Women in software engineering: what gives?
summary
Women built early computing — Ada Lovelace (subroutines and loops), Grace Hopper (compiler and COBOL), Margaret Hamilton (coined software engineering), the ENIAC six and Hedy Lamarr (frequency‑hopping → Wi‑Fi/Bluetooth) — yet today only ~23% of US software engineers and 12–15% in France are women, and 50% leave before 35. AI models and small, male‑dominated labs amplify algorithmic bias. Concrete fixes shown: pay transparency, sponsorship not just mentorship, rewrite job ads, rethink company culture and hiring pipelines to reach 60/40 gender balance.
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chapters (19)
- 0:00Introduction
- 1:05Gender balance in tech
- 3:56AI and algorithmic bias
- 6:02Women in software engineering stats
- 7:51Women leaving tech by 35
- 8:12Computer science pioneers
- 17:01What went wrong
- 18:01Stereotypes in software
- 20:361980s PC revolution
- 23:04Confidence gap in STEM
- 27:39Leaky pipeline in tech
- 28:00Company culture challenges
- 31:30Pay gap and promotions
- 32:55Impostor syndrome struggles
- 34:41Solutions for change
- 38:35Mentorship vs sponsorship
- 40:06Pay transparency and safety
- 41:11Call to action
- 42:36Q&A
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