In my opinion programming surveys should focus on development area and leave demographics, personal questions to someone else.

I see no other reason for asking these questions than following the money.

  • @Jeffrey
    17•2 years ago

    In order to identify systemic / cultural discrimination against certain demographics. If these types of questions were never asked we would only have personal anecdotes to guide decision making.

    e.g. We are better prepared to address the gender disparity within the industry when we have surveys and studies reporting the massive imbalance of men and women. By asking the same questions year after year we are able to tell whether diversity programs and policy changes are working.

    • sj_zero
      -16•2 years ago

      If all the women working in diversity programs actually started coding then it’d have a greater effect than all the diversity programs ever.

      Oh, what’s that? they don’t want to code? They want to people? Funny that…

      • Cyclohexane
        11•2 years ago

        What about all the women who already code but face discrimination?

        What about all the women who picked computer science as their major but faced ostracision and stereotypes?

        What about all the women and especially girls who may have aspired to become programmers, but the reality is that programmers are always portrayed in pop culture as men?

      • Ephera
        7•2 years ago

        Right, and now think about this for another ten hours and you might capture a slither of what their field is.

        For example, yes, women might have a preference for people over code. That’s 100% fine, if there is an actual reason for this preference.
        If they just prefer it, because throughout their lives they were told to prefer people over code, because they are women, then that is horseshit and it would be beneficial to society to stop that.

        Besides, it’s not just about driving up percentages/diversity. Not all women have a preference for people over code. And even if it’s just 10% of women that prefer code to people, those 10% should feel just as welcome as any men that enter the field.