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Why are men overrepresented in tech?
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Technology is designed for men

The design and development of technology cater to male interests and their preference, which is why men lean towards jobs in technology.

The Argument

Men succeed in grasping the world of technology because it is built for them. Male CEOs and entrepreneurs are often unaware of sexism within digital media and tech because they don't face any issues in tech designs themselves and assume there is nothing to fix. Tech companies run by men approve ideas that are handled by a male-dominated staff, who fail to spot any sex differences for improvement.[1] Men are the default category to appease to during a design production while women are considered as a sort of niche. NASA spacesuits, smartphones, car crash dummies, CPR mannequins are some of the tech-based designs that exclude women and their body type during production and adhere to men's comfort.[2] Airbags in cars proved to be safer for men than women and children, who received more injuries. [3] Technology devices such as artificial hearts prove a compatibility rate of 86% among men, whereas only 20% in women. Technology caters to men's comfortability by default.

Counter arguments

There is no biological evidence which proves that men have a natural predisposition for technology, or that they are more suited for tech-related jobs than women. A study on debunking myths by Jonathan M. Kane and Janet E. Mertz shows that school mathematics, a core subject in the study of technology, results from 86 different countries found no difference between boys' and girls' scores. [4] In the Baltic states, women are the majority in leading the technology industry. [5] If men had a natural predisposition for technology, they would dominate technology jobs all over the world.

Proponents

Premises

Rejecting the premises

References

  1. https://inews.co.uk/news/technology/tech-has-a-long-way-to-go-on-sexism-with-products-designed-by-men-for-men-366450
  2. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-47725946
  3. https://www.women-in-technology.com/wintec-blog/a-male-perspective-on-women-in-technology
  4. https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/belinda-parmar/are-men-just-better-at-te_b_1960738.html
  5. https://www.forbes.com/sites/montymunford/2018/03/12/latvias-tech-hu-of-riga-is-leading-the-way-for-women-and-drones/#7237f85635d6
This page was last edited on Saturday, 3 Oct 2020 at 16:42 UTC

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