Matheus Souza

Professor Bradley
ENC2135
15 March 2016
Gender Gap in Computer Science
According to Robert L. Glass, the computer science community gained popularity in the
1980s when personal computers became more and more popular. Computer science has opened
many doors of opportunities for people who have pursued this career, and it has led to many
advancements in technology. Both men and women have been involved in computer science
since the 1980s, but the number of females who are involved in it and who actually major in it
has been dwindling ever since.
The computer science community exists in order to educate individuals about the science
of computer software and programming. According to an interview with Dr. David Gaitros, a
professor at Florida State University with a PhD in computer science, the goal of computer
science is to produce tomorrows professionals in the business. To give them a sufficient
background in both the theory and applications so they can develop the new methodologies
needed to keep up with technologies. Without computer science, many of the technologies
people have grown to love in todays world serve no purpose. Why? Because a phone or a laptop
(hardware) cannot do anything without an operating system (software). Computer science is the
software that brings these pieces of technology to life. For example, Microsoft is a product of
computer science. Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, any website on the Internet were all created
through programming. Computer science empowers individuals to be creative, and with those
skills they can go on to earn technology oriented jobs, work for big tech companies, or even
come up with the new big breakthrough in technology and establish their own company.
The members of the computer science community lie on a wide spectrum. College
professors, who teach new college students the science of programming, are part of the computer
science community. If someone works for a company that is not considered a tech company, but

their part of the job includes programming or any sort of software design, then that person is part
of the computer science community. With that being said, people that are part of big tech
companies and are responsible for programming are also part of the community. CEOs, like
Mark Zuckerberg, who invented new types of technology through the creation of software, are
part of the community. Website and mobile application developers are also part of the
community. In short, if a person programs, they belong to the computer science community.
Today, in many popular fields of study like law, medicine, business, or biology, women
have done well to shrink the gender gap. Since today worlds is heavily based on technology, one
would assume that the computer science field is no different. But that is not the case. The
computer science community may be thriving in male participants, but there is a shortage of
females who are entering this community. This is very peculiar, especially because as writer Ben
Gose pointed out in A Reboot in Recruiting Women into Computer Science, females have
really embraced new technologies like Facebook and Twitter, yet there still seem so to be a lack
of interest towards computer science. According to Christine Alvarado, an employee of the
computer science and engineering department at the University of California, and Eugene
Judson, an assistant professor of science education and Arizona State University, 18.8% of
women received a bachelor's degree in computer science in 2001. In 2010, that percentage
dropped to only 13.8%. In the 1980s, female involvement in computer science was significantly
higher. According to Robert L. Glass, who has been in the computer science field for over 60
year`s, 35% of women were involved in computer science during the 80s. But once again, that
percentage has dropped to roughly 15% in todays society.
So why has the number of women in computer science been dwindling over the last few
decades, especially now in todays technologically oriented society? There are a few causes. In
the article "Bringing Young Women into Computing through the NCWIT Aspirations in

Computing Program by Wendy M. DuBow, a research scientist and the director of evaluation at
the National Center for Women & Information Technology, she states that a girls interest in
computing classes is influenced by whether or not they have friends in the class or if boys
dominate the classes. According to the same article, a survey showed that 47% of girls would
feel uncomfortable if they were the only girls in a class. High school is a time where kids usually
develop their main interest in a career to pursue in college. If during this time a girl opts out of
participating in computer science related classes, then that is one more girl that will not be
gaining interest in computer science and will not be entering the field. Subtle cues like saying
that computer oriented fields of study are geeky also make girls believe that a technology
oriented career is not for them, even if they might have been curious about it at some point. The
same thing happens when people of authority like parents, teachers, or counselors drop hints that
steer girls towards non-technological fields of study. A girls perception that she will fit in is a
major factor that determines their major, so if these things occur, it drives females away from
computer science.
Another reason why the amount of females involved in computer science has decreased is
because computer science went from being categorized under liberal arts or mathematics to
being categorized under engineering. Female enrollment in engineering has always been lower
than male enrollment. So when computer science got classified together with engineering, the
number of females who joined computer science dropped. In Why STEM Fields Still Don't
Draw More Women, Harvey Mudd College President Maria Klawe points out that even when
women do venture into a computer science course in college, they often feel discouraged and
lose confidence when they find themselves in programming classes where most students are
males with some programming experience. This can lead women to consider another major.

