Sterling Rose Design Blog

RailsConf was inspiring on so many levels, it would be almost impossible to try to cram it all into one blog entry, so I won’t even try. So for this entry, I want to talk about what I took away from the event in terms of being a female developer in an industry that is overwhelmingly male in its constituency.

Before about three weeks ago, I didn’t really think about it much. I was a “coder who was female”, not a “female coder.” The “girl” part was at best incidental. I mean, sure, I knew that I was in the minority in the #rubyonrails IRC channel, but it was a non-issue for the most part. Now, I’m more conscious.

There were about 40 female and about 1100 male attendees at RailsConf 09. That’s a ratio of about 3.6%. I saw and heard (via the #railsconf IRC channel) plenty of guys call it a “sausage-fest.” And it was. Now I’m not about to sit here and say that it was anyone’s fault, because the blame does not lie in any one person or any one place. The problem is endemic to the development industry, and particularly endemic to the Rails segment of that industry. The causes are numerous and include some things that are well outside the scope of things I can even hope to change.

But just because I can’t change everything doesn’t mean I can’t change anything. I can light my own candle in the darkness.

One of the main things I took away from the Women in Rails panel was that the women who are in this industry need to be more visible. Whether we’re comfortable with it or not, we are potential role models to women looking at entering this field. I have been lax about posting to my blog and stepping out on other limbs, and it’s time to push past that hesitance.

So my goals as of now include:

1) Spend at least 5 hours a week (one hour per weekday) on professional development, either reading books about Ruby/Rails development, going through tutorials, contributing to (or publishing my own) gems or plugins, experimenting with practice applications, etc.
2) Blog at least three times per week on something related to RoR development.
3) Work on RailsBridge or Rails Tutor at least ten hours per week.
4) Get back to reading the Rails Forum more carefully (as opposed to just looking for messages that are spam and need moderating) and offer answers where I can.
5) Pay more attention (when time allows) to what’s going on in the #rubyonrails channel and contribute where able. Most of my Working With Rails recommendations (which, at 11, are admittedly few, but growing!) came from people who I helped in that channel.
6) Moderate at least a Birds of a Feather session at RailsConf, and maybe even submit a presentation proposal.
7) Attend at least one other conference this year.

Now, that’s a lot. I have four children that I homeschool, as well as other interests and activities. I still have clients I need to satisfy and a home to help take care of. But I’m committed to doing it because I believe that in the long run it will be good for my career, and hopefully good for the community as well.