I wish Rory Gilmore picked Computer Systems instead of Journalism

We need more engineer girls in TV

Gilmore Girls DVD sets from season 1 to season 7. Photo credit: jeffmason. Creative Common license here. No changes made.

The first time I saw Gilmore Girls I was 16 years old, about the same age as Rory. And I had a terrible relationship with my mother, opposite to Rory. I am smart girl, as Rory. I am not good with words neither I read a lot of books, opposite to Rory. It is just that there was something about Rory that made me identify with her, which made her my favorite character in the series.

Now that the revival is available for streaming. For what we knew from the teasers, she does not have a job or a credit score we were wondering about her love interest because we know she did not won a Pulitzer yet. And from what we saw in the series revival, (Spoiler Alert!) she did not found in journalism what she was looking for, so she ends up writing a book about her and her mom. Let’s face it, she never was a great journalist.

That made me think, what if she starts a career in IT? As part of the IT industry, I know that there are groups to bring women to IT. Some groups promoting IT careers for women are: Code like a girl, Women Who Code and Girls who code. So there are more than one ways that Rory could be added to the IT world, even after studying journalism. (Spoiler Alert!) Even at the same time she writes her book.

To honor the young Rory Gilmore method of creating a Pro-Con to take important decisions, here is my list of Pros and Cons of getting into the IT industry:

I am not mocking the pro-con list. It is a good method!

Pros

1. There are a lot of jobs. It is well known that engineers who happens to be women are required. In the UK alone, only the 8% of engineers are female. In the US there was only the 14% in 2012.
2. Salary for Computer System engineers is in average $85k in the US. News Reporter makes in average $29k in the US.
3. You get to play with the latest technologies.
4. The industry is fighting to be diverse and you can meet people from all over the world.
5. Jobs in IT are moving to remote work, so you could work from any location you want.
6. You have a chance to participate in projects that changes lives and influences the people around you.
7. Projects allows and requires people involved to be creative.

Cons

1. It is hard to get equally paid as a women, compared to a male co-worker.
2. Spend too many hours on a chair and in front of a computer.
3. You need to keep learning new stuff since the technology changes quickly.
4. There are things that needs to be figured out, since is still a young industry.
5. It is not easy to get a job that requires travel around the world, in case you want one.
6. Noxious environment that favors male co-wokers, something some call brogramming. Something Julie Ann Horvath might have experienced.

Can you think of any other pro or con? My little list might have be a little bias, since I am working in the IT company. But hey, I am having a lot of fun.

Rory, please consider pursuing an IT related career.

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