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Let me be frank: I received a 1 page resume of a female computer scientist, where the word "women" was mentioned 8 times (organizations, etc). We did not interv
by adsenseclient 14y ago
Let me be frank: I received a 1 page resume of a female computer scientist, where the word "women" was mentioned 8 times (organizations, etc). We did not interview that person, since frankly we were scared.
- rdouble 14y agoWomen are scary to computer nerds.
- Mz 14y agoWomen scare a lot of men. That is no doubt the real subtext of imagery of armed to the teeth, chain mail bikini clad women in certain types of fiction. But I have found it is socially unacceptable to remark on that fact.
- unconed 14y agoMore precisely, it's the way women can wind other computer nerds around their finger. The sword of attention cuts both ways.
- mediacrisis 14y agoWasn't aware the two were distinct.
- dspeyer 14y agoYou have completely missed the point of the comment that you are responding to. It's not that she's a woman, but that she put so much of her efforts into that identity. Or maybe you're joking, but jokes don't go well in discussions like this.
- drhayes9 14y agoScared of what?
- TallGuyShort 14y agoI believe they're referring to a fear of legal problems because the individual was obviously very passionate about the issue of women in tech. Not commenting on the legality of such a concern, just pointing out what they were likely concerned about.
- heliostatic 14y agoSorry, scared? Can you please elaborate? Were you concerned the candidate would be spending too much time at conferences? Or too much time... being a woman? I'm honestly not clear.
- adsenseclient 14y agoScared of her being litigious (e.g. if she has performance problems and gets fired (like any other employee in our company), she would accuse us of discrimination)- stuff like that.
- covingkj 14y agoI'm not sure I understand the correlation between a person being passionate about their background and community, and that person being litigious.
- jeff18 14y agoI am pretty sure that is actually illegal
- Alex3917 14y agoPeople who attend conferences about women aren't a protected class. So it wouldn't be illegal unless you could demonstrate that filtering out people who attend conferences about women systematically discriminated against women. This would be fairly difficult at best, and almost impossible unless it were a large organization with an obvious gender imbalance.
- jordo37 14y agoWhy?
- wizawuza 14y agoI agree that more women need to quit "talking about being a female founder", but not interviewing someone based on the fact that they go to women's organizations/etc? That's wrong and very likely illegal.
- danilocampos 14y ago> Let me be frank: I received a 1 page resume of a female computer scientist, where the word "women" was mentioned 8 times (organizations, etc). We did not interview that person, since frankly we were scared. I know this is usually verboten on Hacker News, but I find no other way to encode this thought... Boy, you guys sure sound like assholes. Sounds like she dodged a bullet. Y'know. Frankly.
- adsenseclient 14y agoI wrote "frank" because I frankly exposed the events that actually took place (receiving the resume, word counting in it, decision). What facts are you frank about? Would you like a resume where the word "men" appears 8 times? Or "whites"? Would you like to work with people who tout being white, Danilo Campos?
- danilocampos 14y agoWow. By all means – keep hanging yourself, this is fascinating. Let's break down your profound false equivalence, here. Men are an over-represented demographic in tech. Women are not. Women, in their under-representation, find comfort and camaraderie in the company of other women. The reasons for this are many but let's simplify to the most obvious one: women are the targets of sexism. By sharing company with other women, they can avoid hostility and discrimination based on their gender while still dealing with the subject of their passion: technology. Further, the under-representation of women in technology is a problem. It limits the diversity of experience and opinions in this industry, which limits the scope of solutions that are discovered. It limits the pool of potential applicants for any given role. Any individual who works to remedy these issues is a positive force. Same goes for white people. The vast majority of powerful folks in any given western sphere of power are old white guys. They don't need any further help. You've done a chilling job at justifying overt gender discrimination here. Those more classically trained in the academics of this villainy can do a much better job explaining it than I have, but boy – what a doozie. And if you really thought you were in the right, you wouldn't be posting with a throwaway. If this were a truly defensible position, I'd encourage you to write up a hiring post on your company blog. "Why we don't hire women who care about advancing the cause of gender diversity in tech," you'd title it. But we all know you're not going to do that.
- gamblor956 14y agoLet me be frank: I received a 1 page resume of a female computer scientist, where the word "women" was mentioned 8 times (organizations, etc). We did not interview that person, since frankly we were scared. You should delete your comment immediately. You have violated long-standing and well-enforced laws against gender-based discrimination on hiring. You openly admit that you did not hire a qualified female candidate primarily because of her gender. Your comment could, and if it comes to it, would be used in litigation.
- dspeyer 14y agoAny idea whether or not you were right to be scared?