Here comes another side to the story. About thirty years ago, I was on staff at TRW and greatly admired the work of a female software engineer and department manager. Though she looked like a dumpy Hausfrau and scooted around on a Vespa, Carol was a graduate of Harvard (Applied Physics) with an MS from MIT in Electrical Engineering.

I tried to get onto her staff, but our mutual boss found other pressing work for me. A couple of years later, I told Carol that I would have to corner George to find out why he blocked the move. She told me that it was her decision: she didn’t think I would be able to work for a woman.

I bawled her out – by then, she knew she had been wrong. We stayed friends until her death. But I never did get to work for her.

Mike

OTH, publicizing a lot more what women are doing in IT in Italy could help. Helping women be proud of being what you call bitchy and I call being professionally assertive. I often find that Italian women are afraid to not be girly first and whatever else second. Oddly they seem to understand you don’t have to be one kind of physical female to be attractive, but they hesitate in believing that strong, successful and assertive women are attractive and believe, perhaps rightly, that being attractive is really really important.

There are exceptions. There are women who do shoot to the top of whatever and to hell with the consequences, I can be nice later. But few.

I’m very sorry i wasn’t there. Better next time.