Exclusive I am pleased to announce The Linux Foundation is funding three Linux kernel internships through the Outreach Program for Women administered by the GNOME Foundation. These internships have a $5,000 stipend and come with a $500 travel grant to attend and speak at LinuxCon this fall. This is a great opportunity to work with a mentor and get started with kernel development, which as many articles report, is a great way to land a high-paying job.
The official deadline for applying to OPW is May 1st. However, the kernel project joined late, so that deadline is flexible. Please fill out your initial application, and then update by May 17th with your initial patch. Applicants will be notified by May 27th if they have been accepted.
Participating areas of the kernel and dedicated mentors include:
- Ethernet: Mentors: Carolyn Wyborny (contact info) Anjali Jain (contact info)
- USB: Mentor: Sarah Sharp (contact info)
- x86 core: Mentors: Peter Waskiewicz Jr (PJ) (contact info)
More info on the projects can be found here. Thanks to Sarah Sharp for helping me find mentors and projects for this program.
We get asked to fund a lot of projects and organizations (and actually fund quite a few) but I was particularly motivated to make this one happen. Karen Sandler and Marina Zhurakhinskaya have put together a well-run program that gets results. The percentage of women developing for the kernel is ridiculously low. According to the program, currently 25 percent of all software developers are women, but only 3 percent work in free and open source software. This program has the support and resources needed to get more women involved in free and open source software. It's important for any project to attract and include talent from diverse sources, and I believe this program can make a difference.
And if kernel development or even coding isn't your thing, there are other internships available across a host of open source projects. Check out the list of participating organizations and apply.
You can learn more about the program by watching this recent talk given by Karen at The Linux Foundation Collaboration Summit. Please let us know if you have any questions and please spread the word to others.
Comments
Subscribe to Comments FeedJefro Said:
Wonderful to see this! I wanted to note also that the Yocto Project, a Linux Foundations collaborative project, is also funding one intern to work on the embedded Linux ecosystem. You can learn more at https://www.yoctoproject.org/opw-internship
Neil Said:
Its a terrible shame to see that in this day and age people are still discriminating on gender rather than ability, and just because this misguided scheme happens to benefit females we are all meant to consider it somehow socially acceptable. It is highly inappropriate that an internship or any other position in a field that does not rely on gender-specific skills should only be available to people of a particular gender (in this cae female). Remember there is no such thing as "positive-only" discrimination. It is still discrimination, just against someone else. And before anyone says it... I've been a software developer and hiring manager for 35 years in many different comapnies and honestly never seen a female software developer get turned down for a job or not get promoted or not get equal opportunities just because of her gender.
hey jerkface Said:
try being a woman in the field sometime, asshole. i am and have been for 15 years, dickface. I am delighted to see this scholarship, and may the iron curtian of the boys club crumble. You fucking moron.
Such Anger Said:
Are you serious? How did Neil make your 15 years such a fucked up experience? Bitches like you are the ones who keep women in the 50's. You have a vagina and so you need special assistance that all men have had to deal with regardless. Get a fucking clue!
Neil Said:
Thanks for such an intelligent reply. By resorting to swearing and emotion rather than raising any logical or salient counter-argument you've shown your true colors.
Objectivity Please Said:
I have met and taught women in engineering, and I have to agree with Neil, 100%. By sheer coincidence, I had a conversation with a woman about this very topic today. Objectively speaking, I have never known of one single incident where women were discriminated against in academia. On the contrary, and it is sad that I have to admit this, we go out of our way to make sure that a woman has every opportunity. Why? Because many of them choose not to continue in engineering or science. The reason that they give generally sounds something like, "I prefer to work in a social context.." or..."I'd like to do something where I can see a more direct impact at helping people." The second-best student in one of my computer science course was a woman. I'd be lying if I said that the department did not have high hopes for her. It was 100% her call, since she was clearly qualified. She could have asked for anything, and would have received it. She chose marketing.
Steve Said:
I agree with you that it is a terrible shame that in this day and age people are still discriminating on gender rather than ability. That's why scholarships like this one are really key to getting women and other underrepresented groups into STEM careers. Additionally, it's their money, they can give it whomever they wish. Females, African Americans, panda bears; it's their choice. There are plenty of general scholarships out there for people perusing STEM careers that men can apply to. I have a good friend who received a women's scholarship to attend a conference and through that was able to talk to recruiters and got a job at a great company. It would have been much harder to get that same job by just applying through their website without being able to speak with someone face to face.
