Recently a friend and former colleague who works for a very posh company shared with me that his company has set the goal of hiring X Number of female developers. It is a big company and I seem to recall the number was small, like maybe ten. My reaction was positive. He said, "Okay good, tell me more about why you feel that way because I have a female co-worker who was very upset by it. She said she didn't want to find out she was only hired for her gender." To which I replied, "Why not? It happens to men every day. Men have privilege and they don't know it. It comes so natural to them they wear it like skin. Perhaps they get more credit than is due, just like when men are hired because they are men. And one company has dedicated a single objective for themselves to extend that extra favor to probably ten lucky women.
You may not like it, but if you really want equality between the sexes, women have to acknowledge that while we are underpaid and under praised, men are also OVER paid and OVER praised. They are promoted without reason, taken into the fold, and groomed for success starting at a young age.
Normally women have to be better than all of their peers just to avoid appearing inferior. Here is one small example of a very smart company shifting the balance for a brief moment in time. So don't fight the progress, friends. We have earned it, collectively, and I applaud everyone involved for giving women an edge, albeit a tiny one.
So take whatever they are offering and do not think twice about it. Do it for all the women who are blocked from management. Do it for the women who can't rise up. Do it because we all deserve a little favoritism once in a while.
No comments:
Post a Comment