"Brogrammer" or "tech bro" are slang terms often used to label a stereotypically masculine programmer. ''Brogrammer'' is a

portmanteau A portmanteau word, or portmanteau (, ) is a blend of wordsbro'' and '' programmer''. It is often used

pejorative A pejorative or slur is a word or grammatical form expressing a negative or a disrespectful connotation, a low opinion, or a lack of respect toward someone or something. It is also used to express criticism, hostility, or disregard. Sometimes, a ...

ly, but some programmers self-describe themselves as a brogrammer positively as a word for "sociable or outgoing programmer", and it also tends to represent a subculture within the greater tech industry. An example sometimes cited of targeted advertising toward "brogrammers" is an early

Klout Klout was a website and mobile app that used social media analytics to rate its users according to online social influence via the "Klout Score", which was a numerical value between 1 and 100. In determining the user score, Klout measured the size ...

hiring advert posted at a Stanford University career fair as "Want to bro down and crush some code? Klout is hiring." The company later described it as a joke and as an unfortunate misstep. Brogrammer culture has been said to have created an entry barrier based on adherence to the image presented by its participants, rather than ability. It can be viewed as antithetical to

geek The word ''geek'' is a slang term originally used to describe eccentric or non-mainstream people; in current use, the word typically connotes an expert or enthusiast obsessed with a hobby or intellectual pursuit. In the past, it had a general ...

culture, which emphasizes ability and passion for field over image.

Effects on participation of women in computing

Articles in ''The Atlantic'' have advocated strongly for the importance of an egalitarian tech team. According to research published in '' Fortune'', 27% of women cited workplace culture as a reason for leaving jobs in the technology industry. This is the second most cited reason after motherhood, which was cited by 68% of women. In 2011, the Computing Research Association found that women received 11.7% of computer science bachelor's degrees. In a 2015 interview,8
/ref> Megan Smith, then-President of the United States

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the ...

's top policy adviser on technology, said to an audience gathered at Capitol Hill that tech companies acknowledge that their hiring of women is less than stellar; however, "despite promises to do better, only those that make it a top priority will see progress." Not only are there biases among men, but there are also biases among women themselves. Studies show that women often underestimate and undervalue their own abilities. One such study exemplifies this by giving men and women a list of criteria that they have to meet in order to apply for a job, and results show that, out of 10 characteristics required for a job, men will usually apply if they meet three of those criteria, while women will only apply if they meet at least seven. "So biases will just be part of any decision we make. One of the big research fields right now is how to mitigate bias, and there are software tools being created and other things that can help address this challenge." In a dissenting article in Gizmodo, Sam Biddle argues that the sexist effect of the brogrammer culture has actually been overblown by the press. He does not deny that there are "brogrammers", rather he argues that "the brogrammer as phenomenon is mythology, a fairytale figure conjured up by the confused and outmoded to explain progress in an old and stodgy industry." Whether or not the "brogrammer effect" is significant, many new initiatives have arisen that seek to promote women in computer science and counter hostile culture. Initiatives such as We Can Code IT, Women Who Code and

Made with Code Made with Code is an initiative launched by Google on 19 July 2014. Google aimed to empower young women in middle and high schools with computer programming skills. Made with Code was created after Google's own research found out that encourageme ...

and Femgineer serve to support a diverse community, often working to encourage women to join STEM fields from a young age. Another organization, Wogrammer, is a play of the slang brogrammer, and highlights the accomplishments of women in technology.

Political alignment

People labelled tech bros often have strong support for free speech, rejecting the use of censorship even on misinformation and hate speech. Tech bros are often seen as libertarian, with close ties to

hacker culture The hacker culture is a subculture of individuals who enjoy—often in collective effort—the intellectual challenge of creatively overcoming the limitations of software systems or electronic hardware (mostly digital electronics), to a ...

and

technolibertarianism Technolibertarianism (sometimes referred to as cyberlibertarianism) is a political philosophy with roots in the Internet's early hacker cypherpunk culture in Silicon Valley in the early 1990s and in American libertarianism. The philosophy focuses ...

. In the American political system this does not fit neatly into the two major parties. The term has been used on the Democratic primary candidate

Andrew Yang Andrew Yang (born January 13, 1975) is an American businessman, attorney, lobbyist, and politician. Yang was a candidate in the 2020 Democratic Party presidential primaries and the 2021 New York City Democratic mayoral primary. He is the co-c ...

, Republican large donor

Peter Thiel Peter Andreas Thiel (; born 11 October 1967) is a German-American billionaire entrepreneur, venture capitalist, and political activist. A co-founder of PayPal, Palantir Technologies, and Founders Fund, he was the first outside investor in F ...

, and alt-right thinker

Curtis Yarvin Curtis Guy Yarvin (born 1973), also known by the pen name Mencius Moldbug, is an American blogger, software engineer, and Internet entrepreneur. He is known, along with fellow theorist Nick Land, for founding the anti-egalitarian and anti-dem ...

. Due to the label being applied to increasingly broader demographics, including those without a clear tie to the technology industry and across the political spectrum, it has been suggested that the term has lost its meaning and only distracts the conversation.

Effects on participation of women in computing

Political alignment

See also

References

Further reading