Computer science is becoming an increasingly essential field in today’s world. With an ever accelerating reliance on technology, there is a demand for people with expertise to do the things necessary to maintain and innovate on said technology. However, computer science has a bit of a problem in the United States and much of the western world, there is a seeming lack of women choosing CS as their major or pursing a career in CS. This is a very big problem, because more women in the field means more people in the field, which means more innovation. The reasons for this fact are numerous and convoluted, but the biggest recurring theme is the preconceptions about computer science that both men and women seem to share. What picture comes to mind
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Many efforts are already underway to combat this in computer science and a variety of other STEM fields. One such effort in 2011 by Sapna Cheryan at the University of Washington consisted of 100 female undergraduate students who were not computer science majors. Some of the young women interacted with a stereotypical computer science major (generic nerdy interests and appearance,) while others interacted with one who did not fit the stereotype. The women who interacted with the non-stereotypical computer science majors reported having a greater interest in computer science as a major in a questionnaire taken after the interactions (Cheryan, 2013, 72-79). The results of this experiment seem to indicate that young women’s perception of computer science is related to how much they can relate to those in the field, which traditionally isn’t very much at all. It’s hard to feel like you fit in with a crowd when you can not relate to anyone in it. Since there are so few women in computer science currently, they can’t make much of an impact on the “culture” of the major. Because of this, it makes it extremely unlikely that women would choose computer science as a major. So to fix this, we need to get more female advocates for computer science, and less stereotypical male ones. This, in effect, should make it so more women can at least consider computer science as a potential option for them and not …show more content…
In Malaysia, unlike the west, “the percentage of female students often exceeds the number of male students [pursuing a degree in CS/IT]” (Othman, 2006, 111-14). When surveyed, many of the trends seen in similar surveys in the west were not present. The survey found that “there is no gender bias with regard to how CS/IT is perceived by young Malaysians” (Othman, 2006, 111-14). She states that the problem of a lack of female mentors in the west is not present in Malaysia, since the dean of Faculty for IT/CS is a woman along with 3 out of 4 of the department heads (at the time) as well as many of the professors in CS being women (Othman, 2006, 111-14). Malaysia seems to be a model of what needs to happen in order to get more women involved in computer science. With more female professors and mentors, means more women in the field. While the situation in the west may seem irreversible, it does not have to be so. Getting young women engaged in computer science is indeed possible, and there is work already being done to remedy the situation. With more people entering the field, it stands to reason that we will see more innovation within it as
Many efforts are already underway to combat this in computer science and a variety of other STEM fields. One such effort in 2011 by Sapna Cheryan at the University of Washington consisted of 100 female undergraduate students who were not computer science majors. Some of the young women interacted with a stereotypical computer science major (generic nerdy interests and appearance,) while others interacted with one who did not fit the stereotype. The women who interacted with the non-stereotypical computer science majors reported having a greater interest in computer science as a major in a questionnaire taken after the interactions (Cheryan, 2013, 72-79). The results of this experiment seem to indicate that young women’s perception of computer science is related to how much they can relate to those in the field, which traditionally isn’t very much at all. It’s hard to feel like you fit in with a crowd when you can not relate to anyone in it. Since there are so few women in computer science currently, they can’t make much of an impact on the “culture” of the major. Because of this, it makes it extremely unlikely that women would choose computer science as a major. So to fix this, we need to get more female advocates for computer science, and less stereotypical male ones. This, in effect, should make it so more women can at least consider computer science as a potential option for them and not …show more content…
In Malaysia, unlike the west, “the percentage of female students often exceeds the number of male students [pursuing a degree in CS/IT]” (Othman, 2006, 111-14). When surveyed, many of the trends seen in similar surveys in the west were not present. The survey found that “there is no gender bias with regard to how CS/IT is perceived by young Malaysians” (Othman, 2006, 111-14). She states that the problem of a lack of female mentors in the west is not present in Malaysia, since the dean of Faculty for IT/CS is a woman along with 3 out of 4 of the department heads (at the time) as well as many of the professors in CS being women (Othman, 2006, 111-14). Malaysia seems to be a model of what needs to happen in order to get more women involved in computer science. With more female professors and mentors, means more women in the field. While the situation in the west may seem irreversible, it does not have to be so. Getting young women engaged in computer science is indeed possible, and there is work already being done to remedy the situation. With more people entering the field, it stands to reason that we will see more innovation within it as