After 5 years, a few weeks ago I decided I had enough of IT; it was time to quit. The same week I moved from IT to the Marketing department of my company, other two women who have managed me at various times did the same. It seems that we are not alone: Roy Mark wrote a commentary on Internet News (Where have all the women gone?; via Caterina Fake on Misbehaving.net) about women slowly bleeding out of IT (a 20% decrease in the percentage of women in the last 10 years).
I find reassuring that I am not the only one experiencing dissatisfaction with the IT environment. Mark quotes comments about “high-school locker room mentality” and “hostility to women.” In my experience, it’s much more subtle than that. I found that the IT culture, initially exciting and seemingly full of possibilities, in the long run does not fulfill its promises. What I found frustrating is not so much the exclusion from the boy’s club–although there is definitely some of that–but rather the excessive emphasis on speed rather than quality (for a different take on this issue, see Alan Key on the disappointing lack of new and revolutionary programming languages; via Andrew), on execution rather than strategy, and the disregard for the human and caring aspects of building applications (e.g., the quality of the user experience rather than the quality of the code).
I may be wrong, but I am afraid IT management is not paying attention to why we are leaving. I hope that the evolution of technology towards social and connected computing will demand a different approach to IT development and force the boy’s club to open up to the world.
Technorati tags: women, technology
July 10, 2005
[…] Der Frust sitzt tiefer, sagt Antonella Pavese: I found that the IT culture, initially exciting and seemingly full of possibilities, in the long run does not fulfill its promises. What I found frustrating is not so much the exclusion from the boy’s club–although there is definitely some of that–but rather the excessive emphasis on speed rather than quality, on execution rather than strategy, and the disregard for the human and caring aspects of building applications. […]
July 10, 2005
I am afraid you are right… management won’t listen to why you are leaving, why I left, or why other’s will leave.
Its a shame really!
Karin
July 11, 2005
Hello, i just stumbled across your website. I am an intern in IT, and i am curious how you woud change IT departments to make them better. I can understand the whole anti-women mentality that you see in IT departments, ive seen alittle of it so far, but besides that, what would you change?
July 12, 2005
Thanks for the compliment :),
Though i am just slowly entering this industry, from what ive seen as a user, it seems that you are right. But if we move to far away from some of that code centric mindness, isnt it possible thatproduct quality will go down and thus loose the people you want to please?
July 12, 2005
Ya, you’re probably correct. Maybe if we’re lucky someone upstairs at a major trend setting it company wil get it, and all others will follow suit. 🙂
ANyway, good luck with your new career.
July 18, 2005
Hmm. Trackback didn’t work on that last one — it wasn’t Nat, but me, and it should have pointed here:
http://www.navarik.com/home/windward/2005/07/#003156
July 18, 2005
Are you dealing with IT issues or with departmental issues in a company? I ask this because some of what you are describing is what I have found in companies in general, in particular speed over quality.
Also, I think IT is turning more and more into a utility operation which makes it generally less fun for creative types.
July 19, 2005
Women leaving IT in droves?
There has been a lot of noise lately about Roy Mark’s article ‘Where Have All The Women Gone?’
July 20, 2005
[…] Antonella Pavese is leaving IT. She explains why: What I found frustrating is not so much the exclusion from the boy’s club–although there is definitely some of that–but rather the excessive emphasis on speed rather than quality (for a different take on this issue, see Alan Key on the disappointing lack of new and revolutionary programming languages; via Andrew), on execution rather than strategy, and the disregard for the human and caring aspects of building applications (e.g., the quality of the user experience rather than the quality of the code). […]
July 20, 2005
[…] Leaving IT | AntonellaPavese.com […]
July 18, 2005
Missing quality, strategy, and humanness
Three reasons why one woman left IT.
July 21, 2005
Where are the Women in IT?
The numbers of women in IT have actually dwindled these past few years. Read Burningbird – When we are Needed…
July 22, 2005
I wonder how much of this is a culturo-social issue more than an IT industry issue?
In Australia, we still have nowhere near the amount of women in IT as there should be, but they are increasing … especially in the upper echelons of the industry. I for one applaud that.
There are a number of women who are in high positions and can make a difference to the future of both IT and the role of women in the industry – some are CIO’s (Bronwyn Allen, BHP Billiton) others Enterprise Architects (Sandra Barnes, Tabcorp), in charge of major operations groups (Madeleine Sanders, Resource Operations Manager, IBM GSA) while others are in Recruitment (Jenny Barbour, Jenny Barbour & Associates I.T. Recruitment) … and the list can (and does) go on for some time …
Even as a male, I’d love to be mentored by these women … they have made it in a dog-eat-dog industry against the odds, and I’d love to see them join (if they haven’t already) the ranks of support groups like the Women in IT, Australian Businesswomen’s Network or Women’s Network Australia.
I’m hoping that there are similar groups in the US and Europe?
I for one hate to see anyone leaving the industry for the wrong reasons … not that I’m saying your comments aren’t valid, but if you still love the promise the industry offers, then please look for support and inspiration that can help you make a real difference to your own career and the industry as a whole.
By the way, there is a growing trend of people in general leaving the IT industry in Australia, and just the same, IT management is not paying attention.
July 23, 2005
There should be an eleventh commandment. “Thou shalt not waste anyone’s time.”
Greed is the only reason for the pressure they put on subordinates to “go faster” and “do it now”.
Most executive level managers are hellbound. They’ve sold their soul to their BMW and their Mercedes.
July 26, 2005
Women in IT
In my web travels today, I discovered a rather perturbing fact. It seems that there is a growing trend …
May 1, 2007
Women are mandatory for success and I agree with you 100%. The IT world is a very frustrating place filled with people who range from “experts” on the minutiae of the IT environment to those that constantly repeat mistakes and never try to learn to “fish.” I work with women, but only -=1=- is on the IT side; all the rest are in sales and dealing with customers directly. Uggg… some days I hate IT so it is consoling to know others feel that IT is not the panacea that it is advertised to be.
I wish more women were in IT. I would like to see how the female side of the human race would design and code interfaces and programs. So much of the insane UI design is from a marketing VP and the software developers – uggg^2!
I am now going to be a sugar beet farmer – LOL!