A friend of mine is one of the principals behind "The Survey for People Who Make Websites" from A List Apart:

  http://aneventapart.com/alasurvey2011/00.html

Is that the sort of thing we'd like to do?  If so, I can get some insights from him about how he develops, organizes, and runs the survey.


Peter

On Nov 27, 2012, at 11:23 AM, Karen Coyle <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> I would really like to see such a survey. I did one at my previous place 
> of work, the California Digital Library (nee Division of Library 
> Automation) where I worked for over 20 years. I had kept org charts and 
> phone lists, and was able to see that over that span of two decades the 
> tech staff (which was most everyone there since all we did was tech 
> development) was from 2/3 to 3/4 female. But when I said this in front 
> of a group of employees the men were startled. I'm guessing that they 
> saw themselves as techies, and the women as "helpers" -- even though the 
> DBA, the data designers, and many of the programmers were women. So it's 
> not that there aren't women in technology, it's that the women in 
> technology are often considered to be "not doing technology" because 
> they are women. [1]
> 
> So we should survey. I believe that we will find that in library 
> technology departments there are many "invisible" women. Sadly, women 
> will be more present in that environment for the wrong reasons -- mainly 
> that it's lower paying and that men are more likely to get the higher 
> paying industry jobs. (The University of California overall staff ratio 
> is 65% female -- as perhaps many government agencies are.)
> 
> kc
> [1] Must read: Joanna Russ. How to suppress women's writing. 
> http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/9392874 It's about writing but actually 
> pertains to all activities.
> 
> 
> On 11/27/12 6:57 AM, Rosalyn Metz wrote:
>> I think first we would need to do a survey of how many women are in the
>> community.  if it turns out that this community is only 17% women then
>> we're on target.  who knows, maybe we're actually 10% women and we're way
>> above target.  in which case the real question might be "how do we get more
>> women in tech."
>> 
>> 
>> On Tue, Nov 27, 2012 at 9:11 AM, Chad Nelson <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>> 
>>> Ooops. Hit the wrong key.
>>> 
>>> So, about our presenters...
>>> 
>>> Is it a problem that only 4 of our 33 presenters are women? Or that only 16
>>> of 95 proposers were women?
>>> 
>>> Is there something this community needs to do to encourage more women to
>>> feel like they can and should speak / propose sessions?



-- 
Peter Murray
Assistant Director, Technology Services Development
LYRASIS
[log in to unmask]
+1 678-235-2955
 
1438 West Peachtree Street NW
Suite 200
Atlanta, GA 30309
Toll Free: 800.999.8558
Fax: 404.892.7879 
www.lyrasis.org
 
LYRASIS: Great Libraries. Strong Communities. Innovative Answers.