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World Usability Day 2008

World Usability Day 2008 is quickly approaching on November 13.

The theme this year will focus on transportation.
We are focusing on how to improve the design of transport systems and infrastructure to:
• Better support the people that use them
• Move towards more sustainable forms of transport in the future

Here’s what’s on and how you can get involved:
• Guest speakers / transportation experts
• Interactive workshops & discussion questions
• Photo and design exhibition highlighting transportation challenges and solutions

Cost: Free!!! Just come along - no registration required
Who: Everyone is welcome (including students, usability professionals, people who work with or use transport)
When: Thursday 13 November 2008
Where: University of Technology Sydney
More information: http://www.upasydney.org/index.php?page=wud08
Questions: events@upasydney.org

"Old boys network" still in science, engineering, and technology?

Via Clo Willaerts on the Girly Geekdom Blog,

The New York Times provides a preview of an upcoming Harvard Business Review article about a study conducted by the Center for Work-Life Policy:

An exodus occurs around age 35 to 40. Fifty-two percent drop out, the report warned, with some leaving for “softer” jobs in the sciences human resources rather than lab bench work, for instance, and others for different work entirely. That is twice the rate of men in the SET industries, and higher than the attrition rate of women in law or investment banking.

The reasons pinpointed in the report are many, but they all have their roots in what the authors describe as a pervasive macho culture.

Ironically, the New York Times publishes this in their Fashion and Style section...

The 147-page report (which was sponsored by Alcoa, Johnson & Johnson, Microsoft, Pfizer and Cisco) is filled with tales of sexual harassment (63 percent of women say they experienced harassment on the job); and dismissive attitudes of male colleagues (53 percent said in order to succeed in their careers they had to “act like a man”); and a lack of mentors (51 percent of engineers say they lack one); and hours that suit men with wives at home but not working mothers (41 percent of technology workers says they need to be available “24/7”).

What I'm curious about are the tales of the 48% that do stay, especially those that are thriving.

What are the lessons to be learned from the best current experiences that go beyond just removing the factors that cause women to leave?

Join the Get Stuff Done Gang

If you have ideas for what you want from the Girl Geek Dinners Sydney group, then come to our first organiseyness event. Get in there and organise the events that appeal to you and others. Help with events that other people want to push.

If you want something done, do it yourself. We want you too.

Where: Lindt Chocolate Cafe, Cockle Bay, Sydney
When: 6pm on Thursday the 15th of May
What: Let's get organised since attempts to clone Damana have not been successful

Important: Not sponsored. Chocolate consumption is highly recommended but not compulsory.

I know you all have opinions and ideas so let's make them happen together. Or just come along to hang out with some really cool geek girls and co :) I love to chat.

Is competitive drive a result of biology or culture?

Via Melissa Lafsky at the Freakonomics blog,

A working paper on gender differences in competition by Uri Gneezy, John List, and Kenneth Leonard:

Our experimental results reveal interesting differences in competitiveness: in the patriarchal society women are less competitive than men, a result consistent with student data drawn from Western cultures. Yet, this result reverses in the matrilineal society, where we find that women are more competitive than men. Perhaps surprisingly, Khasi women are even slightly more competitive than Maasai men, but this difference is not statistically significant at conventional levels under any of our formal statistical tests.