Women and LabView

[IEC]

Ok, well before people start getting offended thinking that this was a thread trying to figure out whether or not women can be good programmers (because it's not)... I say we summarize and conclude.

LabView is good.

Programmers are good.

Women are good.

The End.......

[Ray.R]

I would vote for:

LabView is fantastic.

Programmers are the best.

Women are number 1. (especially my wife)

[Ankita]

I can give you an insider's viewpoint. In my team, Software email support (read as LabVIEW email support), we had barely managed to reach a 50-50 on men-women ratio before it fell apart. We make up less than 30% of our team. In general, I think, engineering (hence LabVIEW) is considered a man's arena though more and more women are stepping up these days. In my undergrad, I was the only female student in a  class of 47 students !

Ankita 

[Sima]

Ankita, it's interesting that you were the only woman in your class. Here's a slight improvement in that respect: in my EE undergrad class, there were 6 female and 50 male students, while in the computer engineering class of that same graduating year, half were women. I'm not aware that any of the female students I knew still use LV, as it was introduced at school as just a kind of interface for data acquisition hardware. I didn't fully appreciate its power as a programming language until later, but I did immediately love the graphical programming.

Now I don't have any statistics, but could there be less female LabVIEW programmers than C, VB, or other languages? Is it because LabVIEW tends to be used more often in industrial type applications? Because I've found that doesn't always present the most welcoming environment for a woman ... or is that just me? 🙂

[mcsynth]

One aspect of LabVIEW that I have seen over and over again while training newbies is that the thought process is inherently different than sequential text based programming.  It seems that certain people, regardless of training or intelligence, can adapt to the random/parallel nature of LV, where others thrive more in the structured sequential environment.

In my other life as a jazz pianist, I see the same differences between classical and jazz musicians.

We have all received the comic email forwards which depict the difference in men and women’s communication skills, complexity, and emotional makeup (men only have an on/off switch).  Even though these play to stereotypes, there are sometimes elements of truth in them.

My question is, would any of these differences relate in any way to the special nature of LabVIEW and the unique type of thought process required?

This question is prompted by many years of working with fine female jazz musicians, who, I suspect, would probably make superb LV programmers if they were working in the field.

[Isa_pm]

I use labview everyday...that's what I do, among other things of course 🙂

Isabel

[Peachy]

I do! :womanhappy:

[Ray.R]

Lovely name "Isabel".  It's very nice in french "Isabelle".

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I use labview everyday...that's what I do, among other things of course :)

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You've opened the door to this one..   so what are the other things??

[eewonder]

LabVIEW has become an everyday programming tool for me, but I think traditionally it is not taught as a programming language in school.  It is something more often used in in industry and that is how it is initially learned by developers and probably why there is a lack of femal LV programmers.  There were quite a few female engineers in my graduating EE class, but significantly less than most other engineering majors.  I graduated in '04 and I hope that they incorporate more LabVIEW tasks into the curriculum.

I love the graphically programming style though, for me it was much easier to learn that C/C++.

Brandi  :womanvery-happy:

[Ray.R]

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@eewonder wrote:

LabVIEW has become an everyday programming tool for me, but I think traditionally it is not taught as a programming language in school.  It is something more often used in in industry and that is how it is initially learned by developers and probably why there is a lack of femal LV programmers. 

Brandi  :womanvery-happy:

It appears that LV is now being taught or at least used in most Universities.  I haven't looked at curriculums, but rather based it on postings in this forum from students.    However, your statement is true in my case (as well as co-workers who use LV). 

I'm not sure that it contributes to the "lack" or "perceived-lack" of female LV programmers.  Maybe the difference in ratio can be explained by statistics.  Most women are (were??) in computer science instead of engineering.  I believe that most LV developpers have engineering or technical background, instead of computer science.  This would explain the ratio.   It is good to see that the ratio is improving in Engineering.  To me, it is not a "man-field"..  Actually, I don't think that applies anymore.  I think women would be wonderful in the home construction industry, as it is important to pay attention to details, which is something that is lacking in the industry in Canada..    (oh..oh.. here comes that bad ratings again... 😉  )