“Wow”, I exclaimed at the Business of Software conference in Boston last week. And many others agreed with me. No, this wasn’t in response to the speakers, but to a much less wow-worthy* event – the length of the toilet queues. For the first time at a big event the ladies’ queue was shorter than the mens’ queue.
Anyone who puts 10 seconds thought into this will probably note that this is expected. As this conference consisted of primarily software developers, that dramatically reduces the number of females, and as many of the attendees were also start-up owners, this reduces the number even further. But why is software, and particularly the business of software, such a male-dominated environment? From my rough count, men accounted for around 97%, not the 70-90% you’d expect from a software company. Is it really all nurture?
Hotel de Sens
I undertook a Bachelor of Business Systems degree in Australia and at that point, the mix was 50/50. As a course that prepared you for consulting, (and continuing to flog the dead-horse of stereotypes), I guess the geeks did Computer Science or Software Engineering and the more business-inclined females went for a Commerce degree. But even from the seemingly even starting point of my Business Systems course, the guys drifted towards programming roles and the girls towards analysis and business roles.
There have been many, many debates on this topic and I know it comes up frequently on geeky message boards (How can I possibly get a girl? I’ve done the maths and it’s 1,000,000:1!). I suspect that the closest scientific answer goes along the lines that men are better at mathematical problem solving (arguably more similar to software development) and women are better at mathematical calculation (arguably more similar to management). But the ‘nurture’ stance and the fact that still more women than men take on child-rearing responsibilities are also contributing factors.
As for starting up a business, Noam Wasserman touched on gender differences in his talk on Rich vs. King. He found that while male and female entrepreneurs are both after power, influence and autonomy, men are more likely to pursue financial goals, whereas women are more altruistic. Perhaps this also contributes to the number of males in the business of software.
These are not overly persuasive arguments. So ignoring these minor natural differences of each sex, is it simply traditional and institutional habits that need breaking? Or does it go further back to child-rearing? What will it take to bring more women into this field?
[* The speakers were definitely much more wow-worthy (than the toilet queues) and posts on the knowledge they shared will follow...]
Great question. The ratios of men to women were definitely much higher than those typically seen in a software company.
Is it because of the roles of m0st of the attendees? (They were primarily developers, founders, entrepreneurs, and software executives.)
Is it because women in software are less likely to request that their company sends them to a conference (possibly related to the child-rearing stereotype, as most professional women also have families)?
Is it because more men than women follow Neil and Joel’s blogs? (Most attendees followed one or the other.)
“But why is software, and particularly the business of software, such a male-dominated environment?”…
It also works the other way round where more and more women distance their interest from the likes of ‘geeks’ only so that they can live up to the age old image of ‘colour, flair and pizzazz’ 
do you think the more obvious reason could be that women are generally thought to like more colour, flair and pizzazz? and using this as an excuse men (unknowingly) have made that separation and have sort of dominated the world of software development / engineering / management
Were all the men dressed atrociously too? When I went to JavaOne I was warned that if I wore a shirt I would be overdressed, and they weren’t joking. I think it’s a sign that men don’t even expect women to be at nerd conferences… if they did then maybe they would make more of an effort ?
Charlie, I didn’t quite realise how right you were, until I went to an International Gaming Expo yesterday in London. The men were all in suits, the women were in… hardly anything!
Different industry, I guess!