Yes, thank you. The white knight attitude can be very frustrating and give the opposite of the desired effect. We are an asset, not something to be saved from other fields.

Agreed. I am only one data point, but i have no degree and I am a female dev. We're out there.

As data points go: male developer, serious systems programming background, 1 semester of college.

Maciej Ceglowski is, I think, even worse off than I am. He went to art school. Now he controls the Internet from his perch atop Pinboard.

I went to a liberal arts college and got so well-rounded I can't stop rolling.

I've worked in this industry for a long time, and while I have worked with fantastic self-taught developers from non-tech degrees, it seems to me that they're the exception rather than the rule. I would not hesitate hiring someone without a tech degree based on their experience, but they seem fairly uncommon. Most of the developers I've worked with seem to come from CS/EE backgrounds.

Good developers are all exceptions, not the rule. The majority of CS grads are not in fact effective programmers.

This is an important point. While the industry isn't always super welcoming to women, that isn't the whole problem. Lots of women just have other interests. We'll probably see gender parity in IT when we see gender parity in nursing.

I would rephrase that further to say: are diverse interests between the genders a problem?

I have never heard anyone complain that we have too few male teachers, nurses, or airline attendants.

> I have never heard anyone complain that we have too few male teachers, nurses, [...]

You haven't looked. Programmes exist to increase the number of male teachers and male nurses.

interesting. i'm guessing from your spelling of "programmes" that you are not in the US - where are these programs you speak of? i'd be very interested in reading about them.

Even better than I put it, I agree overt sexism is a problem in some companies but I doubt it is really a huge issue in CS courses in academia and that is sort of where this problem begins.

I've never heard anyone suggest that teachers, nurses or airline attendants are highly-paid elites...

yes, you're right about a) and b).

the bottom line was that he didn't understand my code, and he thought i wasn't smart enough to write it.

Thank you, I will take this advice to heart.

ugh, i would imagine not.

thank you for the link! if i had the experience you guys were looking for, i would absolutely go for it.

Meh it's flexible. I wrote the front-end job posting and handle reviewing the resumes. If you want to post what your current resume I wouldn't hold any formatting errors and whatnot against you. It's not like you have anything to lose.

ha - that's a good point. i hadn't thought of that.

thanks, i will definitely update my resume. i moved 800 miles for this job, so there's an extra layer of frustration there, too. i don't want it to have been for nothing.

Thank you so much for this. I will start going to meet ups ASAP. I have worked so hard to get into this industry (I am almost completely self taught, no tech degree) and all I want is to work with passionate people who are inspired by my passion. I want to make awesome things and be better than I was yesterday. This current job is so disheartening.

Also, if you see startups you like, apply for jobs there. I know that sounds really basic but I'm surprised how often folks don't apply for jobs they could get (or fear they need a warm intro, etc.). Companies, esp. startups, are so hungry for engineering talent that, IMHO, it's very much a meritocracy, and you don't necessarily need relationships, etc.

This is good to know. I think a startup would be a great fit for me in many ways.