Neil Said:
Have you considered that the main reason that women are under-represented in STEM is because they are avoiding it by their own choice? Statistics indicate that the vast majority of female students arent even interested in STEM, much prefering humanities, medicine and liberal arts. There is also a giant bias towards women in many other fields for the same reasons, such as nursing. I dont see anyone as concerned about that. There are already laws in place to protect people in the workplace from being actively discriminated against because of their gender. If you can come up with any actual evidence that women are actively being discriminated against in any STEM jobs I will be the first to support corrective action, which would include reporting specific incidents to the authorities.
MathUHenry Said:
The problem being addressed is not so much due to work-place discrimination (though that does happen). As you noted, women tend towards the humanities, medicine, and liberal arts while men tend towards anything math/science related. This strongly corresponds (non-exclusively) to the momentum of our culture. From youth, girls are encouraged to pursue more "social" activities and boys are encouraged to pursue more "technical" activities. In high school, girls are known to pretend to not be good with math/science because they think that will help them to fit in or be more attractive to boys. Later, on the professional side, people thrive more with professional mentors, social inclusion with colleagues, and straight-up hiring opportunities. By human nature (professional or not) we tend to mentor those who are more like us (race or gender), guys tend to hang out with guys (in hanging out, we form the social networks the lead to career advancement opportunities), and - looking at two equally qualified candidates - we tend to hire the one more like us. By taking measures to produce a more equal portion of qualified women and to put a more equal portion women in the field we have observed a reduction of this cultural momentum. Now, you may ask where this cultural momentum came from - that did follow from severe discrimination. You noted that men are severely under-represented in nursing and there are no efforts being made to change this. Men who do become nurses are often discriminated against (women tend to be less interested in dating nurses, and patients will often specifically request or require female nurses). Unfortunately, this is being generally ignored. So, like you, I used to be morally opposed to discrimination. I've changed my mind on that. More to the question: Is it a problem that our society pushes people towards different fields as a function of gender? In an economic sense, I think it is. We all benefit when human potential is optimally developed. Unless we can identify fundamental differences in the sexes on ability (which we often claim based on hokey science but all actual science tells us otherwise), then we can safely conclude that many men in computer science would be better nurses, and many women in the social sciences would be better programmers.
Steve who is actually Emily Said:
Thank you, MathUHenry for your reply. I agree with you. Also, Neil, my first degree is in History so I can tell you from personal experience that women are not encouraged to go into STEM fields like men are. Even though I took advanced math and physics in high school, teachers pushed me to study history or German or other liberal arts/social sciences. It wasn't until I realized how cruddy the job market is for social science majors and how boring the jobs out there are that I finally got it together and went back to school for a computer science degree. And the "friend" who got a women's scholarship was me, and I love the Anita Borg Foundation and the Grace Hopper Celebration for all the work they do to encourage and support women, just like the Linux Foundation.
Objectivity Please Said:
Your comment, MathUHenry, made sense right up until you wrote "From youth, girls are encouraged to pursue more "social" activities and boys are encouraged to pursue more "technical" activities." This is so untrue. This is the whole nature nurture debate. I have parents come up to me all the time and tell me, "My little girl really does like to nest, and she really doesn't enjoy killing toy soldiers with battle tanks like my little boy does." The say this with a look of surprise and incredulity, as if they had just discovered the secret to cold fusion. My gut instinct is to retort, "You're an idiot.", but I hold my tongue. All these people have to do is look back at their own childhood, and ask themselves if they, themselves, where brainwashed by nurture. Of course not. Saying that society encourages children from youth based on sex is utterly ridiculous, and is an offense to every rationale, objective thinker who seeks truth on this subject.
Gene Novak Said:
Why are there so few (if any) open source projects started by women? Everyone is free to spend their time working on a free project and hosting it on free servers. You don't even need to work w/anybody else. Yet no women seem to ever do this. A lot of guys who become programmers didn't get positive encouragement growing up, in fact they probably got crap over it, yet they still pursued it. So why do we have to bend over backwards to encourage women? All of western society has bought into this BS that if a woman doesn't succeed it's because of discrimination. Maybe they aren't interested in the field as much as men.
Tom Said:
Hi Neil, I agree. This is pure discrimination.
proph Said:
Perhaps your use of Ad hominem arguing and poor grammar have been the issue with your career, rather than your gender. I agree with Neil 100%.
gizmo Said:
Im really dismayed that someone would take this as an opportunity to badmouth organizations that recognize the need for diversity of thought in the tech workforce. As a female/genderqueer identifying person who has worked both in hardware and software for 15 years I can tell you women DO get discriminated against (i personally have experienced this and witnessed it) and that diverse teams are more performant than those that lack diversity. Thanks to the Linux Foundation for working to bring fresh faces & ideas to the tech workforce!
