Women in Web Design and Development
By Andy Walpole
The 20th century was witness to phenomenal social and economic changes in the status of women. Suffrage has been widely adopted around the world, anti-discrimination legislation is commonplace, contraception is widely available and abortion is legal. These have all dramatically improved the position of women in society.
One could argue that women—at least professional ones—now have more control of their own lives than at any other time in history. Yet, there is still a lot of unease among women in the Web design and development industry about their subordinate position in what is widely viewed as a Web patriarchy.
This unease regularly erupts into open debate, just as it happened following a recent edition of the Boagworld podcast.
Sarah Parmenter, You Know Who design studio.
Boagworld is a popular weekly podcast created by Paul Boag and Marcus Lillington. To celebrate their 200th show, they held a 12-hour marathon featuring many leading names in the online creative industry.
One of their guests was Sarah Parmenter who has developed a successful career for herself with You Know Who design studio.
Coming from Essex, a county in England that has long been the brunt of misogynist jokes about being the home of “dumb blond” women, she was shocked to discover that similar openly offensive attitudes existed in the Web design community, as she herself explains:
Rachel Andrew, edgeofmyseat.com.
Amy Cullen, Minneapolis, Minnesota
Amy Cullen works for a prominent Internet company in Minnesota. She has persevered in her job despite the initial frosty welcome from her male co-workers:
In 2007, Arizonian Kathy Marks issued a militant call to exclude men from the debate:
The Boagworld Incident
Sarah Parmenter, You Know Who design studio.
Boagworld is a popular weekly podcast created by Paul Boag and Marcus Lillington. To celebrate their 200th show, they held a 12-hour marathon featuring many leading names in the online creative industry.
One of their guests was Sarah Parmenter who has developed a successful career for herself with You Know Who design studio.
Coming from Essex, a county in England that has long been the brunt of misogynist jokes about being the home of “dumb blond” women, she was shocked to discover that similar openly offensive attitudes existed in the Web design community, as she herself explains:
“Boagworld was broadcasting live for 12 hours on the Internet, and we were all pulled in at various points via a Skype video link, and in the broadcast there was also a Ustream chat. During the day I was logging on and I noticed it was getting very personal about people, and users were getting very impatient with the technical difficulties they were having. So, when I came on to do my slot I made the decision to turn the chat off, as I'd rather not be able to read it back and see what people were saying about me. “As far as I was concerned, the broadcast went well and we had a laugh. Then I looked at my Twitter feed and looked at my emails, and people were appalled at the language of the chat room when I had been talking about Web design.”The juvenile comments cut to her core because they ignored her worth as a Web designer and questioned whether she achieved her current position because of her good looks. Rachel Andrew, another speaker from that day, gives her take on the incident:
“It was just really odd. People started making these comments, and you would look at them and think, 'I can't believe that people are even making comments like that—that's really weird.' I think everyone who was involved with the day more or less ignored it. It was very nasty and very personal, and it wasn't even, 'Oh, I don't think this person is any good.' They were just nasty comments.”Unfortunately, Sarah had informed her clients earlier about her appearance and then had to spend the rest of the weekend, equally enraged and embarrassed, doing damage control.
Rachel Andrew, edgeofmyseat.com.
Women in the Online Creative Industry
Accurate figures are hard to come by, but one estimate says that men outnumber women in the Web design industry by roughly three to one. Anecdotal evidence suggests that this disparity widens even more sharply among back-end coders. There are still some places with many female business owners, however. But this number is still not enough. According to a report commissioned by An Event Apart in 2007, women not only are in a small minority but are also more likely to be overlooked for promotion. This has been the subject of much debate in the community, with a wide variety of reasons being given for the gap. Some wonder whether women's supposed innate sociability is incompatible with the circumstance of working for hours and hours in isolation in front of the computer. Others lament the lack of prominent female role models for the next generation of students. Many people believe that designers in the community are welcoming and progressive in their views, but evidence shows that this is not always the case.
Amy Cullen, Minneapolis, Minnesota
Amy Cullen works for a prominent Internet company in Minnesota. She has persevered in her job despite the initial frosty welcome from her male co-workers:
“When I first started out, it was quite painful. A lot of them actually thought I was too dumb to deal with it and that I wasn't going to get it, and they were very curt when I asked a question. To them, it was the dumbest question ever, and they had no qualms letting me know it was. But you have to grow a thick skin and move beyond that. “It was a bit of a surprise because it is a new field of work. You kind of expect it with construction, which has been around forever and is a typical man's job. But with something so new you don't necessarily expect that”.Although Rachel Andrew's now runs her own company, she has previously worked in all-male workplaces:
“It has never really flustered me. I've worked backstage in theater, and you don't get a more blokey environment than that. I'm fairly used to it, but I don't think you should have to be used to it because it shouldn't occur really.”
