NPR: '80s Ads Are Responsible For the Lack of Women Coders

gollum123 writes: Back in the day, computer science was as legitimate a career path for women as medicine, law, or science. But in 1984, the number of women majoring in computing-related subjects began to fall, and the percentage of women is now significantly lower in CS than in those other fields. NPR's Planet Money sought to answer a simple question: Why? According to the show's experts, computers were advertised as a "boy's toy." This, combined with early '80s geek culture staples like the book Hackers: Heroes of the Computer Revolution, as well as movies like War Games and Weird Science, conspired to instill the perception that computers were primarily for men.

Comments

Solving the problem wrong

[Tablizer]

Who cares! Coding is on average a dead-end job with long hours. Why not talk about good long-term careers for women instead, rather than high burn-and-churn jobs? Coders happen to be demand right now, but we've seen bubbles before, and will probably see them again.