> The question is: do people get discouraged from seeing few people like them doing something?
that's a good question and the answer is not definitively yes.
For a number of reasons.
First of all, there's the outlier and there are the pioneers.
Columbus was a pioneer (among others), not just an outlier.
Secondly, we don't have the data.
From my anecdotal experience as a long time tech worker, women are hired in greater numbers compared to the number of applications.
From my anecdotal experience and context (Europe, Italy) it's much harder to find them than men.
But when companies find them, they have no bigger problems than men to get the job.
I would say that if there are ten open positions and 20 men apply, 8 get the job, for the same job 3 women apply and 2 of them get the job.
I've been interviewing for the company I work for and I've adviced them to hire all the women that applied, not so much for men, approximately 1 in 2 is coming to the interview either under prepared or to test how much more they could ask to their actual employer.
> if you're a kid looking at a whole bunch of basketball players that are very differently shaped than you
There's a good chance that you are not fit for basketball.
Listen, I understand your point, I was a volleyball player in my teen years, I was good, not great, but I was shorter than most of the other players.
Turns out that's important to succeed as a professional player because other teams will get the tallest player they can find to win.
You are actively encouraged to persist if you're taller than average and discouraged if you're not and I think it's completely normal (of course there are exceptions, but the Karch Kiraly(s) don't grow on trees)
I did not succeed and that's ok. I wasn't crushed by that discovery, I just understood I wasn't playing in the same league of professionals.
It's nobody's fault.
In the same ballpark there's the fact that I probably succeeded as a programmer because I wasn't fit for volleyball and computers were much more satisfying.
If I was born 2 meters tall, maybe I would have abandoned CS for volleyball, who knows.
Maybe it's the same for other people too, they get more satisfaction from other jobs than science and choose them.
that's a good question and the answer is not definitively yes.
For a number of reasons.
First of all, there's the outlier and there are the pioneers.
Columbus was a pioneer (among others), not just an outlier.
Secondly, we don't have the data.
From my anecdotal experience as a long time tech worker, women are hired in greater numbers compared to the number of applications.
From my anecdotal experience and context (Europe, Italy) it's much harder to find them than men.
But when companies find them, they have no bigger problems than men to get the job.
I would say that if there are ten open positions and 20 men apply, 8 get the job, for the same job 3 women apply and 2 of them get the job.
I've been interviewing for the company I work for and I've adviced them to hire all the women that applied, not so much for men, approximately 1 in 2 is coming to the interview either under prepared or to test how much more they could ask to their actual employer.
> if you're a kid looking at a whole bunch of basketball players that are very differently shaped than you
There's a good chance that you are not fit for basketball.
Listen, I understand your point, I was a volleyball player in my teen years, I was good, not great, but I was shorter than most of the other players.
Turns out that's important to succeed as a professional player because other teams will get the tallest player they can find to win.
You are actively encouraged to persist if you're taller than average and discouraged if you're not and I think it's completely normal (of course there are exceptions, but the Karch Kiraly(s) don't grow on trees)
I did not succeed and that's ok. I wasn't crushed by that discovery, I just understood I wasn't playing in the same league of professionals.
It's nobody's fault.
In the same ballpark there's the fact that I probably succeeded as a programmer because I wasn't fit for volleyball and computers were much more satisfying.
If I was born 2 meters tall, maybe I would have abandoned CS for volleyball, who knows.
Maybe it's the same for other people too, they get more satisfaction from other jobs than science and choose them.