PHP Women
In 2007, Arizonian Kathy Marks issued a militant call to exclude men from the debate:
“I actually don't want to discuss this issue with men at all. Frankly, I feel that men don't really have a place in the solution to this problem, and so I'd prefer to leave them out of the discussion altogether.”The comment came after she witnessed an ignorant contribution from a male attendee at a conference. Asked now whether her stance would lead to ghettoizing rather the demolishing of walls, she has recanted her previous comment:
“I am concerned about the lack of women in our industry and in IT in general. It bothers me that there are so few of us and that our numbers are decreasing rather than increasing. We need more women in the sciences and in engineering. Why are there fewer and fewer of us? “The problem isn't that we need to be separated out—we've been separated out. That's the problem, not the solution”.Elizabeth Naramore is co-founder of PHP Women, which was formed in 2006 expressly to promote the status of women who work with coding languages. But it is not a women's-only group, and three men serve on the nine-person organizing committee. Echoing Kathy's recent remark, PHP Women is particularly keen to break down any barriers between the sexes. Explains Elizabeth:
“I was chatting with a friend on IRC, and we didn't see too many women in the industry. It's like, 'Where the hell is everybody? Surely we aren't the only ones?' So, we started [PHP Women], and now it's grown tremendously, and I'm glad that women don't feel so isolated.”She has nothing but good things to say about its reception within the wider PHP network:
“We are so incredibly lucky. We have so much support from the PHP community at large. It is absolutely tremendous. The guys are behind us 150%. They are as big advocates for us as anyone. They even buy our t-shirts and are wearing them.”Elizabeth herself speaks at a number of conferences, but the lack of women speakers is noticeable at most design gatherings. When it comes to figuring out a solution, few are enthusiastic about instituting minimum quotas for female speakers or establishing all-women seminars. Canadian freelancer Vivien Anayian cites the lack of child-care facilities as a turn-off for some:
“The problem is, who are women are going to leave their children with, because they are mothers. Fathers can go to a conference, and their wives will stay at home with their children. I see in the industry that if there is an acclaimed woman designer, she either doesn't have any children yet or her children are grown up and she can spend time promoting herself.”
Advice to Young Women
No doubt, thousands of teenagers and students are thinking of pursuing a career in website design. The ever-expanding Web indeed offers fulfilling and challenging jobs to those who are prepared to work hard. But any women who enters the industry—as in any other—needs to go in with her eyes wide open. Elizabeth Naramore offers practical advice to those contemplating this path:“Make sure you find yourself in a community where you feel comfortable, whether it is PHP Women or a local user group. Find yourself a community, integrate in that community, and keep them around for moral support and guidance. If you are out there on your own, you'll have no one to bounce ideas off; and the first time you come up against something negative or some jerk treats you wrong, that can be very intimidating, and it can be very hard on your motivation.”Groups that are open to new members include WordPress meetup groups, Drupal, registered Joomla user groups, PHP user groups, Ruby meetup groups and Bay Area Girl Geek Dinners. In fact, if you search with the query
web design on meetup.com, you'll find over 1,000 separate entries.
Perhaps you are already involved in a local association that seeks fresh faces. If so, post the details below.
The last word comes from Vivien Anayian, who leaves us with a plea for female honesty:
“The advice I would give is to be yourself and show your passion. Don't try to be someone you are not. Don't try to be one of the guys. You are a woman: be proud of that. Show your passion and keep learning, and people will see and respect that.”
The web have been a great boost for creativ women around the world.
I love how ignorant everyone is to all the POSITIVE discrimination for women that goes on constantly. I can’t remember the last time someone wrote a blog post complaining about how men all over the world are expected to hold doors open for women, or how unfair it is that women use their breasts when they want something they’re not supposed to have.
Quite frankly, get over it. There will always be positive and negative discrimination for every age, sex, and race.
If you’re female and are mortally offended by any of what I just said, ask yourself this: Why does Molly Holzschlag not have any problems with sexism?
I’ll tell you why, because she doesn’t brand herself as a “woman in web design” – she brands herself as a person. The fact that she’s a woman is totally irrelevant, she knows her stuff, and that’s what she cares about.
In the mean time a lot of all YOU guys (or rather: girls) are merrily skipping around accepting features on list posts of “top 50 female web designers” and “30 hottest women in web design” and “20 girl web designers I’d like to marry”. Of course often you enjoy that so much, that you go away and write your own version of that exact same list all over again, and so the cycle continues. By doing these things, YOU are telling people that the fact you’re female is a big deal – so why are you so surprised that it gets picked up on in a negative way as well as a positive one?
You made your bed. Now lie in it.
Wow, there are list posts about top women designers on the internet? List posts that women have written themselves? Where? Please send me the links I’d love to see that …
All I have ever seen are list posts of top designers, developers, whatever … and guess what? None of them contain a single woman designer, and all of them were written by … you guessed it! Guys.