Additionally, stereotypes also divert womens attention away from computer science.
According to Robert L. Glass, when the personal computer gained popularity in the 80s and early
90s, it was considered a boy toy, and therefore diverted girls attention. In the article by Paul
Voosen, the author points out that computer games in the 80s also contributed to giving society a
perception that computers are meant for boys. Roli Varma, a professor at the University of New
Mexico whose research focuses on women and minorities in information technology, and Heiko
Hahn, who received a PhD in Management Information System from the University of
Augsburg, Germany, point out that a survey revealed that girls in middle school and high school
portrayed a computer person as an anti-social male. Computers have become culturally
portrayed as masculine, and a study showed that male culture caused computing to become a
difficult subject for women. In addition, according to the same article, the workload, family
conflicts, and the male organization nature of technological fields steers females away from
computer science and other tech oriented fields of study.
In the article Why STEM Fields Still Don't Draw More Women, experts were asked to
give their opinion on the gender gap in computer science. Robin N. Coger, a professor of
mechanical engineering at North Carolina A&T State University, stated that personal capabilities
and willingness to succeed as well as the desire to pursue that success are two very important
factors when it comes to getting students to succeed in STEM fields like computer science.
Robin then connects these two factors to earlier education, and that quality and rigor of the
education must be adequate in order for those two factors to be met. This means that grades K-12
need to start exposing kids to computer science related activities and classes. Without the early
exposure, interest towards the subject may never appear. Karen D. Purcell, Founder and
president of PK Electrical Inc., a Nevada-based electrical-engineering firm, also touches upon
the importance of early exposure. She points out that girls generally are not as exposed to things

related to STEM fields as boys are. Purcells example is that when boys are growing up, they are
given construction set toys, such as Erector Sets, where the objective is to construct some sort of
model or structure. This type of early exposure sparks interest in STEM related fields, and is
often not the case for most girls.
Another expert, Jan Cuny, who is a program director for the National Science
Foundations Computing Education for the 21st century, refers back to misconceptions that
society has created about computing, such as it being geeky or too hard for girls. Or perhaps
a worse misconception, that computer science just equals programming and programming does
not benefit society. These types of misconceptions will most definitely scare girls away,
especially girls who want to be creative, make a difference, and change the world. Unfortunately,
girls peers and popular media often confirm these misconceptions. Many schools also dont help
the cause because instead of offering rigorous computing courses, they just offer basic computer
courses that dont tap into a persons creative side. Finally, Jan points out that girls often dont
get the encouragement they need to try out computer related courses, and so they just never do.
People within the computer science community do not view the gender gap issue as a
benefit. In the interview with Dr. David Gaitros, he firmly believes that the computer science
should be concerned about the gender gap in the field. He believes that Computer science is
about attention to detail and methodical approaches to solving problems, which women excel at.
By not having them equally represented, we are most certainly handicapped. After all, females
have great minds. Society cannot just expect males to come up with technological breakthroughs.
Females are more than capable of coming up with the next big thing in the tech world, but in
order for them to do so, the computer science community will need to increase females interest
towards it. In the words of Karen D. Purcell the other huge piece to this STEM puzzle is that

