Decreasing numbers of women in computer science indicative of continued gender stereotyping

Source: Michigan Tech News
Participants in a week-long Women in Computer Science program
at Michigan Tech.

Computer Science has long been a male dominated field and current percentages of women in computer science are more representative of this than ever. In my computer science discussion at the University of Maryland there are 29 people. Only four of these people are women. If these numbers are indicative of the entire class, then the percentage of women to men in our large lecture is around 14 to 15 percent. This number should be much higher, especially in a beginner computer science class. As the percentage of women in computer science decreases, we need to look for ways to encourage more women to join these programs.

The amount of women in computer science is decreasing

In the 1980s, approximately 37 percent of computer science majors were women. By 2012, this number has dropped to around 18 percent, with smaller numbers being reported at many colleges such as the 17 percent of women computer science students at the University of Maryland. Regardless of the fact that women earned 50.4 percent of all STEM field bachelor's degrees in 2011 the number of female computer science majors remains around 18 percent.

Similar numbers are reported in the work environment with only 26 percent of computing professionals being female as of 2013, compared to 35 percent in 1990. One of the reasons that the percentage of women is decreasing is due to how computer science is viewed.

Linda Sax, a professor at the Graduate School of Education and Information Studies at the University of California Los Angeles who is researching the under-representation of women in computer science, has found that "the gender gap tends to widen during periods of expansion." When computer science is viewed as a "lucrative" career, such as it is currently, the total amount of students increases resulting in the ratio of men to women increasing.

In an article from the digital news outlet, Quartz, author MaryAnne Egan highlights how compute science stereotypes are becoming more prominent, not just in schools but also in popular media. One such example is the show The Big Bang Theory. While the interactions between the engineers and computer scientists on the show may seem funny or amusing, they really portray a condescending and pretentious personality type belonging to someone with a technology career. This presents an unappealing view of what being a computer scientist may hold and could be discouraging women from joining computer science programs. As Egan puts it, "The sooner we accept that socially awkward males with thick glasses and pocket protectors are not necessarily the pinnacle of computer science, the sooner we can advance the field by including women." An advance that is long overdue, as studies have shown that teams of employees of mixed gender tend to perform better.

Further contributing to the gender gap is the issue of hiring. Even if more women are introduced to computer science programs, there needs to be a change in the hiring process to make it more open to women and inclusive of the skills that individuals can bring to major tech companies. During the hiring process, people tend to look for hirees similar to themselves, people who they are comfortable with. This bias often prevents more women from getting hired as the male dominated jobs will tend to hire more like minded males instead of being more open to female perspectives.

Companies such as Google, who has one of the highest female staff percentages in silicon valley albeit still only 17 percent, are trying to change this by being supportive of projects that help and include women. Still, companies need to be doing more to increase the number of female hires and gain new perspective in their companies. Margo I. Seltzer, the Herchel Smith Professor of Computer Science at the Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences was quoted saying "Under representation leads to continued under representation." A lack of female involvement in computer science can only lead to less women joining these programs and getting hired by tech giants such as Google and Facebook.

Manaswi Saha, a first year PhD student in the Computer Science program at the University of Maryland,  suggests that since people make a big deal out of girls doing something with technology, it may make it seem like it will be something very hard for a girl to do, thus discouraging young women from joining computer science.

Female membership in computer science programs can be increased through outreach programs and increased mentoring

Source: AWC Twitter

At the University of Maryland, The Maryland Center for Women in Computing is working hard to recruit young women into computer science and other computing fields. They reach out to students in local K-12 schools to encourage them to join computer science programs.

In addition, UMD has the Association for Women in Computing, or AWC. The AWC provides a space and a community for the women of the computer science department where they may receive support and make connections to further their studies in computer science.

This organization was mentioned by Saha, who said that programs such as this are supported by the department and are helping to encourage women in computer science. She adds that this practice should be "followed by everyone, in other universities."

In 2014, tech giant Google conducted a study to determine what really matters to women who choose to go into computer science. It was found that the four most prominent influencing factors are social encouragement, self perception, academic exposure, and career perception. In terms of career perception, the number one word associated with computer science by females unfamiliar with computer science was "boring." This brings to light the need for increased interest in computing. By increasing the excitement level in computer science, more young women can be introduced to the field.

An organization called Girls Who Code has a mission to "inspire educate, and equip girls with the computing skills to pursue 21st century opportunities." They say that their vision is to reach gender parity in computing fields. They provide education in "programming fundamentals, web development and design, mobile development, and robotics" to give young girls the ability to succeed in computing careers. Reshma Saujani, CEO and founder of Girls Who Code, claims that its not enough to say that girls can benefit in computer science, we need to show them through mentoring and examples of women in computing fields.

According to the U.S. Department of Labor there will be a projected 1.4 million jobs available in the computer science field by 2020. In order for women to reach gender parity by this time, they must fill 700000 of these positions. Based on on trends in computer science membership, this means around 4.6 million girls will need computer science education by 2020. Girls Who Code has a plan to reach 25 percent of these girls, about one million.

Saha mentions the Girls Who Code organization and points out its strength in having computer science students mentoring middle and high school level students. She praises the work that Girls Who Code does, pointing out that they are generating interest and creating excitement among girls by teaching advanced topics to show what a career in computer science can do. She also adds that in her experience, women are more motivated by a social component being added or introduced to a topic. She suggests that if girls are shown ways that technology can be used "for good," it may help to motivate women to join computer science. If these applications of computer science are shown to school age girls, it will make computer science seem more relatable and will even be able to get girls to "do good for the world," says Saha.

Getting more women into computer science at a younger age matters

Among middle school age females, there is about a 74 percent interest rate in STEM fields. However, when choosing a major in college, only 0.3 percent of high school girls choose computer science. We need to encourage girls more throughout high school to code and be involved in tech so that more girls major in computer science programs.

In addition, there needs to be a more balanced perspective in the development of technology and software so that it may appeal to the masses and not to a male lens. Increased gender diversity is critical for expanding the amount of personal experience and perspective in any given field, but particularly in computer science. By encouraging more females into computer science programs we can increase the talent pool and expand problem solving ability to solve problems present in the field.

Saha states that showing girls at a younger age that they are equal and can do as well as boys in computer science will help in latter years to encourage female membership in computer science programs.

Females in computer science face many challenges in entering the field. From gender stereotypes to lack of encouragement, we are currently inhibiting young women from getting more involved in computer science and computing fields. By providing resources and mentors, as well as help through organizations such as Girls Who Code, we can address the gender disparity and work to get more young women interested and involved in computing fields.