Geek Feminism Blog | Women, feminism, and geek culture Girls Go Geek… Again! Computer science has always been a male-dominated field, right? Wrong. In 1987, 42% of the software developers in America were women. And 34% of the systems analysts in America were women. In fact, for a hot second back in the mid-sixties, computer programming was actually portrayed as women’s work by the mass media. Don't worry, ladies. There were many reasons for the unusual influx of women into computer science. And then the women left. From 1984 to 2006, the number of women majoring in computer science dropped from 37% to 20% — just as the percentages of women were increasing steadily in all other fields of science, technology, engineering, and math, with the possible exception of physics. Why do we care about a long-gone moment in early computing history when the presence of women was unexceptional? Because it looks like women are now returning to computer science. Why might women once again be interested in computer science? Table 1. Q: How and when did you get into computer science?
Why are there so few women in Linux? Women stay out of Linux for many of the same reasons they stay out of computing in general, plus a few reasons specific to Linux. Many excellent books and research papers have investigated this topic in depth, but we can only summarize the top reasons why women avoid computing as a whole. We'll also debunk some common theories about why women stay out of computing in general. Three good overall resources for the topic of women in computing are: "Unlocking the Clubhouse: Women in Computing" by Jane Margolis and Allan Fisher Women in Computing Keyword List (Some of the papers referred to by this list are available online, but not all.) "Why Are There So Few Female Computer Scientists" by Dr. Now that we've addressed some common misconceptions about women and computing, let's look at the real reasons why women stay out of Linux and computing. 2.1.
Blogs Etrangers Finding Ada Cyberfeminismo I Blame The Patriarchy » What Women Wish - What Women Wish Undergraduate Women in Computer Science: Experience, Motivation and Culture Undergraduate Women in Computer Science: Experience, Motivation and Culture Allan Fisher, Jane Margolis and Faye Miller School of Computer Science, Carnegie Mellon University 5000 Forbes Avenue, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15213 Abstract For the past year, we have been studying the experiences of undergraduate women studying computer science at Carnegie Mellon University, with a specific eye toward understanding the influences and processes whereby they attach themselves to or detach themselves from the field. 1. The goal of our project has been to understand women's attachment and detachment from computer science, and to find ways for CMU to intervene at the undergraduate level in favor of gender equity in computer science. Clearly part of the low representation of women in CS at the undergraduate level is inherited from the secondary school level, where girls do not participate in computer science courses and related activities as much as boys [7]. 2. Participants Analyzing the Data Reliability