Many years ago, I was listening to a podcast where a group of women were talking about their experiences in Software Development. I think Person A had started their own company so now didn’t do much development because they were now the CEO. Person B had switched to teaching software development and was going to take up a role as a “Developer Advocate” which I think is kind of a teaching role; making tutorials and promoting via social media. Then Person C seemed happy being a software developer.
In other blogs, I’ve briefly mentioned my observations with women in software development. I find there’s a much higher percentage of women that will desire to go into management, whereas many men seem to love the idea of a career constantly coding.
I’ve followed a few of the women from the podcast, intrigued where their careers would go. Person A and B are still CEO and Developer Advocate, respectively. Person C, who was happy being a software developer had apparently got their dream job at a big tech company early 2021.
“I’m so lucky I get to do something I love for a living”
Neary a year later, they announce they are taking a year out due to maternity. A few months later, they state how being a new mother has given them new inspiration as a software developer. I wasn’t sure if she had been coding in her free time, or was just posting for attention.
She claimed that she could:
- “tap into new-found inspiration and creativity”
- “think about more nuanced edge cases”
- “Be more efficient”
- “better at asking for help”
- “better at asking the right questions”
The justification was that you have extra accountability, have to maximise how you spend time/money, ask for assistance when you struggle to support your child. It was quite tenuous and when people asked her to elaborate on how it really helps coding, she just accused them of “toxic masculinity”.
Only 2 months later, she announces that she applied to switch roles to become an Engineering Manager. Wait, what!? What happened to all that boasting about securing her dream role at her dream company? What about this new-found inspiration to be a better developer?
How can that mentality shift in such a short space of time?
“I kinda just fell out of love with coding”
People often say that social media gives people a skewed perception of people’s realities, because it is a filtered view: people only post the good stuff, and sometimes even modify the photos. If someone goes on holiday, you see the beautiful sunny beach, and the exciting scuba diving session. You don’t hear about the argument they had with their partner, or how they were bedridden with illness on the other days.
So was she lying about her love for coding? Were the development teams at this company not well suited to her mindset or ability?
When she did return from maternity leave, she then said he loved being a manager “way more than I liked being a software developer.”
I do find it odd that her mentality has always seemed to be focussed on promoting women in tech, and calling out “bro culture”, but then she has ditched being a developer and followed the stereotype of being a manager instead.
See Also: Women In Tech / Programming Podcasts
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