(Apologies for) Tangent Time: I was recently talking to a SJW friend of mine about this. I raised my belief that in 2016 women should be in all roles in the military - IF they meet the physical standards (both as regular enlisted and the much higher standards for the elite units) and she was all FOR it. Then I raised the issue of draft for both men and women and ... you can guess what happened next ... (insert her U turn) but women can't because blah blah blah.

BTW: I grew up in the south and raised by Asian parents, so I'm all for being a gentleman when it comes to how I treat the ladies (Please note: Ladies are women, but not all women are ladies, if you get me).

It's 2016, if a women wants to do formerly man things (e.g. fight in the army), she better meet ALL of the same standards to do it (including possible drafts). I know a few ladies from Israel who have proven they can (while still looking / staying feminine), so no it's not impossible to do at all.

Also in case anyone ever asks: Here is a list of countries where women ARE allowed to fight on the front line / combat positions: Europe: Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Lithuania, Netherlands,Norway, Poland, Romania and Sweden. Other: Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Eritrea, Israel, and North Korea

 

[Prisoner849]

Fighting for gender equity with her husband's money and name. Walking the walk.

 

[thesmokingman]

Fighting for gender equity with her husband's money and name. Walking the walk.

lol really? She was at MS from the beginning and was a force on her own before him. Since they both retired, her sole is goal is philanthropy, her job is to give away their money in a meaningful way because they certainly cannot take the money with them to the grave. And you have the gall to make it a personal attack on her? smh

 

[Dr. Righteous]

What a load of horse ****
If these people really want to make a difference and better the lives of people and "make the world a better place" the would tackle some of the real problems.
If we really CARE about other people regardless of the color of their skin, creed, etc you would focus on thing like the fact that parasites are EATING PEOPLE ALIVE in many 3rd world countries.

 

[GotNoRice]

It's the same BS with almost every minority advocacy group. "Equality" is never the actual goal. They just build upon the mistaken but widely accepted idea that a member of a "minority" cannot ever be sexist/racist/etc against a member of the "majority". Somehow blatant sexism against men has become accepted and even considered progressive, just the same as racism against "white people" is now widely accepted.

The idea of actual gender equality offends most "progressive" women the same way that "all lives matter" offends most "progressive" African Americans. True equality would mean that minorities can't be state-sponsored special-snowflakes anymore. We can't have that

 

[dvsman]

Guess you never saw Zoolander.

Hahaha Blue Steel! That was a very under-rated / appreciated movie, man.

 

[thesmokingman]

She wants to invest money, a shitload of money in fact to make more female nerds! WTF? Yall are up in arms! The endowment is something like 44 billion large and their efforts runs the gamut from poor 3rd world to now nerd girls.

 

[Prisoner849]

lol really? She was at MS from the beginning and was a force on her own before him. Since they both retired, her sole is goal is philanthropy, her job is to give away their money in a meaningful way because they certainly cannot take the money with them to the grave. And you have the gall to make it a personal attack on her? smh

She worked at MS and "was a force on her own". Not exactly overwhelming proof that she would be the focus of this article or discussion had she not married Bill. Your use of "her" and "their" doesn't strengthen your case. Maybe she would have made enough money alone working at MS to do all Bill's money has allowed her to do, but we will never know. I however, will assume not. After all, women in tech are discriminated against.

 

[thesmokingman]

Melinda should be applauded for wanting to develop more nerd girls. WTF is wrong with you guys?

 

[HardOCP News]

Fighting for gender equity with her husband's money and name. Walking the walk.

Okay, that made me laugh....BUT....you are obviously not married. (if you are married and said that...)

Melinda should be applauded for wanting to develop more nerd girls. WTF is wrong with you guys?

What this guy said!

 

[thesmokingman]

lol

 

[dvsman]

It's the same BS with almost every minority advocacy group. "Equality" is never the actual goal. They just build upon the mistaken but widely accepted idea that a member of a "minority" cannot ever be sexist/racist/etc against a member of the "majority". Somehow blatant sexism against men has become accepted and even considered progressive, just the same as racism against "white people" is now widely accepted.

