Richard Purdom Feb 14, 2018:

Phil, it's also pretty redundant to say that software engineers have studied maths or science. Having a degree in computer sciences myself, I know there is a distinction between the technical and creative side of engineering, and the 'betas' comment obviously refers to the former (although this is only the author's opinion).

Which on a pedantic note brings me to your answer: they are maths OR science graduates, not maths AND science graduates.

philgoddard Feb 14, 2018:

"Software engineers are techies" is a statement of the obvious. It's like saying "artists are artsy". This clearly refers to their educational background, which is slightly less obvious.
"Techies" is also slang, which may be inappropriate.
I still feel your questions are different to other people's. Most people post because they don't understand a word or phrase, but you've already made up your mind.

Barend van Zadelhoff Feb 14, 2018:

I would like to add:

It may well be possible in this instance an option like Phil's was required (certainly the sentence suggests so), while in other cases an informal option.

Barend van Zadelhoff Feb 14, 2018:

unfair 1) you mention only one half of the story:

me­to­ny­misch leer­ling van een bè­ta-af­de­ling of stu­dent van een stu­die die bin­nen de bè­ta­we­ten­schap­pen valt

2) your sentence suggests otherwise

3) you did not indicate it should be informal

4) unlike usually, very quick closure of question

Michael Beijer (asker) Feb 14, 2018:

@Phil: You obviously don't have the whole text in front of you, but I can assure you that the author doesn't need me to spell out the type of degrees these people have. It's a white paper and is supposed to sound nice.

Although I indeed had an idea how I could solve it, I most definitely hadn't already decided on an answer beforehand, and wasn't just asking it for my own amusement. If I tell people what I already thought of, you get pissed; if I don't, writeaway gets snarky. Can't win really.

A "bèta" does usually mean something long the lines of math(s) and science graduates, but it is being used loosely in my text, as shorthand for technically minded people. See also Kitty's 5th Van Dale ref. "bèta: me­to­ny­misch iem. met (uit­ge­spro­ken) aan­leg voor of af­fi­ni­teit met exac­te we­ten­schap­pen" (which shows that there is nothing incorrect about translating "bèta" as "geek").

Dutch has perfectly good words for many things, but for whatever reason, the author chose to use "bèta" instead of something like "computergek" or "computerfreak".

Barend van Zadelhoff Feb 14, 2018:

Even if this is true: '' they are merely using the term to denote the type of person "

This sentence does not suggest this:

"De softwareontwikkelaars in Silicon Valley zijn meestal jonge mannelijke bètas."

Seems to be used in a neutral, matter-of-fact sense, concerning people with a certain type of education.

Also, they are talking about US employees, which means they are talking about 'bèta's' in the US sense, which means 'bèta's' needs to be localized.

philgoddard Feb 14, 2018:

Michael I hesitated before answering this, as I wasn't sure if it was another of your strange questions where you've already decided the answer and you're just asking for your own amusement. But I gave you the benefit of the doubt.

It looks like I was wrong to do so.

"Bètas" does not mean "geeks" as far as I'm aware, and it would be incorrect to translate it that way. Dutch has a perfectly good word for geek, and it's the same as the English.

Tina Vonhof (X) Feb 13, 2018:

@Textpertise As an 'alpha' I have to object to that sugggestion. Alpha and Beta refers to the two tracks one can take in the type of high school called 'gymnasium'. Beta is the math & science track and alpha is the humanities & languages (including Latin & Greek) track. You make that choice after grade 4 (grade 10 in most English-speaking countries). Although education has undergone lots of changes since my school days, the alpha/beta system still exists.

Michael Beijer (asker) Feb 13, 2018:

@Textpertise: Because that's not what is meant here, as far as I understand it. See my comment @ Phil's answer.

Textpertise Feb 12, 2018:

Why not betas? The use of the word beta brings alpha to mind and says that they haven't quite made it there.

Michael Beijer (asker) Feb 12, 2018:

btw in case you were wondering, so far I've decided to translate this as "geeks"