Last month, A List Apart released results from a survey they sent to 33,000 web designers, developers and coders.
Some of the results are not surprising at all but some were quite shocking. For example - did you know that of those 33,000 participants - only 16% were female! How can that be?
I knew of course that were more men than women in this field when I started and although it’s gotten better over the last few years - the disparity is still quite high - but 16%? Wow - that totally blew my mind.
1 out of every 6 web designers/developers is a woman and of those only a handful identify themselves as a developer - most stick with the label of designer.
I think there’s definitely a bit of a stigma amongst women who do this type of work - I think the coding and technical side of things kind of scares them so they decide to lean towards the creative aspect of the field.
Don’t give up ladies! If you are thinking of pursuing a career in the web technologies field - don’t shy away because it looks too technical, you’ll be much happier if you embrace your inner geek!
Share This
Now - don’t get me wrong - I love Google, but I read a rather disturbing article today on Micheal Gray’s blog.
Apparently Google just invested over 3.9 million dollars in a new company that can genetically decode your DNA for you. Creepy.
I’m all for personalized search and all that but this might be taking it a bit too far for my personal tastes.
In reality? The likelihood of the internet going to the extent of personalizing it’s content for your DNA and genetic background is a bit far-fetched (almost up there with the tricorder on Star Trek) but it does have some striking comments on the state of the industry today.
We’ve gotten to the point that privacy has taken on a new meaning - it no longer means anonymity but rather putting your trust in the hands of these large companies to safeguard your information.
So while I don’t think that we’ll start receiving adwords targeted to our personal DNA - we do have to ensure that the rules are stricter and the punishment is more severe for those companies who take our personal information for granted (anyone remember that Royal Bank / Scotia Bank scandal a few months back?)
What do you think?
Share This
