Inaccurate Op-Ed
At it's premise, I get the basic intent of this piece, yet after reading through it a few times I find myself disagreeing with many of the points within. Simply because an industry is populated by more males than females does not necessarily correlate to an existence of a "glass ceiling" within that realm. With specific regards to this continual reference to a wage gap, which, thanks to the Equal Pay Act of 1963, is a complete null-issue.
Where the thin argument comes from stating that women earn a mere .75 cents to every dollar that a man does, comes from a skewed and cherry-picked array of data. Meaning, people are comparing a female with less than a year at an entry level IT position to a male with 40 years and is a CEO. Thanks to the Equal Pay Act of 1963, paying someone less because of their gender for doing the SAME job is federally illegal.
As to your point about more women working lower paying jobs than men, here's a few reasons straight from U.S Bureau of Labor Statistics:
-Men choose jobs that are more dangerous / time intensive / physically demanding.
-Males are more likely to work in less desirable locations
-Men work longer hours, the weekends / holidays
-Men are more likely to pursue higher-stress / higher-paying specializations.
What does this imply? This is what men "choose" to do, while women choose to go other routes based on comfort, fullfillment, autonomy and safety. Nursing, teaching, social sciences, fashion, retail etc. Also, unmarried females make statistically MORE than unmarried males across the board.
Secondly, the cybersecurity industry, in the grand scope of the field, is a fairly young discipline. Specifically, to how it exists today. I realize components of it have been around for many years, cryptography, risk management, physical security and etc. Yet as it is today, its combined application as a suite of tools is young comparatively. That being said, the lack of women within this field does not correlate to some unified oppressive front to prevent them from joining, and benefitting, this industry.
They are simply *choosing* not to at this point, in a substantially less amount that men *are*.
Third, women have the exact same rights as men do in the U.S. Period. Again, it is federally illegal if any entity, in any capacity, to exclude or prevent them from doing so. Staing you're a women's rights activist within the IT industry..for what? You point out any specific instance of a woman being denied pay, training, opportunities or promotion based solely on the fact of her gender and I'm right there with you in the fight. Until then, please let me know what rights are being infringed upon that require such activism?
Yet another point of contradiction I read was your closing paragraph versus the one before it that stated the need for a plethora of programs aimed at females for STEM. You encourage women to believe in themselves, self-motivate, and ignore others' attitudes..but say they should have their own preferential programs? Does that not, at its very core, undermine the entire premise of gender equality? If a male or a female are competing for the same spot in a cybersecurity firm, shouldn't the position be awarded to the one most technically proficient? Saying women require their own special programs seems to damage their case more than enhance it.
In the end, your successes and hard work are more of an example to emulate as well as being a beacon to women not yet in the industry, than saying they are doomed to be crushed under a glass ceiling that, quite frankly, exists because people keep stating it does.
Also, the entirety of this article lost its punch with me when you added "You have to believe you are just as good as men, and maybe better because of women's intuition". Again, it undermines premise of equality by implying a genetic advantage, and also, further perpetuates the notion of "us vs them". Which is incredibly dangerous and divisive in itself. When it should be all of *us* in cyber security are versus *them* trying to break our systems and companies..
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1 Comments
User Rank: Apprentice
4/13/2017 | 9:28:46 AM
That aside, I don't think this article was helpful at all and in fact hurts how people interact at work. First off, the author is representing women's rights against her will or "whether I like it or not", so she's definitely not passionate about the subject. And why should she be? She had support to enter a technical career since she was a little girl and she doesn't experience the glass-ceiling on a daily basis. I can't think of a less qualified person to give me advice. As for earplugs when can't or don't is said, should I wear ear plugs when I am told I can't attend the meeting or we don't need your input? Or should I put them in when I'm told I can't expect that pay raise and don't even think about negotiating for better pay? Is that when I become silent and deaf? And did you seriously just pull the "women's intuition" card? Is that my super power? Should I intuit how my router is configured or if my server room door meets physical security standards? No, that's called work, education, attention to detail; all the same things my male co-workers have and do. That kind of stereotypical rhetoric will only continue the idea that men and women posses unique traits which make them uniquely unqualified to do certain kinds of work. Do Jewish people have a mathematical intuition and white men have no intuition of rhythm? I mean, let's double down on those stereotypes!
You want some advice. Here. Pretend it doesn't matter. Pretend you don't notice. All the routers have the password "crackwhorz"? Don't bat an eye. Do conversations fall silent when you arrive? Don't miss a beat. Are you not invited to Friday's lunch at the local strip club, where they apparently have an amazing buffet? Bring your lunch on Friday's. Wave after wave of bulls***- let it go. There's another woman right behind you, drafting off your progress. Do it for her sake, if you can't do it for own.