This is an interesting subject; the number of women in IT careers has been discussed time and time again at http://www.womengamers.com The Womengamers.com staff members have posted several articles on this subject, but the most relevant to this case would be http://www.womengamers.com/articles/womenIT.html , or "Search for the Techie Woman - Part I" Womengamers.com (no, I don't write for them, nor have I been paid to advertise;) ) has done numerous studies in this field, especially in relation to the number of young girls playing computer games. The conclusion among "Girl Game" developers seems to be that increasing the number of games targetting a young female audience will increase the number of women in the IT field, as playing games increases the player's comfort level with computers and may increase their interest in the subject once they see what computers have to offer. Their logic sounds about right to me. I am a "girl geek," and I take pride in it. Although I was never considered to be a geek when I was in high school, and even enjoyed a good amount of popularity, there was always a degree of cultural friction as a result of my interest in subjects that were traditionally for boys only, such as programming and robotics. These "tech" hobbies never offered me any field-specific female role models, and my interest in them was something that was frowned upon by both peers and elders. People even had a problem with my playing console games, a hobby which probably lead to my involvement in computers in the first place. My IQ qualifies me for membership in Mensa too, but this was also something to be ashamed of. High intelligence in women is not quite as acceptable as it is in males, as it would seem, so I made use of Barbie's infamous, "Math is hard" mantra and was absolutely bored to death in school. It is just not socially acceptable for women to be "geeks," "nerds," "techies," or whatever else you want to call us. But you know what? Some of us just don't give a damn about what society brands us. I never fit in with the crowds, just like the geeky guys (and that's probably why I date geeks almost exclusively). Women just face a little more ridicule.
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This is an interesting subject; the number of women in IT careers has been discussed time and time again at http://www.womengamers.com The Womengamers.com staff members have posted several articles on this subject, but the most relevant to this case would be http://www.womengamers.com/articles/womenIT.html , or "Search for the Techie Woman - Part I" Womengamers.com (no, I don't write for them, nor have I been paid to advertise ;) ) has done numerous studies in this field, especially in relation to the number of young girls playing computer games. The conclusion among "Girl Game" developers seems to be that increasing the number of games targetting a young female audience will increase the number of women in the IT field, as playing games increases the player's comfort level with computers and may increase their interest in the subject once they see what computers have to offer. Their logic sounds about right to me. I am a "girl geek," and I take pride in it. Although I was never considered to be a geek when I was in high school, and even enjoyed a good amount of popularity, there was always a degree of cultural friction as a result of my interest in subjects that were traditionally for boys only, such as programming and robotics. These "tech" hobbies never offered me any field-specific female role models, and my interest in them was something that was frowned upon by both peers and elders. People even had a problem with my playing console games, a hobby which probably lead to my involvement in computers in the first place. My IQ qualifies me for membership in Mensa too, but this was also something to be ashamed of. High intelligence in women is not quite as acceptable as it is in males, as it would seem, so I made use of Barbie's infamous, "Math is hard" mantra and was absolutely bored to death in school. It is just not socially acceptable for women to be "geeks," "nerds," "techies," or whatever else you want to call us. But you know what? Some of us just don't give a damn about what society brands us. I never fit in with the crowds, just like the geeky guys (and that's probably why I date geeks almost exclusively). Women just face a little more ridicule.