As an Asian person who grew up here, learned English and took every test without any special treatment, I've never had any problem with people of any race until just these last few years where this BLM nonsense. As an aside, I was watching the travel / food program Anthony Bourdain recently and he went to Vietnam and the interesting thing one of the locals brought up was that in Vietnam, this will be the first generation of Vietnamese born after the Vietnam War (which they call the American War over there). This new generation of Vietnamese don't carry a grudge about a war that took place in 1960/70s and love or hate America based upon what they know and how they are treated now.

The reason I bring this up ... is what member of BLM was actually around for slavery? "All my problems are because of slavery" waaaaah. I know people whose parents / grand-parents came here on refugee boats with only the clothes on their backs and within 2-3 generation (Grand parents or Parents came on boats, kids now adult college graduates with jobs and grandkids being raised all American). And these are people from all over the Caribbean, Africa and Asia. But Americans who were born here are saying they are suffering from slavery? How many generations ago was that again?

 

[Prisoner849]

Okay, that made me laugh....BUT....you are obviously not married. (if you are married and said that..)

Married. Wife stopped listening to me after I said "I do".

 

[dvsman]

Melinda should be applauded for wanting to develop more nerd girls. WTF is wrong with you guys?

if we were talking about making machines that cloned hot, nerd / geek girls, I'd be all for it. But social engineering is just throwing money at something because you're rich as fuck and think it's the "right" thing to do instead of say putting money into helping homeless vets or poor people who need health care. It's a waste of resources. But its her (/his) money, so she can do whatever she waants right? :-P

 

[thesmokingman]

if we were talking about making machines that cloned hot, nerd / geek girls, I'd be all for it. But social engineering is just throwing money at something because you're rich as fuck and think it's the "right" thing to do instead of say putting money into helping homeless vets or poor people who need health care. It's a waste of resources. But its her (/his) money, so she can do whatever she waants right? :-P

Come back after you look into how much money they already put into helping the rest of the world, from agriculture to sanitation.

 

[NoOther]

if we were talking about making machines that cloned hot, nerd / geek girls, I'd be all for it. But social engineering is just throwing money at something because you're rich as fuck and think it's the "right" thing to do instead of say putting money into helping homeless vets or poor people who need health care. It's a waste of resources. But its her (/his) money, so she can do whatever she waants right? :-P

Come back after you look into how much money they already put into helping the rest of the world, from agriculture to sanitation.

Here, let me help you with that: Foundation Fact Sheet

Clearly they are only interested on wasting resources of their 39.6 billion to help make lives better all over the globe...

Also, it sounds like she is being active in trying to get women in the workplace and is looking at particular situations in which that may help. She is using data and then acting on that data. So its not just her taking money and throwing it at the problem.

 

[thejokker]

Come back after you look into how much money they already put into helping the rest of the world, from agriculture to sanitation.

This is why the country is up in arms and supporting Trump. For much of this countries history the rich and successful invested in America with the results of a thriving and prosperous middle-class. Now, as the rich grow richer, they are investing in other countries and the American middle-class is shrinking.

We are expected to swallow this sexist feminist crap about women in the workplace. Quite simply men want to work in Tech and most women do not. This is not about equality it is about feminists discriminating against men so that women can displace more qualified men with women...

 

[dvsman]

My Point (simply): It doesn't matter if you are a man or a woman. Some people are inherently techie and some aren't. You can't force the numbers to go up if the people (male or female) just simply aren't interested.

Now with that in mind, given the current popularity / acceptance / mainstream-ness of geek / nerd culture nowadays (relative to what it was back in the 80s / 90s / 00s), the number of girls interested and going into tech will go up on it's own. You don't need an SJW to make it happen.

BTW: I know about the Gates philanthropy in general. Kudos to them. I'm not knocking them in the least. If you are one of the richest men on the planet (plus wife), the concept of "noblesse oblige" would apply to you in these modern times. I would expect no less. I'm simply talking about this OP's thread.

 

[acairman]

Looks like her best investment would be in a plastic surgeon.

