Why is the field of Guitar Electronics so male dominated ?

[Vivek]

Why is the field of Guitar Electronics so male dominated ?

What can be done about it ?

[antonis]

I think we need a "Quest-Consideration-Concer" sub-forum..
(especially dedicated to Vivek..)

[Kevin Mitchell]

Let's have a bunch of guys explain
Obviously anyone is welcome here. So perhaps they haven't found the forum yet. Maybe host some workshops on youtube, draw in a crowd.

[vigilante397]

Reverb's "The Pedal Movie" released over the summer talks about this a bit, featuring interviews with a number of women builders. It seems like the general answer is because guitar playing is largely male dominated, and the close-minded male guitarists have trouble taking women in the industry seriously. Women are increasingly getting into it (I've seen a couple come and go on this forum), but it is still definitely male dominated.

I taught my wife to solder shortly after we were married and she built her first pedal in 2014. We still have "soldering dates" where we sit down and assemble PCBs together (I'm such a romantic), and while she enjoys it and does an excellent job (her attention to detail eclipses mine), as a non-guitarist she doesn't appreciate it the way I do, the end result isn't as important to her. A woman that is passionate about music and excited about gear in general could do an excellent job, and plenty have and do (Frantone, Devi Ever, and plenty I don't know about).

[Mark Hammer]

A person does not have to be an electronics engineer to work in guitar electronics.  I'm certainly not and many here are not either.  But the field of engineering in general has a way of chasing women out.  Many women are encouraged to enter into engineering, and can succeed, academically, but many fewer go on to pursue it as a profession because of their treatment.

Culture change takes a long time, and generally longer than we think it does, because of all the "micro-institutions" we are often unaware of, that hold on to existing culture like the best possible velcro.  Just think of the graphics we often see on pedals, or the names.  It can be like a boys' locker room sometimes.

[r080]

Let's have a bunch of guys explain

There is something to be said for the majority taking a close look at themselves.

Just think of the graphics we often see on pedals, or the names.  It can be like a boys' locker room sometimes.

Agreed. There are companies who have built their whole brand around names and imagery most of the women I know would find distasteful. I am sure this is not unique to this industry, but it is easy to find.

[duck_arse]

women have better things to do with their time.

[GGBB]

Why would the field of guitar electronics be any different than most other fields?

[GibsonGM]

Why is the field of Guitar Electronics so male dominated ?

What can be done about it ?

Male "DOMINATED"?    Last I checked, anyone can get into it if they so choose.  There are plentiful scholarships available for anyone with the grades and interest; education is quite abundant (in the US and like nations, anyway).   Why are so few men represented in many activities that women like?  Actually....how many men DO you know who are into guitar electronics?  Most everyone I know thinks it's either too complex or 'not cool', to be honest.   Most people aren't interested in intellectual pursuits, you know; they'll just buy what they want.  I only got into it myself due to major curiosity as a player, my dad was an engineer (tho died before I could ask all the questions), and I was too POOR to afford nice guitars, pedals and stuff in the late 80s. 

I'll talk with anyone about electronics, all other DIY I'm into (the list is extensive) - black, white, female, male, gay, elderly/young, not from my country...honestly, things like that don't enter into my thought process, and I'm quite happy about that.  Not everything on earth needs to be politicized; it doesn't ever end well, and really, it's not even about the hobby once it goes there.   If they wished to pick it up for themselves, that's awesome - nobody is stopping them.   It's called freedom of choice.

IMHO not all of culture should be dissected, analyzed, revised or 'done over'.  If the issue involved the structure of a native tribe, I doubt that would even be discussed, would it?  There's more to these questions than 'why is this so'...careful what you wish for.

[amptramp]

A lot of women believe that they belong in the arts but not in STEM pursuits because it would be a turn-off for any males they want to attract and those who go into STEM fields are unattractive or not feminine.  This attitude is going away and let's see now - Jennifer, Paula, Stephanie, Vesna and some others whose names I don't recall were all exceptionally good-looking women I worked with who had engineering degrees.  The Professional Engineers of Ontario is trying to get more women into the field and so far, they are succeeding.

[Ripthorn]

My general observations are something like this:

- Women, due to their inherent abilities to multi-task, often have an array of activities, interests, and responsibilities that they are active with.
- Men, due to their inherent abilities to focus in on a single task, often have a few activities, interests, and responsibilities that they are active with
- Guitar is a small subsection of world population
- Guitar electronics is a small subsection of guitar population
- Electronics, in order to really dig in and understand and the like, takes lots of time and dedication to get there. Men, particularly those of us around here, all exhibit the trait of diving deep and staying there until we have what we feel is a good grasp of it.
- Many women don't feel they have the time or desire to do the deep dive; they have too much else going on that needs their time/attention.

