Unix Security -- Women in Technology

[William Knowles <wk () C4I ORG>]

UNIX SECURITY --- June 30, 2000
Published by ITworld.com, the IT problem-solving network
http://www.itworld.com/newsletters

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Women in Technology
by Carole Fennelly

I did *not* want to write this article. For the 20 or so years that
I've been in the Technology field, I have carefully avoided being
associated with "women's issues". My feeling is this: the fact that I
am female and working in technology should be a non-issue. I don't
want to make it an issue by highlighting the fact that I am female.

Oh, that doesn't mean that I have a problem with being female, or even
feminine -- just that it has nothing to do with my work. I've had to
deal with my share of stupidity as well. "Wait till they hear back at
the office that a little girl was tracing power cables under the floor
by herself!". At 20 years old, I was hardly a "little girl".

But, I kept my mouth shut. Just deal with it and ignore the jerks.
Sexist attitudes are the result of ignorance and inexperience. I
figured the best way to deal with it was to just prove by my actions
that I was capable. I did not look for sexist attitudes, or take
offense at semantics.

Over time, my confidence grew with the length of my resume. I'm not so
defensive about "proving" myself and can occasionally risk speaking
out on real issues. When Hacker News Network published an article on
"Scene Whores"
(http://www.hackernews.com/bufferoverflow/00/scenewh.html) I asked
Space Rogue (editor of HNN) to let me write a rebuttal
(http://www.hackernews.com/bufferoverflow/00/threat.html). Well, if I
was trying to avoid the "femiNazi" label, why write this? Mostly
because if I didn't, someone else would -- possibly in a way that
would make it a female vs. male issue, which is something I prefer to
avoid.

I got hundreds of emails in response to that article, mostly very
positive. True, there were a few jerks as well as people who saw me as
the next Gloria Steinem. I decided to avoid the topic in future
articles.

So why write about it now? Well, I've had no less than 3 people this
week alone comment about my gender in relation to my work. It's a bit
startling when people expect my comments about my experiences in the
industry to somehow make me a Spokesperson for Women -- far from it.
My opinions and experiences are unique to me; I can't speak for
others. I want no special consideration for being female one way or
the other.

The current flurry of inquiries started with an article on ABCNews
about Women Hackers.

"Hacker Women Are Few, But Strong" by Sascha Segan
http://more.abcnews.go.com/sections/tech/DailyNews/hackerwomen000602.html

Now, maybe New York is different from the rest of the world, but I see
enough women in the technical field that it's become unremarkable. Oh,
that's right, they're talking about "Women Hackers"; much sexier
sounding than women in technology. The article promised a Part 2. I
didn't have high hopes for it.

"Female Hackers Battle Sexism to get Ahead" by Sascha Segan
http://more.abcnews.go.com/sections/tech/DailyNews/hackerwomen000609.html

This one was better, though Ms. Segan was still focussed on the
"hacker scene" and not real hackers. I decided to send her mail to
discuss the issue and perhaps broaden her perspective. My little bit
for women in the industry. Ms. Segan decided to post responses to her
article, without identifying respondents.
http://more.abcnews.go.com/sections/tech/dailynews/hackerfeedback_000614.html

None of my comments made it since I did not want to hide behind
anonymity. I actually wanted to go on the record. I don't know why
this was a problem. Shouldn't women be encouraged to speak up?

This is a better article that points out that the scarcity of women in
the technical field is the fault of society, not the industry. Amen.

Wired Women: Why so few girl Geeks?
http://more.abcnews.go.com/sections/tech/WiredWomen/wiredwomen000419.html

I see the evidence in my 6 year-old daughter already. Little girls are
supposed to be pretty, not smart. After all, Barbie says, "Math is
hard!".

It takes a while for society to change, but, inevitably, it will. I
see it in my own household as my daughter is praised for her high math
scores and encouraged to use the computer (a Unix box for mail, of
course). But will this be enough to counter-act the Britney Spears
image? Tune in 6 years from now...

We've come a long way, baby. We've got a long way to go.


Resources

SANS releases preliminary results on sysadmin salaries Solaris
administrators in California among top paid
http://www.sunworld.com/sunworldonline/swol-10-1998/swol-10-sans_p.html

Women In the Engineering Industry
Being a woman in the engineering industry is different from being a
man in the engineering industry. Not better, not worse, but different.
http://www.sunworld.com/sunworldonline/swol-07-1995/swol-07-duck.html


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COMMUNITY DISCUSSIONS

Web Security
Delve into the gory technical details of Web security, debate
community politics, get help, and share your expertise in this
discussion for security pros of all stripes. Moderated by Carole
Fennelly and Brian Martin.
http://forums.itworld.com/webx?14@@.ee6b67b/45!skip=20

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About the author
----------------
Carole Fennelly is a partner in Wizard's Keys Corporation, a company
specializing in computer security consulting. She has been a Unix
system administrator for almost 20 years on various platforms, and
provides security consultation to several financial institutions in
the New York City area. She is also a regular columnist for SunWorld
(http://www.sunworld.com). Visit her site (http://www.wkeys.com/) or
reach her at carole.fennelly () sunworld com

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