Lesson21 Women and the IT Industry
The computer industry should offer ideal conditions for the employment ofwomen. Unfortunately it doesn't, both because the computer industry'smanagers are too stupid to employ them, and because women have been put offby the idea that jobs involve being a slave to an inhuman computer screen.
Computing should attract women: it is clean, light work where the bestresults are obtained by intelligence applied in co-operative work-groups.
All large computer sites run round the clock, which provides for flexibleworking hours; indeed, much IT work can be done from home. Because of thepace at which the industry advances, staffs need regular skills updates,which should make it easier for women to be retrained and re-employed ifthey take time out to have a family.
Nor does computing have any of the entrenched working practices which mightkeep women out. It does not have 100 year-old demarcation lines. Theworkforce is expanding, not contracting. Hiring women ought to be easy.
Under the circumstances it is almost unbelievable that the number of womenbeing taken in to the computing industry is declining.
entrenched 确立的，不容易改的（风俗习惯）
demarcation 分工
女性与IT行业
计算机行业应该为女性就业提供理想的条件。但是事实并非如此，一方面是因为计算机行业的经理们太愚蠢了，不雇佣女性，另一方面也是因为女性相信这样的工作会使自己成为无人性的电脑屏幕的奴隶。
计算机业的工作应该对女性有吸引力：它干净、轻松，通过团队协作及运用智慧可以获得工作的最佳结果。所有大型的计算机房都是二十四小时工作的，它们提供灵活的工作时间，许多IT工作确实可以在家中完成。由于此行业的迅速发展，从业人员需要定期的技能更新，这一点使中断工作去照顾家庭的女性更容易接受再教育和再就业。
计算机业也没有任何固定不变的工作惯例阻碍女性就业。它也没有那些已存在一百年的分工界限。劳动力需求正在不断扩大而非缩小。雇佣女性员工应该非常容易。
在这样的背景下，投身计算机业的女性的数量还在减少，真是令人难以置信。 |