Fatima’s next job could be in cyber

[EugeniaGrace]

My left wing friends are up in arms - how dare the evil tories dash her dreams.

But, but, but, I am torn.

Isn’t this what we have been asking for? The ability to dream of stem careers for women and not say the only dreams open to women should be in the underpaying arts and prancing around in a tutu. Argh!

(There need to be be money to retain though. Rethink. Reskill. Reboot. Seems to be missing the learning grant or what have you for DomCum’s digital wonder world).

Sorry @ListeningQuietly I didn't think her feet look really Ballet - I apologise and am corrected

Working in the Cyber Security industry my reaction to that advert was to shudder.

If the men working in Cyber Security weren't as awful to the women already working in CyberSec there wouldn't be a constant exodus of women and there wouldn't be as much of a skills shortage.

I'd never advise women to enter this industry it's toxic to women.

I was somewhat under the impression that people who work in 'cyber' are generally shit hot mathematicians. Which isn't necessarily something achievable to all and sundry wanting to retrain.

It seems quite disrespectful both of ballet dancers (massively skilled, intense training) and to cyber types.

(As a writer of code, albeit nothing related to 'cyber', I wasn't at all impressed by the 'slumped eating Pringles' stereotype upthread )

Well the country is headed into some pretty deep shit right now, both in terms of the virus, economic problems and brexit. I would never seek to dissuade someone from following their passion, but realistically with ballet, and indeed the arts in general there are probably way more people who would love to do it as a career than there are spots for them to fill.

I think where this poster is a little ill-advised is that most people who pursue dreams of pursuing the arts are intimately acquainted with this fact. However there is probably a more well thought out scheme to be found making the point that even trying something as physically and psychologically demanding as ballet, builds in a whole wealth of skills and determination that could be of huge benefit in many different areas.

@ErrolTheDragon

I was somewhat under the impression that people who work in 'cyber' are generally shit hot mathematicians. Which isn't necessarily something achievable to all and sundry wanting to retrain.

It seems quite disrespectful both of ballet dancers (massively skilled, intense training) and to cyber types.

(As a writer of code, albeit nothing related to 'cyber', I wasn't at all impressed by the 'slumped eating Pringles' stereotype upthread )

There's a massive range of roles in cyber sec, very few need shit hot maths. Some roles are low skill and tedious (but the tech dudes hate to admit this), some high skill and intellectually challenging and there's roles for everything in between.

@ErrolTheDragon

I was somewhat under the impression that people who work in 'cyber' are generally shit hot mathematicians. Which isn't necessarily something achievable to all and sundry wanting to retrain.

It seems quite disrespectful both of ballet dancers (massively skilled, intense training) and to cyber types.

(As a writer of code, albeit nothing related to 'cyber', I wasn't at all impressed by the 'slumped eating Pringles' stereotype upthread )

I do like pringles though

As an aside, I never new the pink of ballet shoes was supposed to be skin tone. I always thought of it as ballet pink, along with the wrap cardi, hair band and hair net. The tap dancers had all their accessories in black.

I haven't watched much ballet in recent years, mind, and my lessons were a long time ago.

*knew, obvs.

It used to be necessary for excellent maths when coding was done by mathematicians in binary (machine code), hexadecimal and the logic of the coding languages.

These days, perhaps not so much.

The cryptography generally needs shit hot maths, unlikely to be an area anyone would get into after retraining from a completely different career route. More mainstream cyber sec does get people enter from weird routes.

Was there a thread about this when the campaign was first run
(about a year ago, this being one of a series)?

General aim, to get people to think more widely - on the other thread one MNetter is reporting she was told she was a good fit for the Royal Marines.

We are facing the bill for a global pandemic, the costs of economic suicide due to Brexit and aggressive states such as China and Russia constantly attacking western society. What is more important funding dance or cyber skills....?
As for the advert yes it's a bit daft on the face of it but all its saying is that talented people in different fields or outside of gender norms could consider wider options. That not so bad is it?

It might not have been "so bad" if/when the original idea was positive - to attract people to important fields they might not be aware of - but it is bad when it's being recycled because someone in the government has decided that ballet should be thrown away for the greater good.

I suppose it probably makes sense for people with highly physically skilled jobs which can be destroyed in an unfortunate instant (or through wear) to have some idea of alternative futures.

@PersephonePromotesEquanimity has it been actively rereleased? Or just dredged up from the places it's been hanging out since it was first released, and used to start arguments?

@PersephonePromotesEquanimity

It might not have been "so bad" if/when the original idea was positive - to attract people to important fields they might not be aware of - but it is bad when it's being recycled because someone in the government has decided that ballet should be thrown away for the greater good.

It’s not a re release. It’s someone trawling through back catalogue for mischievous reasons

See I hate it when people search out opportunities to stir. Life is shit enough already without people looking for ways to make trouble.

I work in ITsec. Firstly cyber isn’t a job. Secondly retraining into it takes years, a bucket of money and a lot of skill. It’s not something you can walk into from ballet. I’d no more expect a ballerina to walk into ITsec than I’d expect my lardy arse to be allowed onto the stage.

My husband is a musician and his livelihood is gone. This is a fucking insult and the government can do one.

But all these activities, such as ballet and sports, are part of a bigger picture where people get exercise and do not just become coach potatoes and more vulnerable to covid.

This is all really short-sighted.

I have to say I am shocked by the level of ignorance of this poster. The arts are the second biggest contributor to the economy - and we are really really good at exporting them. If any economic area deserves nurturing through the pandemic it is the arts. With a third of professional musicians saying they are going to leave the profession, we may not be able to get our pre-eminence in the field back after COVID - you can't train a musician or a ballet dancer over night - leave it to 13 and you may well be too late.

I don't think I've ever heard "cyber" used on its own since the early '90s except in the context of "cybering", ie sending dirty messages to a partner. I really hope they didn't mean that, there's enough poor women driven onto OnlyFans and Pornhub through poverty, desperation and lack of opportunities.

I think this is a massive amount of fuss about nothing. The government has set up a cyber security training academy, which is encouraging people from all walks of life to retrain. The training course is 10 weeks long. They particularly want women to join the profession. (See: www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news-features/all-you-need-cyber-retraining/) There is only a fuss now because of the ballet angle - but as PPs have pointed out the origial ad campaign featured a range of jobs.

Londonmummy66 please will you point me to your source for the comment about the arts being second biggest contributor to the economy.

I’m not doubting you, I’m interested in these industries that would be listed. Cheers.

Another issue with this is in fact which ever intern or trained professional used this image they did it without permission.

It is actually a picture taken on 2 dancers based in dance studio in south Atlanta offering cross over between classical and contemporary dance. www.facebook.com/pg/Vibezinmotion/about/?ref=page_internal

Photo just taken from instagram apparently. Not on intstagram but if someone wants to check.

Here is a facebook post explaining who the 2 young women are www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10157332616187035&set=a.97815127034&type=3&theater

UK industries by sector and turnover:
www.statista.com/statistics/678734/uk-business-turnover-by-sector/

I had always understood that the "arts" in the UK were meant to be a contributing factor to tourism, and that tourism was a really important income generator, but it isn't even on the list. Arts is.