Of course, these are all just generalities, but the brains of men and women are different, and that makes the world a better place overall. However, that does mean that there will be areas that tend to be dominated by one gender over the other. I would gladly welcome the insight and perspectives of women in this hobby, but many self-exclude for a myriad of reasons.

[Mark Hammer]

As one who has studied work psychology and organizational functioning for some years (in addition to cognitive functioning in males and females), I can say confidently that recruitment and retention are two different things.  People can sign up for all sorts of things, be it academic programs or career paths, and realize it's not what they thought they were signing up for.  And if they are young and skilled enough, they leave and pursue something else.

There's disappointment with the field/career itself, and there's marginalization of people who are dissimilar to the prevailing majority within the field or organization.  A decade or more back, a large scale employee staffing survey I worked on inquired how individuals first learned about the job they had applied to (we asked them to tell us about the most recent staffing activity they had participated in).  We provided them with a list of possible ways they could have found out about the job opening that could be neatly divided into formal (ad in the newspaper or on the corporate website, etc.) and informal (approached by the manager, told by a friend, etc.) channels.  This is not how they GOT the job, but how they first learned there was a job to apply for.  Minority employees were a little more than half as likely to have learned about the job opening through informal channels as non-minority employees.  Minorities, whether that be on the basis of race, language, sex, gender identity, age, or whatever, are often on the outside looking in, and things are organized and carried out in expectation of what "works" for the majority.  It's not necessarily a hostile arrangement; it just serves as a sort of disincentive.

As for what men and women are "good at", I'll leave that aside and simply note that differences within the sexes are generally MUCH wider than differences between the sexes.

[davent]

Fender pick-up winder https://sheshreds.com/abigail-ybarra-issue-11/

Amp repair

[Steben]

- Men, due to their inherent abilities to focus in on a single task, often have a few activities, interests, and responsibilities that they are active with

I wish...  Too many interests

[Ice-9]

Unless you're Devi Ever, it's a throw of the dice.

[jimilee]

I think they're out there (here), you just may not know you're talking to a woman. I think we all just assume (myself included) we're talking to men.

[Vivek]

I think they're out there (here), you just may not know you're talking to a woman. I think we all just assume (myself included) we're talking to men.

Oh, so it's the opposite to Tinder !!!

[GibsonGM]

I think they're out there (here), you just may not know you're talking to a woman. I think we all just assume (myself included) we're talking to men.

That was sort of the point I was trying to make.  The info is there if you want it...nobody is pushing anyone out (that I know of?).  If someone wants to market pedals for women, they should go for it.  If people want to 'reach out' and try to attract women, same thing.  The more the merrier - we're a dying breed!  Is it a 'problem' that there aren't more women?  I don't think so - my 2 cents, and just worth 2 cents.  More people into electronics in general would be a positive.

I've thought a few forum members were women, and then later found out they're not, LOL (no names...). 

[Phend]

Ok, some members here, all we know is their age ie N/A.
Nothing else in their profile.
Understanding that is for privacy,  and giving out yer DATA in this electronic world is undesirable .

[strungout]

I was gonna write about male/female interaction, in a long-winded post... (yeah, right) but then I thought: why is the field of electronics so 'straight' dominated? Where the LGBTQ+ people at? Represent!

"I'm not gay! Not that there's anything wrong with that..."    References...

My point is that the question is really about why aren't people in general more inclusive. And the answer is, I  think,  because we belong to a group, and we don't want just anyone to join our group. That's dangerous. People could tell our secrets (whatever those are) to the enemy! Destroy us from within! Take everything away! Plus, I don't want to share... We're protective of what we have. It's a biological imperative. That's why lions don't like hyenas... They do the same thing, hunt the same prey. They should share techniques and knowledge! But, in the end, whatever the lion gets, the hyena doesn't. And vice versa. They don't like that...
The more different you are, the less likely you are to be able to join in. I know that from experience. I ended up with all the other rejects! Not you guys (though you might feel like one. That's ok).

In this case, though, that biological imperative is holding us back by not allowing us to embrace different people who have different ideas, because they think differently about things. And are not dangerous. At all.
And I'm talking about men in general (though, look at the state of the world right now...) I haven't seen much, if any, rejection around here. The forum is pretty welcoming, in my view. But, I admit, I don't know if anyone I've interacted with is a female, except maybe by their name, or a picture... If you're named Dylan, Tracy or Parker, then I have no clue. And I don't care. Or about as much as I do people's hair color. I'm a punkrocker. I've seen them all.

Other questions: why should we know? Do we need/have to know? Do women have to disclose themselves as women? I'm not making light of your question, I'm just sayin'... Think of the pressure... I don't have to say I'm a straight cis-gendered male, do I?
I think that's part of the reason why women around here don't say anything about it. It's just less complicated that way.

Hope that made some sense...