Dave rule

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The Dave rule is an inside joke in Silicon Valley startup culture that posits that if a work team includes as many women as it does people named Dave, it has achieved acceptable gender balance. The joke is a reference to Silicon Valley's infamous gender gap. [1] [2]

The concept was in use in the Carnegie Mellon School of Computer Science under the name "Dave-to-girl ratio" or "Dave-to-female ratio" at least as early as 1999. [3] [4] It was first documented in Silicon Valley, which employs many Carnegie Mellon SCS alumni, under the name "Dave rule" in 2014 by Guardian newspaper correspondent Rory Carroll in an article about a sexual harassment lawsuit filed against dating application startup Tinder by a female former executive. [5]

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References

  1. Kaminska, Izabella (27 February 2015). "Since you asked: the tech industry and its problem with women". Financial Times. Retrieved 20 December 2015.
  2. Smith, Dave. "Women Are Vastly Underrepresented In The Tech Sector". No. 14 August 2014. Business Insider. Retrieved 20 December 2015.
  3. Lenore, Blum. "Women in Computer Science: The Carnegie Mellon Experience" (PDF). Women@SCS. Carnegie Mellon University. Retrieved 3 March 2021.
  4. Hafner, Katie (22 May 2003). "An Imbalance; Casting a Wider Net to Attract Computing Women". The New York Times. Retrieved 3 March 2021.
  5. Carroll, Rory (2 July 2014). "Sexism in Silicon Valley: Tinder, the 'Dave rule' and tech's glass ceiling". Guardian. Retrieved 20 December 2015.