if we want to attract the best and brightest minds into the fields that will advance us as a people,
a country, and a planet, we can no longer look to only half of the population.
People outside of the computer science community are aware of the gender gap issue. It
is one of those issues that makes its way to the public through news articles and social media. A
person may run across an article on a popular news website regarding the gender gap in
computer science. Additionally, social medias use of hashtags also brings attention to many
current issues in todays society. News articles are beneficial because they will contain a good
amount of information regarding the issue. Hashtags are also beneficial because they are straight
and to the point. They can also help people find out more about an issue by classifying news
articles under that specific hashtag. However, hashtags can be very vague and do not go into
depth about the details pertaining a specific issue.
So how can the computer science community increase the interest of females towards it?
One simple way to get girls into computer science is to simply encourage them more. The
National Center for Women and IT (NCWIT) does just that. Within NCWIT there is the
Aspirations Computing Program. The goal of this program is to support girls who have an
interest in computer science. Encouragement is extremely important because it is what keeps
people going when they face opposition. Girls who show the slightest interest in computer
science need to be encouraged, especially because a male dominated field can seem intimidating
at first.
Colleges and universities can also do their part in promoting female integration in
computer science. In California, Harvey Mudd College is known for drastically increasing the
amount of women in their Computer Science program, from 12% historically to 40% in 2008,
and it has stayed there ever since. How did they do it? The first thing they did was revise their
introductory course for computer science. Splitting the introductory course into two different
classes based on prior programming experience proved to have a large impact on womens

confidence. They also began to offer computer science research opportunities for female
students once they got past their first year. Research opportunities boost confidence and help
girls realize that they are indeed capable of doing the job of a computer scientist. Finally, Harvey
Mudd College started offering first-year students a trip to the Grace Hopper Celebration for
Women in Computing (GHC). The GHC is a conference that celebrates women's
accomplishments in Computer Science. First-year female students who attended the celebration
gained more interest in the field. The surveys found in Christine Alvarados and Eugene Judsons
article showed that attending GHC increased students desire to take another computer science
related course, and also increased their desire to major in computer science.
In the article by Ilana Greene, a Harvard Graduate and entrepreneur, she points out that
Harvards computer science program was considered one of the most gender-skewed programs at
the university. However Harvard achieved something similar to Harvey Mudd College. Harvard
managed to almost double the amount of females majoring in computer science, from 13% to
about 25%. How? Much like Harvey Mudd College, their revised introductory course to
programming played a major role. The University of Texas uses a very clever strategy. They
offer 60 high school girls a free one-week camp called "First Bytes." First Bytes is a computer
science oriented camp that teaches its members what computer science is all about and some of
the first skills a programmer needs to know.
Another simpler way to attract women to computer science is to make them realize that
there is plenty of money surrounding this field of study. In Worried about Jobs, College Women
Go 'Geek', Yiwi Zhao, a Harvard Junior with a minor in computer science, points out that
Thats where the money is. After all, demands for technology positions stay fairly steady even
if there's a recession.
Additionally, early experiences with computers also increase the likeliness that a person
will develop an affection towards the subject. According to David Gaitros, womens interest in

computer science can be increased if they are exposed to the subject earlier. Dr. Gaitros states
that By college it is too late. We need to start in grade school building our computer science
majors. Early experiences can range from the type of toys girls get when growing up to having
computer related classes in grades K-12. Also, in Attracting Women to the CS Major, data was
collected from 31 focus groups. They learned that a student's views on his own abilities in
comparison to the abilities necessary to pursue a career in computer science affected whether or
not they want to venture out into this field. And of course, the features of a computer scientists'
careers, as in what a computer scientist does on a day to day basis, also influences a student's
interest towards computer science. So, if a girl can be exposed to computers from early on, and if
there are people who support her and believe she has what it takes to be a computer scientists,
then it is more than likely that she will major in this field.
In the article What can be done about Gender Diversity in Computing? A Lot!, many
more strategies to attract females to computer science are explored. One of them is creating clubs
for females who are interested in computer science. Having an all woman group, or club, serves
as motivation for the females to strive in their computer science careers. Properly taking
advantage of faculty members is another strategy. This includes having faculty members develop
a mentoring relationship with the students, motivating them, and activities outside the classroom
that relate to computer science, like research opportunities. This article reemphasizes the
importance of sending females to GHC, as mentioned earlier.
There is no doubt that the majority of people in the computer science community are
males. However, there are methods that can be implemented within society, schools, and
universities that can draw females into this community. If these methods prove to be successful,
then the computer science community will be benefited. Females have great minds, and with

their addition in the computer science community, the tech world can experience its next
breakthrough in innovation.
Large scale survey by Looksharp listed Computer Science as the top paying major in the country.

Bibliography
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