Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!lll-winken!lll-tis!helios.ee.lbl.gov!pasteur!agate!pigs!root@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU
From: pigs!root@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU (The Beach Bum)
Newsgroups: comp.society.women
Subject: Re: Working at Home
Summary: Resentment from the Office Bound
Message-ID: <11305@agate.BERKELEY.EDU>
Date: 23 Jun 88 21:07:56 GMT
References: <11144@agate.BERKELEY.EDU>
Sender: usenet@agate.BERKELEY.EDU
Organization: Big "D" Home for Wayward Hackers
Lines: 38
Approved: skyler@violet.berkeley.edu (Moderator -- Trish Roberts)
Comments-to: comp-women-request@cs.purdue.edu
Submissions-to: comp-women@cs.purdue.edu


In article <11144@agate.BERKELEY.EDU>, skyler@violet.berkeley.edu writes:
> It was supposed, when computing firms starting expanding wildly,
> that computing would be a great field for women.  Ideally, one
> did not have to be in the same building as other people to be in
> the same firm and working on the same project.  This was supposed
> to mean that women could work at home.  It was supposed to mean
> that computing would be a particularly inviting field for women.
> This doesn't seem to have happened.  Has it?  If not, why not?

I have only worked for one computing firm, but several other jobs
were ameniable to working from home on occasion.  I have generally
been one of two or three actual computer literate employees.  And
this is how my experiences with telecomputing have gone ...

The resistance which I have seen as far as my doing work from my
house has come from other employees who do not understand
telecomputing.

Upper level managers, who can use spreadsheets or other tools
over the phone, seem willing to use the phone lines and are
understanding of my doing so.  Bosses always seem interested in
new toys and terminals and modems seem to be a popular item.

Clerical workers, who have no use whatsoever and no understanding
of telecomputing, find the strange and random hours quite
upsetting.  These employees present the greatest obstacle to having
more employees telecompute.  Their jealousy and hostility seems to
be very disruptive and demoralizing.

I see the greatest room for expansion in the middle ranks.
However, these workers are marginally computer literate in most
cases, and the expense of a personal computer equipted with the
needed software is prohibitive.  The solution might appear to be
using dumb terminals and modems rather than PCs.  However, first
I have to get the bosses around here to use the dialup lines more
often.

- John F. Haugh II