Diversity for the sake of diversity

So I’ve asked similar things in a lot of different places in different ways to get opinions on the matter. Basically, I’ve come to the conclusion that every company is different and location might have something to do with it. I’m here to make the argument that women have a clear and unfair advantage when it comes to landing jobs in programming.

When I started my career as a programmer, I was a young, inexperienced programmer just getting out of school. I came into the industry naive and ready to land a sweet job as a junior dev. Little did I know, this was actually a lot more difficult than it sounded in my head. However, I noticed a few things with fellow grads that were in my same shoes. Almost everyone had the same amount of experience, good personality, and same quality of work. Almost everyone had the same results. It was a long and hard road trying to be noticed by anyone. I was one of the lucky ones who managed something after a month of graduation. What did I find? An unpaid internship with hopes of employment after. It was the best I could do so I went with it. It turns out it helped me get my foot in the door and get me where I am now.

The strange thing I noticed, however, is that everyone else had the same thing. Internships that had no real promise after and most of them paid nothing. There were a few women that were graduating as well. They had the same if not less experience, background. They had the same education. Every woman that was graduating with us, within 2 weeks, had several interviews and offers and started working as a junior dev.

So if I look today, the numbers are still pretty much the same. The guys, even ones that graduated with me, which was a while ago, are still having trouble finding work. Still having trouble getting any companies to respond or set up an interview. I am currently a mid-level developer and I decided to test the waters to see what it’s like now. After experience, and becoming a mid-level developer, I still have no responses, companies don’t consider me even for a junior dev position. This is not just me, but pretty much everyone else who graduated with me and has some experience now. Even with experience, we still have trouble finding work.

Now compare these two. Women who graduate and have no other experience and have the same education get interviews, offers, and start working within two weeks. Men who have years of experience and are mid-level developers only get “we have decided to consider other candidates”.

Before when I asked this question, it was comparing everyone to graduation-level education and no experience. Even then I noticed that women had an easy time landing good jobs as junior devs. Now after a while, comparing where I am now and my experience, I still see this. I see that an inexperienced woman is more likely to get a job as a junior dev than I, a mid-level man with years of experience.

This is my story to be taken as evidence. I know not every company does this, but I know for a fact it happens. Diversity for the sake of diversity. Why is this in our system and how does it benefit us? I’m opening this up for discussion for anyone to comment

Submitted January 21, 2020 at 03:23AM by jaredchoatepro https://ift.tt/2NI57oa via TikTokTikk