Gender disparity in computing
She was a British mathematician and codebreaker who worked at Bletchley Park on breaking codes generated by Enigma machines, eventually developing Alan Turing's bombe technology to aid in deciphering complex Nazi messages.
The reasons range from peer pressure to a lack of role models and support to a general misperception of what STEM careers look like in the real world.
One reason was the students’ perception in their math ability, as women tended to rate themselves to be lower in mathematical skills in comparison to their male counterparts.
[11] A survey conducted by SWIFT, Supporting Women in Information Technology, based in Vancouver, Canada, asked 7,411 participants questions about their career choices.
[13] The Project "Strategies of Inclusion: Gender and the Information Society" released its findings based on research conducted in 48 separate case studies all over Europe.
[26] Although teenage girls are 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 take post-secondary technology classes.
[62] According to a 1998–2000 ethnographic study by Jane Margolis and Allan Fisher at Carnegie Mellon University, men and women viewed computers very differently.
[75] Racial stereotyping is also an issue, as computer scientists can often be thought of as white or Asian males, which can make it difficult for people who fall outside of those ethnicities to get hired.
[64] This further added to the stress because if the machines gave inaccurate information, it was assumed that the women were making mistakes in the calculations during the input process.
[83] Other work around this, including discussion of the Gender-equality paradox, has shown that this may be a naive interpretation of results, which instead can be explained by the study's methodological choices and confounding factors.
[86] A 2022 study found that community college plays a key role in incorporating more women into STEM majors, due to its accessibility and opportunities for upward transfer into higher education and the workforce.
[86] While efforts to broaden participation in computing have led to gender-focused interventions, they have failed to address the disproportionate representation of Black women in the field.
People have stated that not only is there a lack of Black women in classrooms and technology spaces, but they are also understudied and ignored as research samples in relevant studies.
[89] The vast majority of Black women face social isolation when they enter the fields when it comes to networking events, discussions, and application processes.
[96] Proactive and positive exposures to early computer experiences, such as The Alice Project,[97] founded by the late Randy Pausch at Carnegie Mellon University, are thought to be effective in terms of retention and creation of enthusiasm for women who may later consider entering the field.
[103] They also found women entered computer science due to the influence of a teacher, family member, or friend's encouragement more often than their male counterparts.
[106] A Moms in Tech sponsorship for Hackbright Academy is also available for mothers who are former IT professionals and wish to retrain and return to work as a technically hands-on lead or manager, sponsored by Facebook.
Additionally, Geek Girl's website hosts a blog that provides technology-related news and information that is accessible to a reader with minimal technology experience.
[109] A partner school to Fullstack Academy, Grace Hopper's curriculum focuses on the MEAN stack, and through education and mentorship, aims to help women begin careers in software engineering.
[113] Nerd Girls has gained national attention since its launch and has been approached by media producers to create a reality show based on the organization's problem-solving activities.
Femgineers is now an education-focused organization that offers workshops, free teaching resources on the topic of technology, supports forums and Meetups, and a team has been developed to continue to expand on the original blog.
In addition to she++ based out of Stanford University, Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) supports a chapter of the organization called Women In Computing.
The campus's chapter of the organization is composed of students, faculty and staff at RIT and they strive to support and further develop the culture of computing to women.
[123][124] In an effort to improve the gender composition in computing, the Women & Information Technology (NCWIT) created a nationwide U.S. program called "Pacesetters".
Pacesetters is the first program of its kind where different organizations come together to identify effective ways to broaden the participation of women in computer science.
Such thinkers include, for example, Donna Haraway, Sadie Plant, Julie Wosk, Sally L. Hacker, Evelyn Fox Keller, Janet Abbate, Thelma Estrin, and Thomas J. Misa, among others.
[129] The book explores how shifting from dominator towards partnership systems—as reflected in four primary social institutions (communication, media, education, and business) — might help society move beyond the simplistic notion of access to co-create a real digital revolution worldwide.
[129] A 2000 book titled Athena Unbound[130] 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.
[133] A study by the Psychology of Women Quarterly backs this hypothesis up by concluding that even the enduring effect of single, brief exposures to stereotypical role models leaves a strong mark.
