I attended a talk last week where an executive was asked about what we can do to better support women in tech.  He listed a couple of initiatives, and closed with a lengthy discussion of the pipeline problem.  The oft-quoted stat, which he included, is that only 18% of computer science degrees are being awarded to women.  It’s time to stop talking about the pipeline problem.

The pipeline problem takes attention away from the real problems that face women in tech today.  The pipeline problem is part of the problem that tech companies have in hiring women who have just completed their college.  The pipeline problem is not the problem for the population of women already in tech.  It ignores that women drop out of technical careers at a significantly higher rate than other careers.  It ignores that women have difficulty acquiring mentors and champions.  It ignores that women are more likely to be judged to be less competent without clear points of excellence, and that they are more likely to be judged as not likable (“bossy”, “pushy”), and that being both competent and likable are important for career success.

The pipeline problem makes the problem someone else’s.  Tech companies say, if only colleges would award more CS degrees to women.  Colleges point out that women aren’t starting CS programs, let alone finishing them, so the problem is really that high schools aren’t preparing girls for CS degrees.  High schools will say that girls aren’t signing up for CS courses, so it must be that middle school isn’t making CS interesting to girls.  Everyone gets to point their finger elsewhere.  No-one takes responsibility.  No-one is accountable.

The pipeline problem ignores that having a job in tech doesn’t require a CS degree.  While I do have a CS degree, many of my colleagues don’t.  My previous officemate’s degree was in history.  One of the best developers I’ve ever met has a degree in philosophy.  Getting a job in tech is not dependent on having a CS degree.  There are lots of jobs in tech, like quality assurance or technical writing or program management, where a CS degree isn’t even necessarily the most desirable degree.  Many of my user experience colleagues have degrees in psychology or the arts.

Focusing on the pipeline problem is an easy answer to a difficult question.  It gives executives an easy out when confronted with the problem.  We do need to do more to get girls interested in technical careers.  We don’t need to pretend that it’s the only problem facing women in tech.