Lack of Female Authors in “Beautiful Code”
June 18, 2007 – 8:48 amShelley Powers has pointed out that only one of the contributors to Beautiful Code is female. It wasn’t for lack of trying: I contacted fifteen women last spring and summer asking them to write articles for us, and only one was able to make the time. In contrast, the uptake rate among the men I approached was 25%. I’d welcome suggestions about how to improve this the next time around. I’d also like to know how to get more material from people who aren’t reasonably fluent in English: we only have one in that category this time as well.
3 Responses to “Lack of Female Authors in “Beautiful Code””
I contacted fifteen women last spring and summer asking them to write articles for us, and only one was able to make the time
Fair enough. But… you contacted 15 women and 150 men?
By Phil on Jun 18, 2007
Phil,
Are more than 1 out of 10 coders female?
Best,
-Karl
By Karl Fogel on Jun 18, 2007
Phil, is that so strange given that it reflects the ratio in this industry? I wish it was more, but it isn’t! Finding 150 men who have something useful to say on the matter is easy, finding 150 women is quite hard.
By Laurens Holst on Jun 19, 2007