where have all the women gone? - computer science · what can we do? piled higher ... where have...

Where have all the women gone?

Katie A. MoorPhD StudentIndiana University

?Ada Lovelace,

The 1st Programmer

Grace Hopper,

Creator of Cobol

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

40%

1970-71 1975-76 1980-81 1985-86 1990-91

Retention

Problem?

What can we do?

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Recruitment

0%

5%

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25%

30%

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40%

1970-71 1975-76 1980-81 1985-86 1990-91

Problem?


Recruitment

Retention What can we do?

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Retention

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

40%

1970-71 1975-76 1980-81 1985-86 1990-91

Problem?

What can we do?


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Recruitment

What can we do?

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0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

40%

1970-71 1975-76 1980-81 1985-86 1990-91

Problem?


Recruitment

Retention

Where have all thewomen gone?

Female percentage of CS Bachelor's

degrees: 1971-1997

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

40%

1970

-71

1980

-81

1990

-91

academic year

fem

ale

perc

enta

ge o

f CS

degre

es

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

40%

1970-71 1975-76 1980-81 1985-86 1990-91

Problem?

Cohoon, J. McGrath. “Toward Improving Female Retention in the ComputerScience Major” in Communications of the ACM: May 2001.

Where have all thewomen gone?

Female percentage of CS Bachelor's

degrees: 1971-1997

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

40%

fem

ale

perc

enta

ge o

f CS d

egre

es

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

40%

1970-71 1975-76 1980-81 1985-86 1990-91

Problem?

Unix Apple, PCs,Printers

C++,Graphics,CDROMS

Dot ComBoom,Java

Dispelling some rumors…0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

40%

1970-71 1975-76 1980-81 1985-86 1990-91

Problem?

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

Grade 4 Grade 8 Grade 12 Grade 4 Grade 8 Grade 12

Male

Female

%%

“I like Mathematics” “I lam good at Mathematics”

National Science Foundation. Women, Minorities, and Persons with Disabilities inScience and Engineering: 2002. July 2003.

Women can do math0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

40%

1970-71 1975-76 1980-81 1985-86 1990-91

Problem?

Number of Bachelor Degrees in Mathematics

0

2,000

4,000

6,000

8,000

10,000

12,000

1975

1977

1979

1981

1983

1985

1987

1989

1991

1993

1994

1995

1996

1997

1998

Men

Women

. Association of Women in Science. Statistics:http://awis.org/statistics/r_statisticsmain.html

Why do we need women in computing?

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

40%

1970-71 1975-76 1980-81 1985-86 1990-91

Problem?

• Program design isimproved when designersbetter understand users.

• Having designers from adiversity of gender andethnic backgrounds willimprove designs.

Is Diversity in Computing a Moral Matter? InInroads, by Deborah G. Johnson & Keith W. Miller

DESIGN: Marcus, A (1993) Human communication issues inadvanced UIs. Communications of the ACM, 101-109.

USER STUDY: Teasley, B., Leventhal, L., Blumenthal, B.,Instone, K., and Stone, D. 1994) Cultural diversity in userinterface design. SIGCHI Bulletin, 26(1), 36-40.

Give women the opportunity to succeed in computing

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

40%

1970-71 1975-76 1980-81 1985-86 1990-91

Problem?

• Over half of malestudents who have acomputer at home havethe computer in theirroom

• Only 17% of womenreceived a computer earlyin their education (40% ofmale students reportedhaving computers early on)

Unlocking the Clubhouse: Women in Computing.Jane Margolis and Allan Fisher

Where do we start?

• At all ages, boys spendmore times playing videogames

• Age 8, twice as muchtime gaming than girls

• Over age 14, over 50%more gaming than girls

• Gaming = confidence incomputing



Recruitment

High School is Important

• Boys typically makedecisions aboutcomputing early on fromgaming

• Girls “try things out” inhigh school



Recruitment


Recruitment How do we get womeninterested in computing?



Recruitment Dispel the geek stereotype

CMU Roadshow. http://women.cs.cmu.edu/What/Outreach/Roadshow/

• CMU Roadshow

• Invite guest speakers

• Be a positive role model


Recruitment Educate yourself, teachers,counselors, and parents

JETT @ IU 2003

Men

Women

• Recommend home computersbe placed in centralized locations

• If your classes are not 50-50,notify administrators

• Talk to parents and counselorsto help encourage women

• Create a technology club

Retention Create opportunities forinterdisciplinary work

• Over 40% of women wantedto do interdisciplinary work(art, medicine, education,etc.).

• Women design applicationsfor communication andcollaboration. Men designapplications as an“extension of power.”


Honey et al. (1991) Bank Street College Center forChildren and Technology.

Retention Provide a safe, positivelab environment

• Computer labs allowstudents to get a break

• Limit harassment and lewdconduct

• Lab set-up influences howstudents work

Retention Create a communityfor all students

• Why aren’t there Men inEducation or Men inPsychology groups?

• Create a support structure forfemale students

• Keep in mind how people think

I got a 67 onthe test…do Ibelong in CS?

Hmm…a67…

Nope

NopeNope

Not my fault,the teachercan’t teach!


Encourage women!Piled Higher & Deeper by Jorge Chamhttp://www.phdcomics.com

What canwe do?

• Be aware of your voice, gestures, and body language

• Do not “talk down to girls”

• Ask high-order, open ended questions to all students

• Put girls in touch with female scientists

• Encourage questioning and exploration for all students

North Central Regional Education Laboratory

Get Involved!Piled Higher & Deeper by Jorge Chamhttp://www.phdcomics.com

What canwe do?

• ACM-W High School Chapters

• Systers

• Computer Girl

• Regional Grace Hopper Conference

where have all the women gone? - computer science · what can we do? piled higher ... where have...

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