Gene Novak Said:
Since I'm not a woman I don't know what you actually experience but you don't know what it's like to be a guy so maybe you're seeing discrimination where it doesn't exist. I'll tell you right now that people like Andria Richards make men nervous being around women and I'm also not a fan of women who expect the environment to adapt for them. I still find it interesting that their are no women creating open source projects which are insanely non-sexist in nature because you don't even need to work on it w/anybody else and you can host it on free servers.
cheers to that! Said:
proph::: seriously, if a guy can only comment on my grammar in response, his arguement is obviously weak. Lets now talk of dancing hampsters... smh. btw, no issues with my career. but the men who throw a fit when the word diversity is thrown around? pft. How many males are they in the industry and what threat do more women pose? does it require male genitalia to be a badass with linux? that a woman may be encouraged to have the skills to surpass her male counterparts is apalling to some people is the only shame i see. grow some balls. try getting off your high horse and chill the F out .Oh and thanks gizmo. u rock.
Neil Said:
>> btw, no issues with my career. Thanks for giving an example that justifies my point that there already isn't any real discrimination in STEM. >> But the men who throw a fit when the word diversity is thrown around? pft. Uhh I'm not seeing anyone here (or anywhere else) doing that. >> that a woman may be encouraged to have the skills to surpass her male counterparts I for one encourage that too, however in not such as gender-specific way as you do. I'm all for helping people (of any gender) advance themselves, as long as doing so doesn't require discrimination against others based on gender, such as this program does.
i love steve Said:
:P
Such Anger Said:
+gizmo I'm appalled that someone with such experience is discriminated against, regardless of your gender. I feel that you've just worked for a few shit companies. My company currently has four female developers and each one is on the same wage as their male counterpart. It's disgusting that companies are still like this but the point here is, THIS type of discrimination is what KEEPS others discriminating.
273y Said:
kernel panic, kernel panic :)
lin@RDACresearch.com Said:
"kernel panic, kernel panic" @273y -- what a great reply to this thread!
drugs are bad asshole Said:
just a tip.
anna tuprina Said:
so let me get this straight. I respond to anger when someone says he is in a position of hiring authority, yet cowarsly making anonymous comments on a womens scholarship blog... , and apparently he does not understand why there are scholarships for women, because its discrimination against men...i respond with anger against that... and you don't understand, really? .And you call me a bitch to put me in my place. Thanks for doing so. Its fitting really. The whole aspect of devaluing someone based on breeding abilities... i guess I will go back to the kitchen now. and give up on my illustrius career just to bow down to people who say I dont deserve to be in the industry. actually no. it wont happen. because ive had to deal with guys like you since day 0. and thus why i think a scholarship enabling a woman to have skills is not a bad thing. and Im offended by men who think enabling someone to learn is wrong. so thats it.
Neil Said:
Hw dare you. I am in no way being cowardly or making anonymous comments as you accuse me of. My name and email were entered to make this post just as you did... I dont see you providing anything extra in your posts, exept maybe adding your family name which is very stupid given the scurity issues of posting personal details on the internet. The rest of your post is basically a baseless angry rant against men with no actual content that could even be construed as a salient argument about the point in hand. If you want to change minds, give us actual facts to back up your argument. I ask again, Whare are the specific examples of gender bias against women seeking carreers in STEM fields? ... or is your own argument as based on just your own biassed perception as it appears from your words?
Lubomir Rintel Said:
Sounds like a great way to overcome entry barrier for talented women! Perhaps authors of some comments under the article should just run a similar outreach program for bitter and envyous people, so that they hack on something useful instead of leaving disgusting comments :)
Elise L. Scher Said:
As a teacher and mother, I would appreciate it if people would make their comments without swearing. I manage to do so. Swearing really detracts from your argument. Thank you.
Neil Said:
What entry barrier (other than something that amounts to their own choice) is there that is preventing women entering STEM fields? Please be specific.
