steve@uunet.UU.NET (Steve Schonberger) (06/24/88)
In article <11175@agate.BERKELEY.EDU>, tan@devvax.Jpl.Nasa.Gov (Greer H. Tan) writes: > But ... I not saying what I really wanted to say. This bit about > Computer Science being the field for women because it allows them > to work at home. Excuse me, but do you realize the implication > you are making? Or were you asking this question to try and get > a reaction? Cuz, this question seems to assume that a woman's place > is in the home and therefore a career that allows her to stay at > home would be ideal! (And your question of course is whether this > is true ... that women can now work at home on their computers). I think that this is a good reason for women _and_ men to be in the field. Suppose a father and mother both work in the computer business, particularly for the same company. Why not allow one to work part time in the mornings and the other work part time in the afternoons, and do the rest of their work via modem (or reduce work load)? This seems like a good deal for everyone. The child obviously (in my view anyway) is better off in the care of his or her parents than babysitter. The mom and dad are better off because they get to spend more time with their child (which seems like a desirable thing). The company is better off because they don't lose either employee to child care. And society is better off because the child gets raised by well educated, caring parents, rather than a faceless child care institution, and grows up a better person because of it (ok, I'm stretching it here; flame away). The only real problem here is that a lot of companies and managers will not approve of it, probably on either grounds like "if you _really_ cared about your work you would both work and put the kid in child care (company view) or you would stay here and have her stay home (father's sexist manager's view) and take care of the kid". Sensible as it the idea sounds to me, I think a lot of employers would discourage the idea, not realizing their choice might be to let them do it or risk them either looking for an employer who would allow it, or stay on less satisfied with their jobs. How many people think this would be approved or tolerated at their company? I think mine would approve, and some managers might even encourage it, though others might complain. Heavy standard disclaimers here though. I don't really know if there is a policy on that or what it is if there is. Steve Schonberger steve@raspail.uucp ...!uunet!rosevax!shamash!rapail!steve