 

[Deleted member 93354]

Good for her! I more than support this initiative. More women are needed in CS, not because there is a shortage, but it's a good career overall.

 

[heatlesssun]

Looks like her best investment would be in a plastic surgeon.

LOL! She's been married the world's richest man for 22 years. She sorta crushed the MRS degree program.

 

[blkt]

Married. Wife stopped listening to me after I said "I do".

So -that's- why you are Prisoner849!

 

[Deleted member 93354]

Married. Wife stopped listening to me after I said "I do".

Coworker 1: My boss said I can't do that
Me: Gary?
Coworker 1: No my other boss.
Me: Sam?
Coworker 1: No my other boss.
Coworker 2: Your wife?
{insert sound of me falling out of chair laughing my tail off}

 

[DKS]

Meanwhile, women are not fighting to enter the construction field to build highways in 110oF heat under the sun with jackhammers and heavy machinery, sanitation such as garbage and sewage which is almost entirely male, or break into other dangerous fields like underwater welding or powerline work etc, or enter into emergency services like firefighting, EMS, or stressful like air-traffic controllers, etc., and somehow prefer fields that are comfortable, social, and safe like nursing, elementary school, social services, meeting and convention planners, counselors, HR, etc.

Maybe we need to accept there are no barriers to entry, particularly with schools handing out scholarships to females in male dominated fields, with far lower acceptance requirements, with in fact more women than men graduating from colleges, and unofficial quotas in businesses that roll out the red carpet for anyone remotely qualified, and realize that women work the jobs they WANT to work.

Most don't want jobs that are seen to be anti-social and focus more on self-reliance than teamwork, are physically demanding, dangerous, or stressful... and that's FIIIIINE, people can choose what they like best, but also accept that jobs that are unusually stressful, dangerous, physically demanding, and singularly focused on the individual will tend to pay more for obvious reasons.

Maybe not where you are, but that's not true in Canada. Women here are doing all of the above and doing it just fine, thanks. And with pay equity laws, getting paid the same.

 

[NoOther]

My Point (simply): It doesn't matter if you are a man or a woman. Some people are inherently techie and some aren't. You can't force the numbers to go up if the people (male or female) just simply aren't interested.

Now with that in mind, given the current popularity / acceptance / mainstream-ness of geek / nerd culture nowadays (relative to what it was back in the 80s / 90s / 00s), the number of girls interested and going into tech will go up on it's own. You don't need an SJW to make it happen.

BTW: I know about the Gates philanthropy in general. Kudos to them. I'm not knocking them in the least. If you are one of the richest men on the planet (plus wife), the concept of "noblesse oblige" would apply to you in these modern times. I would expect no less. I'm simply talking about this OP's thread.

So the over 100,000 jobs provided by Gates is not helping the middle class? The benefits and investments they make to them do not help? The services they have provided over the years to improve the lives of everyone, does not count? Man, you are pretty harsh there.

 

[DKS]

This is why the country is up in arms and supporting Trump. For much of this countries history the rich and successful invested in America with the results of a thriving and prosperous middle-class. Now, as the rich grow richer, they are investing in other countries and the American middle-class is shrinking.

We are expected to swallow this sexist feminist crap about women in the workplace. Quite simply men want to work in Tech and most women do not. This is not about equality it is about feminists discriminating against men so that women can displace more qualified men with women...

And why you will lose. We live in a global economy. The isolationist, nativist world died years ago. No one can bring what was, back. Trump is a fool and an idiot. Gates and his family and his foundation get it. Improve basic living conditions, called the Social Determinants of Health, everywhere in the world and you will make a huge difference in the world. We will all be better for it. I'm a Rotarian and our foundation partners with Bill Gates and his foundation. We've almost got polio licked. We can change the world, for the better. And he's a part of that. Are you?

 

[Ur_Mom]

Good for her! I more than support this initiative. More women are needed in CS, not because there is a shortage, but it's a good career overall.

