I almost forgot this but today is Ada Lovelace Day. It is meant to empower women in technology and in general. It is not very unusual for women in technology to be treated inferior to their male counterparts – be it salary or promotion.
Even when they work the same [most of the time it is MORE] they’re underappreciated. It is very rare to find people and companies that really appreciate the work of the women working for them. Nothing justifies this more than this statement from the FindingAda blog -
?You will never be taken seriously, but we might take notice of you if you?re hot.?
The media has done a poor job of bringing this fact in front of the public. But what do we do? Just site there and complain? No. as bloggers we’re the media of the Web and the people and it is our duty to bring this fact to everybody’s attention.
This is the Ada Lovelace pledge -
?I will publish a blog post on Tuesday 24th March about a woman in technology whom I admire but only if 1,000 other people will do the same.?
? Suw Charman-Anderson (contact)
Deadline to sign up by: 24th March 2009
Ada Lovelace Day is an international day of blogging to draw attention to women excelling in technology. Women?s contributions often go unacknowledged, their innovations seldom mentioned, their faces rarely recognised. We want you to tell the world about these unsung heroines. Whatever she does, whether she is a sysadmin or a tech entrepreneur, a programmer or a designer, developing software or hardware, a tech journalist or a tech consultant, we want to celebrate her achievements.
It doesn?t matter how new or old your blog is, what gender you are, what language you blog in, or what you normally blog about – everyone is invited to take part. All you need to do is sign up to this pledge and then publish your blog post any time on Tuesday 24th March 2009. If you?re going to be away that day, feel free to write your post in advance and set your blogging system to publish it that day.
And so?Suw Charman-Anderson pledged -
I will?publish a blog post on Tuesday 24th March about a woman in technology whom I admire but only if?1,000 other people will do the same.
And so here it is – my little bit to empower women in technology.
I dedicate this blog post to my sister, a Software Developer who goes up and beyond the call of duty to get her work done, even when the corporate monkeys make her work 10 times of what she is paid! ?Hats off to her and other women in technology. The war has started.