tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6555947.post7344435163899904568..comments2024-03-14T01:32:43.610-06:00Comments on The Geomblog: Guest Post: Women in Theory Workshop ISuresh Venkatasubramanianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15898357513326041822noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6555947.post-16429288956928905962012-07-12T14:10:55.504-06:002012-07-12T14:10:55.504-06:00Thank you for the nice post. I understand the fee...Thank you for the nice post. I understand the feelings of the other anonymous commenter who probably means “discriminates based upon sex of attendee” when he says WIT is sexist. And this is true. Males are not invited to attend. I heard rumor that a male did attend a previous WIT workshop and was asked to leave by one of the more senior women at the workshop. As a male, I would like to promote issues of work/life balance (and learn more about them), but I certainly do not feel welcome to attend WIT. I applaud Karen’s assurance and welcome, but I will not be taking her up on this opportunity due to fear. <br /><br />That said, I don’t think labeling the workshop as “sexist” is particularly helpful. Instead of “is it sexist?”, another question to ask is whether the current exclusionary format “is the most helpful format for the attendees and beneficial to promoting theoretical computer science research”. There are definitely benefits of the current format that you will hear from any of the attendees. There are also drawbacks. One drawback, as Karen pointed out, is that it, in part, excludes men from this part of the conversation of work/life balance and the quest for diversity. It also excludes men (especially young ones that do not have their own networks) from helpful information about self-promotion, networking, and the larger discussion of how to be a good and productive researcher. I know young male researchers who would be interested in these topics and yet do not have access to another venue is good as WIT for learning about these topics. Another drawback of this format is that it can create resentment. The other anonymous commenter is surely not the only male who feels resentment at being excluded because he is male. The resentment that WIT fosters may undermine the very goal that WIT was established to promote. <br /><br />In the end, I fear that the negatives of being exclusionary may outweigh the positives. Such a conference might have a more beneficial impact if it were more welcoming to the male researchers. I understand that this was not the case 20 years ago, but it may be today. I would encourage the organizers to give this a try at some future WIT conference to see how it works. A conference addressed primary to women’s needs but where sympathetic men were explicitly welcome.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6555947.post-90570197249691950152012-07-05T21:37:05.983-06:002012-07-05T21:37:05.983-06:00As a woman and scientist, I'd like to say to &...As a woman and scientist, I'd like to say to "Anonymous" that I'm sure your presence at a Women in Theory workshop would have been *especially* welcome. If you feel strongly about this issue, perhaps you should make a special effort to join in! The male voice is especially appreciated at such gatherings, as I feel it is due to the united efforts of both men and women that iniquities in career opportunities, salaries, benefits, etc will eventually be understood and rectified.picturewinghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00501295354375693002noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6555947.post-39609995284553417942012-07-05T20:46:16.195-06:002012-07-05T20:46:16.195-06:00I didn't imply that the theory community is bi...I didn't imply that the theory community is biased against women. More precisely, I am not competent to make assertions about bias based on personal experiences. But there are many bloggers who talk about general bias in academia against women, and there are legions of examples of latent bias and plain insensitivity towards women in the industrial CS world (even today). <br /><br />I'm sorry you feel threatened or unwelcome in conferences because you're male. it might help to imagine what it must be like (and what it must have been like for so long) to be female in a male-dominated workforce. This is not to say that it's time for payback - rather, any attempt to change the historic imbalance might SEEM like unfriendliness towards men, but it really isn't. <br /><br />In regards to equating numerical imbalance with systematic bias, again theres little I can say that hasn't been said over and over again about the institutionalized and unconscious ways in which bias can creep in without explicit sexist behavior, and how that can affect relative proportions of males and females in the higher reaches of a discipline.Suresh Venkatasubramanianhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15898357513326041822noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6555947.post-41292944609727009712012-07-05T20:30:40.655-06:002012-07-05T20:30:40.655-06:00Thank you for approving the comment and for your r...Thank you for approving the comment and for your response. I meant the latter, and I (with very deep respect) think you're mistaken in identifying "few women want to go into theory" with "theory is biased against women". See, for example, the NYT article on the lack of women editing Wikipedia. One would be very hard-pressed to prove that Wikipedia does anything sinister to prevent women from editing it, and yet they do not edit it. As a young man, I feel my own career is compromised because I am unwelcome at certain conferences purely due to my gender. I am unaware of any conferences where women are specifically unwelcome (in the present day, I mean).Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6555947.post-70253149649019141602012-07-05T16:17:34.523-06:002012-07-05T16:17:34.523-06:00I'm not sure what that means. If you define &q...I'm not sure what that means. If you define "sexist" as "pays special attention to gender issues", then sure. But if you define "sexist" as "unfairly promoting (or setting in place structures that advantage) one gender over another", then pretty much the whole tech industry is sexist in the OTHER direction and events like this are but a few small ways of rectifying that imbalance.Suresh Venkatasubramanianhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15898357513326041822noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6555947.post-46340804653878983812012-07-05T16:03:19.685-06:002012-07-05T16:03:19.685-06:00Congratulations to all the speakers. Nevertheless...Congratulations to all the speakers. Nevertheless, I find the concept of this conference rather sexist.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com