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From: actnyc!jls@uunet.UU.NET (Jonathan Schilling)
Newsgroups: comp.society.women
Subject: Re: Women Wizards?
Message-ID: <11957@agate.BERKELEY.EDU>
Date: 12 Jul 88 01:49:11 GMT
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The software industry has enough "hackers" and "gurus" as it is.  The really
successful people at the jobs I've had have been those who've combined great
technical abilities with great software engineering and software engineering
management abilities.  This has been true in an applications shop as well as
at two system software companies (application generators, compilers).  To
design something so that it's elegant, usable, and can be maintained; 
to handle client/user expectations and pressures; to handle unrealistic
attitudes of marketing and upper management; these are what go into making the
stars.

Doing this requires as much technical excellence as anything else, but it also
requires judgment and dedication.  What it does *not* require is the hacker
personality that was described in several postings.  The folks I have in mind
haven't been single-minded, socially inept, or any of that.  They haven't 
devoted all hours to their job except for fairly infrequent crunch periods.
They're just bright people who like their work but like a lot else also.
A number of them have been women, and (no surprise) they've been just as 
good as the men.

You certainly don't need to be part of the hacker subculture (which may well  
be somewhat difficult for women to get into at the present) to be a star in
software.  If anything, hacker/guru types have been looked down at in the
places I've worked, for being too narrow and obsessed with the minor details
of one system.  It's ability and judgment that really matter, not the amount
of arcane knowledge you possess.  

Of course, women who want to be hacker/gurus should be able to.  But a
disinclination towards doing that should not be considered an impediment
towards a career in software.

Jonathan Schilling