"There are so few women in IT because the female brain is no good at logic or mental rotation of 3D objects... right?" A lightning talk to be given at the Haecksen miniconf on Monday 24 January 2011 at Linux.conf.au. http://haecksen.net/miniconf-schedule

1. neuro sexism
Brianna Laugher | Haecksen miniconf | LCA2011

2. “Delusions of Gender: How Our Minds, Society,
and Neurosexism Create Difference” by Cordelia
Fine, 2010

4. yeah, but why are there so few
women in open source??

5. women are a
??? minority in
FLOSS/CS/
technology

6. Slashdot 2006
on a story about the founding of
Fedora Women

7. Women tend toward more social careers.
Of course there are exceptions and there
are women who choose fields which are
more male-oriented by their nature
(construction, military service) just as there
are men who choose jobs traditionally held
by women.
Unlike some other fields, women aren't
being kept out of programming through
any sort of imposed discrimination. [...]
Yes, they're a minority, but only out of
choice. No one is telling women not to
code.
http://linux.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=192551&cid=15806271 (2006)

8. Men &
women are a
women
minority in
choose
FLOSS/CS/
different
technology
careers
and
hobbies

9. ??? Men &
women are a
women
minority in
choose
FLOSS/CS/
different
technology
careers
and
hobbies

10. “Nurture”
experiences,
societal norms,
culture
(sexism) Men &
women are a
? women
minority in
choose
FLOSS/CS/
different
technology
? careers
“Nature” and
“innate” hobbies
differences

11. X
“Nurture” Feminism has succeeded!
experiences,
societal norms, No overt discrimination!
culture
(sexism) Men &
women are a
? women
minority in
choose
FLOSS/CS/
different
technology
? careers
“Nature” and
“innate” hobbies
differences

12. Well, actually...
● Still overt discrimination
● Sexual harassment – hostile workplace
● Unconscious bias in hiring, esp. against mothers
● The “second shift”
● “We like what (we think) we are good at”
● Numerical minority, lack of role models
● Stereotype threat
● Leadership – "competent but cold" vs "nice but
incompetent"

13. Also...
Hard to keep female and work identities
compatible in male-dominated domains -
“The easiest solution to the
problem of being female in a
setting in which women are made
to feel that they are inferior and
do not belong is to become as
unfeminine as possible.” p52
Can encourage “antifemale attitudes”

14. Men &
women are a
women
minority in
choose
FLOSS/CS/
different
technology
careers
“Nature” and
“innate” hobbies
differences different minds
– different – cognitive
brains abilities,
personalities
Different how?

15. Different brains?
● angles in faces
● cephalic index (ratio of skull length to skull
breadth)
● brain size
● brain weight
● neuroimaging to the rescue!

16. "The female brain is
predominantly hard-wired for
empathy. The male brain is
predominantly hard-wired for
understanding and building
systems."
-- p1, "The Essential Difference" by Simon Baron-Cohen, 2003

18. “Blobology”
● Measures proxies for brain activity, not brain
activity directly
● Not clear what activity implies re involvement
● Brain structure => psychological function is
obscure – making reverse inferences is fraught
● "Some neural differences are inconsequential,
because they are offset by other compensatory
differences. Other neural differences are
alternative pathways to the same behavorial end."
– Celia Moore, quoted p 143
● “file drawer phenomenon”

19. “Hard-wired”?
Brain responses != “hard-wired” – brain
differences are not specially pointed towards
"nature", but also effects of socialisation and
experience
The brain is malleable!

20. 'Greater Male Variability' hypothesis
The idea that there is greater spread in male
populations (more idiots, more geniuses)
Even if it is so now... it is not inevitable or
immutable. e.g. not seen in all countries.
intellectual ability as a fixed gift vs earned quality
that can be developed p 184

21. “Equal but different”
What's wrong with that?

22. "Gender Equality 2.0 justifies a
status quo in which politics,
wealth, science, technology, and
artistic achievement continue to
lie primarily in the hands of
(white) men." p 91

23. "It is not an accident that there is
no Nobel Prize for making people
feel included."
– Neil Levy, quoted p 91
(from Hochschild "The Second Shift" 1990)

24. This work is © Brianna Laugher and licensed under the Creative Commons
Attribution ShareAlike license, except where otherwise noted:
● Book covers and logos © their respective owners
●"Abolish gender” graffiti: http://www.flickr.com/photos/kristofher/4198179990/
CC-BY By Kristofher Muñoz
●pink and blue cupcakes: http://www.flickr.com/photos/stuartwebster/4775041577/
CC-BY by Stuart Webster
●"gender machine works": http://www.flickr.com/photos/trevorblake/3147797753/
CC-BY-SA By Trevor Blake
●FMRI image (right): http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:FMRI.jpg
released into the public domain.
●PET image (left): http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:PET_Normal_brain.jpg
Public domain, US government work.
●Bell curve: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ci_generos.png
CC-BY By User:Xjmos
●Quote person: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Quoting.gif
released into the public domain.

25. thanks!
brianna@modernthings.org
identi.ca/pfctdayelise
brianna.laugher.id.au