I know a few great IT people that are women. But, it is dominated by men. Not because it's a 'manly' job or men are pushing women from it. I'd love to see more women in it. I'd love to see programs in school to get women into it - but not pushed into it. If a girl is good at computers and wants to be in the industry, great. I remember the late 90's when there were commercials "You can make 100K+ by getting your MCSE!" and the market was flooded with MCSE's with no experience. They were getting paid for it. Then, they burned out. They didn't want to work in the industry. They didn't care for it. They wanted the paycheck. There are probably a lot of women that love computers and want to work in the industry. Hopefully, Gates can find a way to get them into school and working in IT. Remove some barriers.

 

[Ducman69]

Maybe not where you are, but that's not true in Canada. Women here are doing all of the above and doing it just fine, thanks.

I call bullshit. Please provide a source that shows that women are doing any of those jobs at near a 50% parity with males. Are you really arguing that 50% of the workforce in say a coal mine are female?

And with pay equity laws, getting paid the same.

Then what is your answer to the fact that, on average, males put in considerably more hours at work during a year than women? Besides, on a case-by-case basis, yes, that's true that the pay gap doesn't exist in the United States either. The pay gap is when you compare all women as an entire population to all men, and factor in that women often take years off from work, which impacts their career progress, and frankly do different jobs. For example, most professors at university are male, and yet most pre-highschool education teachers are women... clearly one has to be somewhat more of an expert to teach mathematics to 21 year old students at Berkley than to 6 year old students at the local school down the street, and you should get paid more for the former, just like a brain surgeon gets paid more than a bedside nurse.

She wants to invest money, a shitload of money in fact to make more female nerds! WTF? Yall are up in arms!

Because of the question, do we need to spend a lot of money to pressure women to enter the field of technology, or provide them a financial advantage over males based simply on the fact that they have a vagina? Should ALL careers have a 50/50 balance of men and women, and are we going to invest millions of dollars on male-only scholarships and male quotas in female dominated career paths? For example, is it "equal opportunity" if you have Jack and Jill, and Jack was raised by a single mother on welfare and works at a fast food restaurant everyday after school and on the weekends to make money, so that some day he can go to college and enter the IT field, and then you have Jill who came from an upper middle-class family and wasn't really even interested in IT, but millions of dollars are spent trying to market towards Jill to enter into IT along with a free ride scholarship to college with lower grade scores than her male counterparts, and pressure at a top level in fortune 500 companies to try and get half of their IT workforce to be females, even if the pool of applicants are primarily male?

Why can't the money for example go to anyone of ANY race of ANY gender or ANY religion that needs a helping hand or perhaps only to those that have the top test scores in applying, and thus show the most potential and are likely to give the investor the greatest bang-for-the-buck in driving the industry forward? Why is it important that 50% of the IT field are female, and why is it not important that other fields are not?

Also in case anyone ever asks: Here is a list of countries where women ARE allowed to fight on the front line / combat positions: Europe: Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Lithuania, Netherlands,Norway, Poland, Romania and Sweden. Other: Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Eritrea, Israel, and North Korea

Sure, and which is great, and no one is saying women can't do IT or that there aren't already millions in the field.

But take the military too for example. Should we be investing millions of dollars to try to pressure more women to enter into front line combat roles, and perhaps lower the standards for women, to ensure that our fighting force is approximately 50% female? Does this benefit society or women? Is it important that men and women are represented equally in all career fields, even when it can be shown that this is due to differences in male and female preferences, with no other artificial barriers?

 

[NoOther]

Despite the massive misinformation in your thread, I am just going to touch on a few points:

Because of the question, do we need to spend a lot of money to pressure women to enter the field of technology, or provide them a financial advantage over males based simply on the fact that they have a vagina? Should ALL careers have a 50/50 balance of men and women, and are we going to invest millions of dollars on male-only scholarships and male quotas in female dominated career paths? For example, is it "equal opportunity" if you have Jack and Jill, and Jack was raised by a single mother on welfare and works at a fast food restaurant everyday after school and on the weekends to make money, so that some day he can go to college and enter the IT field, and then you have Jill who came from an upper middle-class family and wasn't really even interested in IT, but millions of dollars are spent trying to market towards Jill to enter into IT along with a free ride scholarship to college with lower grade scores than her male counterparts, and pressure at a top level in fortune 500 companies to try and get half of their IT workforce to be females, even if the pool of applicants are primarily male?

