Women, girls and information technology

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Women have been involved in computers since computers were first envisioned. Lady Ada Lovelace’s (1815-1852) plan for how her friend Charles Babbage’s calculating engine might calculate Bernoulli numbers is now considered the first “computer program.” Admiral Grace Hopper (1906-1992) developed the first computer compiler and was one of the developers of COBOL, one of the most widely used, long lasting computer languages. The famous World War II era computer ENIAC was programmed primarily by six women, mostly self-taught.

Women’s involvement in computing continues today. Women such as Carly Fiorina of Hewlett Packard, Meg Whitman of eBay, Anne Mulcahy of Xerox and Patricia Russo of Lucent hold top spots in information technology. Web searches bring up thousands of hits for women in computing, including such organizations as the Anita Borg Institute for Women and Technology, the Association for Women in Computing, the Committee on the Status of Women in Computing Research, ACM’s (Association for Computing Machinery) Committee on Women in Computing and GirlGeeks. They provide support, community and information for the women who are present in all aspects of computing.

Women are present in all facets of computer and information technology, yet their presence is small compared to their presence in the workforce.

Contents 1 Pre-college 2 College 3 Employment 4 References

[edit] Pre-college

Although teenage girls are now using computers and the Internet at rates similar to their male peers, they are five times less likely to consider a technology-related career or plan on taking post-secondary technology classes (Melymuka, 2001). The National Center for Women & Information Technology reports that of the SAT takers who intend to major in computer and information sciences, the proportion of girls has steadily decreased relative to the proportion of boys, from 20 percent in 2001 to 12 percent in 2006. The total number of these students (boys and girls) has been decreasing since 2001, when it peaked at 73,466.

According to a College Board report, among SAT takers in 2006, slightly more girls than boys report having "course work or experience" in computer literacy, word processing, internet activity, and creating spreadsheets/databases. More boys than girls (59% vs 41%) reported course work or experience with computer programming. Of the 146, 437 students (13%) who reported having no course work or experience, 61% were girls and 39% were boys.

Many more boys than girls take Advanced Placement (AP) Computer Science exams. According to the College Board, in 2006, 2,594 girls and 12,068 boys took the AP Computer Science A exam, and 517 girls and 4,422 boys took the more advanced AP Computer Science AB exam. From 1996-2004, girls made up 16-17 percent of those taking the AP Computer Science A exam and around 10 percent of those taking AP Computer Science AB exam.

[edit] College

Women’s share of bachelor’s degrees in the computer and information sciences increased steadily through the mid-80s, where women earned 37 percent of the 38,878 degrees conferred in 1984-85. The number of computer and information sciences bachelor’s degrees earned by women has been increasing since 1992-93, yet the percentage earned by women was down to 22 percent in 2005. The pattern for Master’s degrees is somewhat different with the number and percentage of degrees earned by women slowly but steadily increasing to a high of 5432 and 34 percent in 2000-01 (NCES, 2002).

White and Asian students receive disproportionately more computer science degrees than do African American and Hispanic students. For example, in 2001, white students received 24,491 degrees of the 39,792 that went to American citizens, and African Americans received 4291 (NSF, 2004). Patterns of sex differences vary by race/ethnicity with African American women earning about the same number of degrees as African American men (46.4%) and white women earning the least number of degrees compared to white men (22.2%). About a third of the degrees earned by Asian, American Indian and Hispanic students go to women (Asian 32.3%; Hispanic 30.8%, American Indian 28.8%). Patterns are similar for Masters degrees in computer science (NSF, 2004). This under representation of African Americans, Hispanics and American Indians was also seen in the race/ethnicity of those who responded to the survey for this study where 93% of respondents were white (85%) or Asian American (8%).

[edit] Employment

Women’s representation in computer and information sciences hovers about 30%. From 1993 through 1999, NSF’s SESTAT reported the percentage of women working as computer/ information scientists (including those who hold a bachelor’s degree or higher in an S&E field or have a bachelor’s degree or higher and are working in an S&E field) declined slightly from 33.1 percent to 29.6 percent while the absolute numbers increased from 170,500 to 185,000 (NSF, n.d.). The U.S. Census Bureau (2000) reported that 30 percent of the 3.17 millions citizens employed in computer and mathematic occupations in 2000 were women, and the Bureau of Labor Statistics (2004) reported that as of January 2004, 3.13 million were employed in computer and mathematic occupations, of whom 28 percent were women.

[edit] References

• College Board AP Central National Summary Reports. Retrieved on February 25, 2007.
• Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). (2004). Current Population Survey. Table 11: Employed persons by detailed occupation, sex, race, and Hispanic or Latino ethnicity. Retrieved on September 10, 2004 from: http://www.bls.gov/cps/home.htm.
• College Board Summary Reporting Service (College Board). College Bound Seniors: A Profile of SAT Program Test Takers. Covering the years from 1996-2006. New York: College Board. Retrieved on February 25, 2007.
• Melymuka, Kathleen. (2001, January 8). If Girls Don’t Get IT, IT Won’t Get Girls. Computer World. Retrieved on October 7, 2004 from: http://www.computerworld.com/careertopics/careers/story/0,10801,55910,00.html.
• National Center for Education Statistics (NCES). (2002). Table 282: Earned degrees in computer and information sciences conferred by degree-granting institutions, by level of degree and sex of student, 1970-71 through 2000-2001. Higher Education General Information Survey and Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System.
• National Science Foundation, Division of Science Resources Statistics. (NSF). (2003) Women, Minorities and Persons with Disabilities in Science and Engineering 2002. Arlington, VA: Author. (NSF 03-312).
• National Science Foundation, Division of Science Resources Statistics (NSF). (2004) Women, Minorities and Persons with Disabilities in Science and Engineering 2004. Arlington, VA: Author (NSF 04-317).
• National Science Foundation, Scientists and Engineers Statistical Data System. (NSF). (n.d.) Retrieved on September 10, 2004 from: http://srsstats.sbe.nsf.gov/.
• U.S. Census Bureau. (2000). American Factfinder: Table QT-P27. Occupation by Sex: 2000. Retrieved on September 10, 2004 from: http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/QTTable?_bm=y&-geo_id=01000US&-qr_name=DEC_2000_SF3_U_QTP27&-ds_name=DEC_2000_SF3_U&-_lang=en&-_sse=on