I agree, ita. She's a poor example of underrepresentation in the sciences-- there's a very good reason she had to drop out! But this sentence, however, should have been stricken:

"The long hours often required with computing jobs also may deter women who wish to raise children."

I mean, wow.

As opposed to those short hours in, say, the more traditional nursing field?

I mean, wow.

It pretty much renders the rest of the article irrelevant.

As opposed to those short hours in, say, the more traditional nursing field?

Definitely longer hours than, say, teaching.

No CS degree or programming skills here. I just don't have the patience for the latter. Once in a blue moon having them might be useful, but it's not required for my job. That's what our various System Administrators do.

What is your job, Kalshane?

I'd feel so naked without my CS degree or equivalent programming skills (because, really, in the 80s I could have gotten decent work straight out of HS and ended up where I am. But it'd be on the job experience of a similar sort, though it'd eventually limit my promotability or ability to compete).

Slightly relatedly, I'm taken aback by how many people I encounter these days in IT who don't have CS degrees, and who can't program.

t raises hand

I'm well aware that I suck. I haven't gone for a CS degree yet simply because I don't learn the way most CS departments teach, and I suspect attempting a degree would be a frustrating and ultimately pointless exercise.

I need lunch. Hmm, lunch...

I think I may be the only person on the IT staff who isn't a developer with a CS degree. I'm certainly the only one with an MS in CS.

Shrift -- you're in sysadmin? And Tom -- what's your job description?

Most of what I do is programming database stuff. I have no CS degree. I've had two programming courses: BASIC in high school, and Fortran in college.

Unix System Administrator