Women Coders in Finance IT Say They're Given the Worst Jobs

https://insights.dice.com/2019/06/12/women-coders-finance-given-worst-jobs/

by WrightStuff • 7 years ago

12 19 7 years ago

insights.dice.com

ralusek• 7 years ago

Are they the worst programmers? If they were hired as the consequence of a diversity quota, then they are statistically likely, even guaranteed, to have been hired at a lower barrier to entry than their peers.

To take something like this seriously, bring data. What is an example of a worse job? How does your performance compare to the person put on a different job? People primed to think a certain way tend to think a certain way, and it experience so far has very often shown that people have reality twisted according to their expectations.

I'm, of course, not saying that this isn't possibly something that is happening. I do, however, bring a healthy level of skepticism.

ahelwer4• 7 years ago

This data does not exist, will never exist (how would you even quantify half of those things?), and if you require it as a standard of evidence for acknowledging the existence of sexism you will fulfill the function of protecting and perpetuating sexism.

We do have data on many other similar types of sexism, of which I'm sure as someone laser-focused on evidence you are already aware.

You might construe this as "don't question claims of sexism!" but understand that questioning claims of sexism is the default reaction offered to people reporting sexism, and this quantity has a quality all of its own.

fizwhiz4• 7 years ago

if you require it as a standard of evidence for acknowledging the existence of sexism you will fulfill the function of protecting and perpetuating sexism.

Whoa, what are you insinuating here?

collyw• 7 years ago

The more senior I get, the more "crap" work I seem to end up doing. Maybe its just because I understand the importance of having clean data. And becasue I am hired because people know that the codebase is a mess and they want someone competent to keep it running.

autokad• 7 years ago

are you refactoring code or performing code reviews for jr devs? If not the later, I'd be worried your not properly utilizing your skills, time, and career trajectory in the right ways.

otto2• 7 years ago

I worked number of years in IT in financial institutions. Almost none of that work was very interesting on its own. A lot of IT work in finance is about moving data, transforming data etc.

There is maybe some fancy work out there - algorithmic trading, super-low latency trading etc, but rest is mostly boring.

fizwhiz4• 7 years ago

While that may be an isolated case, a VP-level male coder at the same bank says he’s also seen behaviors that could frustrate his women colleagues.

Please note that VP titles are handed out like candy at banks. Most "VP-level" coders at banks end up (at best) as L4 hires at FAANG (L5 is titled Senior usually.) For the uninitiated, L3 is the level you start out as if you're a college graduate.

lm284693• 7 years ago

suggests anecdotal evidence
Another woman coder at a U.S. investment bank
says an anonymous woman

First off you'll need more than that if you want to build a case. It says more about their teams and companies than every "Women in Finance IT".

How much of this sentiment is due to years of near propaganda level of "tech is fun and rewarding". The fact is that tech is fun and rewarding in a very small subset of companies and for a small subset of projects. The vast majority of tech jobs are just as boring as any desk jobs.

I haven’t seen crude or overt sexism in tech, but particularly at the junior level I’ve seen a lack of trust placed in female coders. They’re less likely to be given important projects or to be made responsible for delivery.

Come on, that applies for any junior until they proved themselves.

qudat• 7 years ago

It's probably true but this article is pretty light on what qualifies as "worst." As others have mentioned, I would avoid working for a bank like the plague, because all of those jobs are going to be the worst.

I also think that if I were a women I would be looking for jobs in tech and many women engineers I have known are now working for big tech companies.

cannedslime• 7 years ago

Isn't finance IT in general just kinda boring?

I mean isn't it often legacy software written in COBOL for archaic mainframes? Or just plain out boring stuff like data juggling and report printing?

gshock• 7 years ago

Just shooting from the hip here, but every job I've had in finance has sucked royally. Could that have anything to do with it? lol

Women Coders in Finance IT Say They're Given the Worst Jobs

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