froscon2007 - 0.96

FrOSCon
Free and Open Source Software Conference

Speakers
Myriam Rita Schweingruber
Schedule
Day 1
Room HS3
Start time 16:30
Duration 01:00
Info
ID 53
Event type Lecture
Track Open Beyond Software
Language English
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Women in IT

View points and possible explanations

Only 4.5% of the Free Software community are women, why? Do we really need special groups or are there other means to attract women (if there are some who could be attracted...)

Only 4.5% of the Free Software community are women, why? Do we really need special groups or are there other means to attract women (if there are some who could be attracted...)

There has been quite some discussion about womens participation in Free Software communities in the last months. The numbers are as low as 4.5%, compared to 20% + in the proprietary software world. Women represent slightly more than half of mankind, so why are they so few in IT and even less in Free Software? The author tries to explain these facts and will outline a few mechanisms that could help improve the status quo.

This presentation is by no means a scientific work but rather a personal view point of woman active in the community.