Women In Computer Science

Equality for women, women empowerment! Throughout history, women and men have always been treated differently, although the opportunities for women have changed drastically there are still some areas that need improvement. For example, the number of women in computer science is so low that companies organize campaigns and rallies to encourage women to pursue a career in computer science.

Even with these initiatives to increase the number of women in the computer science workforce, stereotypes have created horrible misconceptions limiting the interest of these women. The harsh stereotyping of computer scientists has caused the number of women in the fields to decline drastically. Since 1984 the percentage of women in computer science has dropped 22%! Some studies have been done to reveal the common misconceptions of computer scientists, that end up pushing women away from the field.

One study interviewed women to see what came to their head when they thought of a computer scientist or a coder, many replied by saying they thought of a male who is, nerdy, intelligent, introverted and has a weak social life. This image of computer scientists discourages women because they do not view themselves as people with all of these characteristics leading them to think they will not fit into the work environment. Some women also view coding as incredibly difficult, and that they do not have the talent to be able to code. This is also a common misconception because, although there is a need for certain types of high-level math. Coding is about logical thinking to create new algorithms to improve current methods.

These misconceptions have been causing a continuing decline of women in computer science but the need for women in this field has been increasing, and an increase in female participation would provide more diversity, talented coders, and different viewpoints to improve different methods and create advancements in current technology.

From left-to-right: Carol Greider, Jane Luu, May-Britt Moser, Radia Perlman, Barbara Askins, Uma Chowdhry, Susan Solomon, and Maureen Raymo.

Picture Source: thebestchools.org