Mel Said:
Neil, if you'd like a timeline of specific incidents, see http://geekfeminism.wikia.com/wiki/Timeline_of_incidents. For evidence of purely gender-based bias, see http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/unofficial-prognosis/2012/09/23/study-shows-gender-bias-in-science-is-real-heres-why-it-matters/. To check some aspects of your own implicit (and typically unconscious) bias, see https://implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/. The timeline is a small subset that doesn't capture the millions of unreported incidents women in STEM fields constantly endure (some more than others) -- being mistaken for a wife/girlfriend of an attendee rather than an attendee at a technical conference, being propositioned/groped in work/professional environments, going to suppliers as a technical team lead and having vendors direct their comments almost entirely towards their (male) subordinates -- all things I've personally witnessed (and have only recently gotten the courage to address). Subtle things that send "you don't belong here" cues, like offices with no female restrooms (because all the employees are men) or conferences that only offer men's t-shirts. It's often the "choice" of women to leave a hostile and discriminatory environment -- but that doesn't make it somehow okay for the environment to be unhealthy, and I'd call that a heavily coerced choice that is largely not about innate aptitude/tendencies (other than the innate aptitude of human beings to migrate to environments where people treat them like... well, human beings). I personally wish there weren't women-specific scholarships as well -- the same way I wish chemotherapy didn't exist. But since cancer and gender bias exist, I'm glad some people are choosing (again, their choice -- it doesn't mean it needs to be yours) to to help work to rectify that. Neil, if you're simply looking for evidence that confirms an existing worldview that gender-based discrimination in STEM does not exist, this isn't the right place. Trying to "prove" you're right isn't a discussion -- it's a waste of energy. If, on the other hand, you genuinely want to learn more about the evidence and experiences of less-privileged groups in technology, there are plenty of opportunities. http://geekfeminism.wikia.com/wiki/Geek_Feminism_Wiki is an easy-to-access place to start; Unlocking the Clubhouse is a good starter book (research-based, with concrete evidence), and any local university's Women's Studies or Women in {Computing, Engineering, etc.} group can point you towards more resources and discussions. In general, being humble and non-antagonistic will get you a long way, as they do in all visits to different cultures. This is my own perspective as someone who's been in STEM education for over a decade. You don't need to agree with it; I'm writing this not primarily for you, but for the others who might read these comments and find some of these links and studies useful. Thanks for the reminder and the opportunity to share some thoughts and resources.
Mel Said:
Or more concisely (just stumbled across this): http://geekfeminism.wikia.com/wiki/Glass_door
Neil Said:
Mel: I looked at your citations, it is almost all exclusively a lot of very radical feminist rant with nothing to back them up. There are many points made that are factually incorrect, one example states that the large amount of outsourcing in STEM indicates a strong local demand for staff but that women still can't fill it because of sexism. That is patently ridiculous. The actual reason for outsourcing is to take advantage of much cheaper overseas workers, there is no local demand because they dont even want to hire locally or pay local wage rates. There are actually far more men than women out there looking for work exactly because of outsourcing. Another example states that "Companies have no access to a student's grades due to the law, so male applicants can easily exaggerate their abilities without being questioned, then be hired in place of an academically successful female student ". This statement is a perfect example of ridiculously radical man-hating feminism at its worst. It blatantly implies all males cheat and all females don't, which is so far from the truth its funny. As far as I can see many of the issues all these articles raise as an indication of prejudice against women are in fact equally or even more of a problem for males in STEM too. Believe it or not, being a man isn't half the free pass to a perfect life that these feminist articles make it out to be. I would love to go through these articles point by point with you but there just isn't enough space here. If you want to discuss these further some other way I'd be fine with that just let me know. My own first hand and overwhelming experience is that men in STEM actually go out of their way to help women already in or trying to get into STEM, partly because they are trying to break the unfair labelling that viscous articles like the ones you posted links to like to accuse us of. I've seen that time and time again in many differnet companies and countries in the 35 years I've been in the industry,
dot Said:
The link to the Outreach Program in the article (first graph) is broken... I believe this is the proper link: https://live.gnome.org/OutreachProgramForWomen
Objectivity Please Said:
This message is for the author. I have taught female students before, and I would bend over backwards to make sure that no female is discriminated against, under any circumstance. But you should know it breaks my heart a bit to read things like this, because it implies that discrimination is principal problem, but it is not. In my real-life experience, on almost every occasion, the women themselves chose to not pursue a purely STEM field. It's very difficult for an educator in this situation, because on the one hand, you would like to see more women in STEM, and on the other, you definitely want what is best for the student. So like many educators, when push comes to shove, we ask the student, "What would you like to do?" When they say something that is related to the humanities or helping people (non-STEM) , it is a bit heart-breaking, so we ask again, and again, they have their minds made up. So you should know this. Whenever anyone comes into my high-tech start-up, and wants the title of "Engineer", they are going to get the exact same exam as everyone else. I will not discriminate in any way whatsoever. If the exam requires understanding of MOSFETS, or finite-state-machines, priority inversion, red-black trees, or Eulerian paths, or whatever...that person, whoever s/he is, will need to know that. If they fail, they fail.
Wimp Said:
pure discrimination!
Sum Yung Gai Said:
Will the Linux Foundation also then have a similar kernel-or-whatever internship program for black people the same way they're doing with this program? Blacks of either sex are far more discriminated against than white women are, including in tech. I worked at Microsoft and saw way more white women than black *anybody*. So how about it, LF? --SYG