Brogrammer

A brogrammer (portmanteau of bro and programmer) is a slang term for a macho, male programmer. A brogrammer might self-describe as a sociable programmer. An example sometimes cited is an early Klout hiring advert posted at a Stanford University career fair as "Want to bro down and crush some code? Klout is hiring." The company later described it as a joke and as an unfortunate misstep.

The subculture has been criticized by The Atlantic's Jordan Weissmann, who blamed the shrinking proportion of women in programming in the last two decades on the "brogrammer effect".

Brogrammer culture, combined with other male-centric stereotypes (such as geekiness), has been said to have created an entry barrier based on, rather than ability, adherence to the image presented by its participants.5 Some in the field have noted that the significant decline of women’s representation among computer science majors over the past few decades - from about 37 to 18 percent - have correlated with the rise of the geeky male archetype in popular media.11 For instance, companies like Google, Yahoo, Facebook, and Apple lag behind, with women making up less than 20 percent of employees. In a recent interview 8 with Megan Smith, Obama’s top policy adviser on technology, she states to an audience gathered at Capitol Hill that Tech Companies acknowledge the fact that their hiring of women is less than stellar; however, “despite promises to do better, only those that make it a top priority will see progress.” Not everyone is willing to let go of their biases against women though.8 Not only are there biases among men, but there are also biases among women themselves. Studies show that women often underestimate and undervalue their own abilities. One such study exemplifies this by giving men and women a list of criteria that they have to meet in order to apply for a job, and results show that, out of 10 characteristics required for a job, men will usually apply if they meet three of those criteria, while women will only apply if they meet at least seven. “So biases will just be part of any decision we make. One of the big research fields right now is how to mitigate bias, and there are software tools being created and other things that can help address this challenge.”8

Similar articles in The Atlantic have also advocated strongly for the importance of an egalitarian tech team. According to research published in Fortune, 27% of women cited workplace culture as a reason for leaving jobs in the technology industry, whereas 68% cited motherhood as a reason. In 2011, the Computing Research Association found that women received only 11.7% of computer science bachelor degrees.8

In a dissenting article in Gizmodo, Sam Biddle argues that the sexist effect of the brogrammer culture has actually been overblown by the press. He doesn’t discount the fact that there are “brogrammers”, rather he argues that “the brogrammer as phenomenon is mythology, a fairytale figure conjured up by the confused and outmoded to explain progress in an old and stodgy industry.” His anonymous female friend in tech counters the argument of brogrammers by asking if women in engineering will soon be referred to as “slutgineers”. Whether or not the “brogrammer effect” is significant, many new initiatives have arisen that seek to promote women in computer science and counter hostile culture. Initiatives such as Women Who Code 9 and Made with Code 10 serve to support a diverse community, often working to encourage women to join STEM fields from a young age.

See also

• Corporate culture
• Sexism in the technology industry
• Evan Spiegel