There are many reasons why I believe software development is
a great career - regardless of whether you are male or female - but here are some
reasons I believe it is a great choice, in particular, for women:
1. It's a profession you can fit into your life:
As long as you have a computer in your possession and are not trying to operate
heavy machinery at the same time, you can write code. You don't even have to be
on the internet. You can be effective working part-time, off-site, and at odd
hours. You can work for a big company, small company, or your own company. If
you are looking for clever ways to achieve work-life balance - with or without
children in the mix - there are few careers as conducive to that goal as
software development.
2. You can be as social as you want to be:
I've heard the argument that "women are social creatures and software
development isn't social" as a reason why women are not pursuing careers
in the field. Yes, computer science is a great pursuit for introverts since the
act of coding is a solitary exercise. However, software development is an
incredibly social enterprise. Software of complexity and magnitude requires
teams of people working together. Moreover, if you hope to sell your software,
you will probably want someone with social skills in the room. There are a lot
of quiet people in the industry, to be sure. But you'll find those quiet people
are sometimes the most interesting and funny people you've ever met. Software
development is full of meetings, conversations, demonstrations, negotiations,
stupid jokes, games, and sharing pictures. Also happy hours.
3. You can be as creative as you want to be:
I've also heard the argument that "women are too artsy and creative for
software development". Remember when I said that I valued objective
success measurement? In reality, it turns out that there is as much Art as
there is Science in the application of Computer Science. Creativity is obvious
where there is user interaction: the screens, the buttons, and the
instructional videos. But there is also art and elegance to be found behind the
curtain. Many people can write a program that performs a particular function.
The "artists" among us write software that also performs well and is
easy to maintain and extend. Even deciding what software to build in the first
place requires creativity. You can tailor your career to the types of
applications and development that interest you. It's hard to convey how
satisfying, and fun, it is to watch your creation in action. Your options are
as infinite as a blank piece of canvas.
4. You can be as successful as you want to be:
Until artificial intelligence really takes off - and, let's face it, the
Terminator is not coming anytime soon - there is going to be a need for humans
to develop software. If you remain skilled in current technologies, work hard,
and are easy to get along with, there's a job out there for you - often a very
lucrative job. Gender imposes no limits on the solutions you can create with
your software. Want to solve world hunger? I'll bet someone right now is
working on a program to figure out how to feed the world. If they aren't, then
you'd better get started!
5. Because you can:
There's an immense sense of pride and accomplishment in doing something that
(some) people think you can't. You get to prove their assumptions wrong,
everyday, without arguments or protests. You just smile every time you answer
the question "What do you do?"