Encouraging Female Programmers

aquarium writes "Why is programming dominated by males? The St.Louis Post-Dispatch has a story that states one of the reasons is that girls are not encouraged to experiment with computers. Speaking as a male, I did not need anyone to encourage me to experiment with computers. It was something that just came naturally." According to the story, Carnegie Mellon University is actively recruiting female CS majors. This year they expect 37% of freshman CS students to be women, up from 8% in 1995.

Comments

Girls in CS/IT

[Yosemite Sue]

I am all for schools encouraging females to enter CS programs, but the real steps IMO need to be taken with girls while they are young. In a lot of cases, the problems are not just that girls are not encouraged to experiment and play with computers/technology, but that they are discouraged (sometimes actively, sometimes subtly). Around Junior High seems to be a critical time for girls, determining whether they will have the self-confidence to succeed in what they want to do, or whether they will succumb to the popular ideal and submerge their own personality.

Girls also need more positive role models in science and technology. This has got to be one of the toughest things - society, as a whole, does not reward women who embark on a traditionally male-dominated career path. How many female instructors/professors have you witnessed in the physical sciences and in computer technology? This lack of role models is something that is rarely acknowledged as a problem, but has been shown to affect career choices of female students.

I am lucky - my parents encouraged me to do what I wanted, and to have confidence in myself. Even with that support, it was still difficult to be an intelligent girl interested in science and technology. Subtle prejudice from teachers ("But you're so good at English!!!") and peer pressure made my life difficult at times. I still find sometimes that my appearance is taken more seriously than my work (Recently a VB instructor commented to me that as well as being one of his "best" students, I was one of his "prettiest"... what an effective way to reduce me to a superficial level!!!)

Oooh, the rant must stop. But as one of the minority of female programmers here, I just have to mention that there is a lot of negative stuff that still affects females in non-traditional areas. I am lucky, most of the negative feedback I have had has been silly and petty, and hasn't limited my advancement ... yet. Unfortunately, that is not the case for a lot of women.

Sometimes I wonder if I *should* be encouraging females to go into CS/IT ...

YS