Before you guys call me a misogynist, let it be known, that i don’t hate women and I want to see more women in tech but it should be based on merit and not on gender.
there has been an increase in feminism and the fight for equal right and pay among ladies in the workplace. many women are beginning to fight for equal pay but I will like to say that there is nothing like equal pay, even among men, we do not receive equal pay. I believe, whether you are a man or woman, you should be paid according to the effort you bring to the table, I think that is why men are higher on the payroll because they can afford to work longer hours and take more risk than women.
In our tech eco-system in Africa, due to the fundings we receive from overseas especially America and Europe, there is a tendency for tech investors to bring their cultures and agenda to dominate the tech and business culture, which can most times cause a backlash and cultural shock, one issue which I am personate about is “sexual harassment”, when is it “sexual harassment” and “flirting” but that will be a topic for another day.
Back to the issue, I have heard some tech guys here in Africa, saying they won’t start a meeting or a seminar if one or two women are not in the panel, because according to them they want diversity and a woman perspective, I sometimes laugh when I hear this phrase, should we just bring a woman to the panel just because she is a woman or because she is qualified. the tech world is dominated by man, so expect more men and men perspective.
this led me to ask this question, should a woman be given a position in tech just because she is a woman or because she merited it?
I believe in merit and I believe that an individual must prove him or herself before getting a job, now if a woman is given a job because she is a woman, it encourages favouritism and therefore can kill team morale in the work-place.
merit.but according to the two thirds gender rule they keep pushing,they say that if you as an employer needed persons to work for you and you shortlist 50 people for interviewing,you pick 30 people coz the 20 are unqualified,if in the 30 you picked 5 are women 25 were men,you are supposed to sack 6 men out of that and replace them with women from the unqualified lot of 20…twisted…right?
The assumption here is that the women are not qualified or women dont usually qualify, or women as naturally not brilliant. this is untrue. I believe in merit and equally believe men benefit from something other than merit, called the mens club. for instance the 6 Dusit/cellulant men who died (RIP) they were friends, all one tribe, all same age, do you want to say that no other men say from luhya, luo or coast was as qualified? or wasnt this just a case of hooking up a guy you know for a job he is qualified for? we need a sit on the table coz and we can deliver. merit and equity.
no,all am saying is that if the outcome became 25 women and 5 men,all would just be ok and you would have never heard any man complaining of mambo ya gender because we trully believe in merit.but women in most cases openly let their entitlement overshadow merit
I havent read the long diatribe buh duh BECAUSE SHE IS A WOMAN!!! do you know that in some places PWDs, marginalised ethnic groups and even PLWHIV must get slots for work? As in hata kama umetoka Harvard you will be bypassed in favour of them, its called INCLUSION. Different people bring different things to a workplace. Its only after being forced to work with diverse groups of people because of mandatory affirmative action recquirements that I realise , its really hard to say, but its true, diversity ,is not just good , its necessary. Ofcourse you are welcome to start something like Cellulant and employ people who are generic. Its your personal business. You dont have to deal with such ‘nonsense’.
