An Event Apart Gets the Stats on Women in Web Design
There’s been a lot of talk recently about women in web design/tech (or the lack thereof I should say). Zeldman and the folks of An Event Apart, have started to look at the numbers behind this and the numbers are a tad depressing. There are some interesting comments coming out of this as well and it’s great to read takes on this from both men and women in the industry. As a woman web designer, I’m obviously interested in this discussion. I’d love to see more women getting invited to speak at conferences, making headlines, and being recognised for the work they do, but because they are good at what they do, not just because they are women. I think the problem is that a lot of talented women just aren’t seen. Alot of the articles in mags, on blogs and in the papers really revolve around a small clique (mostly of boys). It’s usually the same folks saying the same things about the same topics. I wonder if it’s just down to lazy journalism - you have a list of “key” techies, so why not just contact them each time you need to write a new story?
Some of the comments brought up an interesting thought about women in business overall:
“Maybe it’s not just about taking women seriously as web consumers, but taking women seriously as business owners too.”
Running my own business I wonder if sometimes I’m not taken seriously because I’m a woman? I can’t say that I’ve ever experienced any direct misgivings about my business or the work I do. It does seem that women are perceived as being “softer” in business and therefore not business-savvy, and yet if a woman does have some balls, she’s a bitch. If she dedicates herself to her work, she’s “giving up” on family life. I think women will tend to blame others for this, but I honestly think we put this on ourselves. I find women will often apologise for being smart or assertive in business.
Now, people are talking about what can be done to change things in IT. For my 2 cents, I believe that we as women in this industry need to change our attitudes. We need to enter the boys club, sit down with confidence and not apologise for being there. Until we start changing how we act and react, we can’t expect others to change their perceptions. Easier said than done sometimes, I’m sure, but it’s a start.
2 Comments