So before you sit and sanctimoniously spout off a bunch of nonsense, you may want to go and check your facts.
Just cause you haven’t seen them, doesn’t mean they don’t exist. Go check your own facts.
“Quite frankly, get over it. There will always be positive and negative discrimination for every age, sex, and race.”
What kind of nonsense is that? Nobody should accept discrimination. It’s just not expectable. Full stop.
“I love how ignorant everyone is to all the POSITIVE discrimination for women that goes on constantly. I can’t remember the last time someone wrote a blog post complaining about how men all over the world are expected to hold doors open for women”
Being polite and thoughtful has nothing whatsoever to with discrimination. If I used a door I’d linger to keep it open for anybody – man or woman – who was entering behind me.
“In the mean time a lot of all YOU guys (or rather: girls) are merrily skipping around accepting features on list posts of “top 50 female web designers” and “30 hottest women in web design” and “20 girl web designers I’d like to marry”.”
I actually agree with you on this. Those lists are pointless and quite embarrassing.
Thank you for the article. It certainly maturely addressed many of the issues women encounter in the web design & development sector.
An additional risk that women face is sexual harassment from men in power roles in the industry. One individual, in particular, consistently goes after new women in the web design community. He’s left a wake of devastation to the dignity and self-respect of these bright women, because he misrepresents his situation and takes advantage of their situation. He is their idol, and he shines his light on them, telling them they are talented, and if they do fall under his spell, they are rewarded temporarily with all the gifts his power can provide, until his narcissism is fed.
What do we do about this behavior, sexual harassment in the industry?
I’m not sure exactly what you mean.
If there is sexual harassment in the workplace then there are many ways to deal with that, but outside the close confines of work then women are at liberty to ignore emails or walk away.
Unless this guy is some sort of crazed stalker – in which case call the police!
Everyone in the industry knows this person does this, and everyone just looks the other way, but every young woman who begins to rise, he goes after. Many have left the industry because of it. He’s married. He’s mentally unwell. It is hurting the women in our industry.
That you don’t know about it, speaks volumes of goodness about you.
Hi i’m a young girl too that loves to design but no friend of my likes it too -so i’m alone when it comes to having fun with designing would love to have some female friends to have contact with for inspiration and support. if you wish contact me for friendship !
I think one name is omitted in the article, Sreelakshmi Suresh, she is a Child Web Designer….designed more than 20 websites and now she is 11 years old… see her parsonal site http://www.sreekutty.com
Great article. I’m not surprised, either. I’m new to web design -barely 2 years in, and teaching myself everything- but I’m a visual artist, and I’m sorry to say sexism is nothing new. The fine arts have a bad history of trumpeting only its male artists, women always get the short shrift. I also have worked in construction type careers side-by-side with blue-collar boys, and feel quite comfortable with this type of comraderie. You work just as hard as the boys do, and this begets respect. What stymies me is that smart men in the design, arts and “geek” fields treat women worse than my blue-collar coworkers. I suppose it is a fragile ego thing. That said, I work with some brilliant back-end developers, ALL WOMEN. They rock.
Great article. The boagworld incident is a bit vague though. I assume it’s not worth directly referencing the sexist content because of how offensive it is, and it’s more of a ‘if you were there then you know’. This bit sounds serious though, and I just don’t get it.
‘Sarah had informed her clients earlier about her appearance and […] had to spend the rest of the weekend, equally enraged and embarrassed, doing damage control.’
Equally to what or whom? What damage would be caused by informing clients as to her appearance?
BTW as much as I think it’s a good idea for women in the field to find personable trade-related communities for support, you can do that very easily without resorting to Joomla ;)
I did link though to a number of different blogs barney where they talked about the event.
Sarah and Rachel wrote:
http://www.rachelandrew.co.uk/archives/2010/02/13/women-and-the-backchannel/
http://www.rachelandrew.co.uk/archives/2010/02/14/women-and-the-backchannel-responses/
http://www.sazzy.co.uk/2010/02/dont-you-dare/
And Paul Boag had his own response:
http://paul.boagworld.com/criticise-work-not-people
I am impressed! Admire this girls
People are strange. I had a similar thing except with being younger than everybody in the industry. Sarah is gorgeous and she is successful- old men need to stop guarding the only ground they have by putting down women such as the ones in this article, and it’s sad that groups such as phpwomen need to exist (as they probably tend to give off a suffrage vibe).
good read :)
Fantastic article :)
It is very hard being a women in this profession, although things are getting better I still find myself being ignored and overlooked by some men at networking events, but I just see these men as small minded morons who are just worried at what a women might have to offer…as it could be much better than what they have, oooooo now that’s a scary thought :p
At the end of the day it shouldn’t matter whether you are man, women or beast, if you have a dream just go for it…and to all the men out there who are still living in the age of the dinosaurs, I think it is time to get over yourself and start moving with the times or you may find yourself being left behind.