...the culture of shouting and condescension seems like more of a barrier...
You seem to be confusing a barrier (something that impedes your movement, regardless of your choices) from a preference (something that makes you more likely to make a certain choice).
I don't think there's a confusion. As far as I'm aware, women consistently express a preference against the aggressive and disrespectful communication style that's common to many software projects, meaning that this style functions as an effective barrier to women (and men who don't like overt conflict much either) joining these projects.
I don't think nitpicking the semantics adds much here.
Women disliking the communication style of software people is not a barrier. It's a preference. Women could join if they wanted to, they just don't want to.
It's not a semantic difference - the difference is whether women are prevented from performing some activity or whether they choose not to perform it.
Similarly, I don't like banking environments very much. There is no barrier preventing me from working at Citi, I just never applied for a job there.
Comments
...the culture of shouting and condescension seems like more of a barrier...
You seem to be confusing a barrier (something that impedes your movement, regardless of your choices) from a preference (something that makes you more likely to make a certain choice).
I don't think there's a confusion. As far as I'm aware, women consistently express a preference against the aggressive and disrespectful communication style that's common to many software projects, meaning that this style functions as an effective barrier to women (and men who don't like overt conflict much either) joining these projects.
I don't think nitpicking the semantics adds much here.
Women disliking the communication style of software people is not a barrier. It's a preference. Women could join if they wanted to, they just don't want to.
It's not a semantic difference - the difference is whether women are prevented from performing some activity or whether they choose not to perform it.
Similarly, I don't like banking environments very much. There is no barrier preventing me from working at Citi, I just never applied for a job there.