Why can't the money for example go to anyone of ANY race of ANY gender or ANY religion that needs a helping hand or perhaps only to those that have the top test scores in applying, and thus show the most potential and are likely to give the investor the greatest bang-for-the-buck in driving the industry forward? Why is it important that 50% of the IT field are female, and why is it not important that other fields are not?

There is nothing about pressuring women to do anything. It is about providing more avenues for them to get into the field. Why? Because for many years only males were targeted for the field and that is what predominately created the gap. The fact that the field is exactly the kind of area that both men and women are basically equal on, is one of the reasons to spend money there. And it isn't overly important to make sure there are 50% representation, but only about 17% of women actually work in technological fields, surely more can be done there. Considering they make up a vast amount of the population and could benefit from more tech representing their needs.

Sure, and which is great, and no one is saying women can't do IT or that there aren't already millions in the field.

But take the military too for example. Should we be investing millions of dollars to try to pressure more women to enter into front line combat roles, and perhaps lower the standards for women, to ensure that our fighting force is approximately 50% female? Does this benefit society or women? Is it important that men and women are represented equally in all career fields, even when it can be shown that this is due to differences in male and female preferences, with no other artificial barriers?

Again no one is pressuring women to do anything. Removing discouragement is not the same thing as pressure.

 

[dvsman]

So the over 100,000 jobs provided by Gates is not helping the middle class? The benefits and investments they make to them do not help? The services they have provided over the years to improve the lives of everyone, does not count? Man, you are pretty harsh there.

Is this relevant at all to what I posted? I'm talking about making arbitrary determinations of who needs to be doing what (More women in IT). Did I post anything about the middle class? Or the benefits / investments the Gates make? Like I said a few posts back. I don't knock the Gates' other initiatives at all. You're preaching to the choir here. However, to say we need more women in this field or that field because it's not at parity is an arbitrary decision.

As some others have said (like Ducman), does society NEED to have 50/50 in all occupations?

Who made that decision?

 

[dvsman]

NoOther "Because for many years only males were targeted for the field and that is what predominately created the gap" who made that determination?

Who targeted males?

You're assuming that there isn't an inherent difference in men and women where men are more likely to just BE MORE INTERESTED in mechanical / technical / electrical things. I know my dad never forced me or my sister into cars or mechanics but I was just more interested in it.

All people are not the same, men and women are not the same ... and those who assume that men and women are the same / interchangeable, are making an intuitive leap that isn't supported by any science that I've seen.

 

[NoOther]

Who targeted males?

Umm, schools, the industry, government, etc.

You're assuming that there isn't an inherent difference in men and women where men are more likely to just BE MORE INTERESTED in mechanical / technical / electrical things. I know my dad never forced me or my sister into cars or mechanics but I was just more interested in it.

All people are not the same, men and women are not the same ... and those who assume that men and women are the same / interchangeable, are making an intuitive leap that isn't supported by any science that I've seen.

I am assuming that since there are many men who aren't interested in tech. Interest in technology/mechanical/electrical is really by individual and has nothing to do with gender.

 

[M76]

Great, another sexist racist. Fighting the "good" fight.

If it’s completely geared towards an 18-year-old white male,

How the hell can computer science be geared towards whites? This is completely nonsensical.

If it’s mixed-gender on the walls or all female, they can see themselves, right?

"all female" she wants gender segregated CS schools and camps?

The reason there are no more women in tech fields, is because they choose other fields. And why do they choose other fields? Because their parents don't encourage them to go to "manly" fields. When they're young they give them "girly" things, that can't give them an interest towards technology, let alone computer science.

It has nothing to with the system being hostile against women. When I went to tech school, the few women there lived like queens, because we appreciated them so much. Noone was put down for being female.

This is the same empty sjw talk we saw so many times from western feminists. Blaming the invisible patriarchy and an intangible invisible force holding women down. But when pinned down, they can't point to anything that is sexist in the system, or benefits males over females.