ANH PHAM

I have always wanted to make a career in technology field ever since I was young. Specifically, I want to be a computer scientist who will solve daily life problems through programming and explore the world of computers in general. Albeit that, actually I did not go through with the STEM major during my secondary and high school years because the gender stereotypes imposed upon our society back then was girls are not suited for STEM as much as men are. It was the kind of stereotype that women suit the liberals and social sciences fields better, because they possess certain qualities and personality traits that give them an advantage in performing well in those jobs. Even in my family, there are no women who follow STEM subjects for their career. In fact, I am the first and only woman in my extended family who is passionate in and will choose Technology as my later career. Apart from me, technologists have always been my father, brother, uncle and my male cousins and my mother, aunts and female cousins were, are and will pursue other fields of their choice, many of which mostly are female-associated ones.

I think part of the reasons why people like my family men are able to excel in my desired career is that their traits work really well with the essence of the field. I completely agree with David Hesmondhalgh and Sarah Baker when they wrote “Sex, Gender and Work Segregation in the Cultural Industries” paper with this specific sentence: “Gender stereotypes matter

hugely in the division of labour by sex.”, because I see it has been proved in my community back then, my own family and even my own mindset. For instance, we tend to think that men do well at math and other STEM subjects than women, as firstly, there are more young boys interested in Math class at local schools, and secondly, boys often think logically while girls think in a way that gravitates more towards feelings and such. Media also plays a great part in nurturing this type of gender stereotype in our beliefs. Movies and books often depicts the people who are both genius and have a laid-back personality – also known as “nerd”- as young boys and men while young girls and women are given completely different characters with different personality traits from those of men. Media makes it easy for us to think that each person has to act and think in a certain way to be able to get labeled “normal” – to be a man, or to be a woman. This gender stereotyping is just sad honestly, not to mention it has somewhat become such a norm that we need to point it out in many conversations and researchs for people to listen and realizes what we have been getting ourselves into. Of course, thanks to such people helping with the research and gender analysis, our society are slowly but firmly getting better in addressing this problem at hands.

Do those gender stereotypes influence my desire for this Computer Scientist job? My answer is no, absolutely not. I think the most important thing is that we need to be aware of our own worths and values. To tackle the problem, we need to address the very root of the problem. Each individual is unique, different and should not be trapped in any specific images that others have shaped for him or her. It is we that deserve to decide our own faith and destiny. It is we that deserve to make a decision regarding our passions and beliefs. I know what I am good at and what I am capable of. Solving problems. Playing with new knowledge. I know what I like to do in my free time. Messing with my computers. Reading technology blogs on the Internet. These are enough, in my opinion, for my decision to join CS field to stand tall and firm before all the challenges in the face of “gender stereotypes and work”. Certainly, there would be still problems that I face constantly while studying and seeking for opportunities in this male-dominated industry. But I trust that we are getting better in solving this problem, and I myself, will also do my best to be “the change I want to see in this world” – working hard, dream hard and being kind.