Women in computing

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Fewer women than men have sought Bachelor of Computer Science degrees across United States (1980 – 1996).
Fewer women than men have sought Bachelor of Computer Science degrees across United States (1980 – 1996).

Global concerns about current and future roles of women in computing occupations gained more importance with the emerging information age. These concerns motivated public policy debates addressing gender equality as computer applications exerted increasing influence in society. This dialog helped to expand information technology innovations and to reduce the unintended consequences of perceived sexism.

Contents

[edit] Overview

In the United States, the number of women represented in engineering and information technology peaked in the late 1980s. Since then, the percentage of women in the computing profession declined from 35.2% in 1990 to 28.4% in 2000.[1] Particularly in computer science, there has been a dramatic drop in women earning bachelor's degrees. A report from the Computing Research Association indicated that the number recently fell below 20%, from nearly 40% in the mid 80s.[2]

Research has shown that many misperceptions about computing persist and may discourage women.[1] One of the biggest misperceptions of computing is the "geek factor". Students from high school think that computer scientists sit in cubicles and write code all day. The "geek factor" affects both male and female high school students, but it seems to have more negative effect on the female students.[3] It is important to study the force driving women away from the field of computer science because these factors might eventually drive men away.[3]

Professor Palma from Gonzaga University believes that we can attract girls into the study of computer science by making it more like mathematics.[4] He suggests five ways to improve the attraction of computer science to girls:

  1. Teach any girl with an aptitude for symbol manipulation how to program.
  2. When teaching girls how to program, keep things as close to pure logic as possible. Minimize reliance on other clumsy software packages, fancy graphical interfaces, and powerful IDEs.
  3. Teach computing without microcomputers. Microcomputers tend to attract tinkering boys more than girls.
  4. Keep the length of programming assignments as short as possible, at least in the early stages. One aspect of the mathematics discipline is that assignment problems are hard enough to make a person think for a while, but are not hard enough to get them frustrated and lose interest in the problem.
  5. Treat a programming language as the notational system and avoid adopting new languages.

[edit] Attracting women into computer science

Universities across North America are changing their computer science programs to make them more appealing to women. Companies like IBM also encourage young women to become interested in engineering, technology and science. IBM offers EX.I.T.E. (EXploring Interests in Technology and Engineering) camps for young women from the ages of 11 to 13.

[edit] Gender theory and women in computing

A recent book titled Athena Unbound [5] provides a life-course analysis (based on interviews and surveys) of women in the sciences from an early childhood interest, through university, to graduate school and finally into the academic workplace. The thesis of this book is that "women face a special series of gender related barriers to entry and success in scientific careers that persist, despite recent advances".[5]

[edit] Famous women in computing

[edit] Organizations for women in computing

  • Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) Committee on Women
  • Association for Women in Computing
  • BCSWomen, a women-only Specialist Group of the British Computer Society
  • Computing Research Association Committee on the Status of Women in Computing research
  • IEEE Women in Engineering (WIE)
  • Feminist Approach to Technology
  • LinuxChix, a women-oriented community in the open source movement
  • DevChix, group for female developers/programmers
  • National Center for Women and Information Technology (NCWIT), USA

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ Lancaster, Hal, Career Journal: Women Try to Break Tech-Glass Ceiling, Wall Street Journal, Brussels, August 14, 2001.
  2. ^ Vegso, Jay, May 2005 edition of Computing Research News, Vol. 17, No. 3, May 2005.
  3. ^ a b Cornelia Dean (2007-04-17). Computer Science Takes Steps to Bring Women to the Fold. New York Times.
  4. ^ Palma, Paul D. "Viewpoint: Why women avoid computer science", Communications of the ACM, Volume 44 , Issue 6, June 2001.
  5. ^ a b Etzkowitz, Henry; Kemelgor, Carol; Uzzi, Brian, ATHENA UNBOUND - The advancement of women in science and technology, Cambridge University Press, ISBN 0-511-03833-X (ISBN-13 9780511038334), 2000.
  6. ^ J. Fuegi and J. Francis, "Lovelace & Babbage and the creation of the 1843 'notes'." Annals of the History of Computing 25 #4 (Oct-Dec 2003): 18-26. Digital Object Identifier

[edit] External links