Volume 1
Issue 1
16 March 1998
Gender
Inequalities in Education
The
Gender Gap in the Computing Field
Whitmore
High School: A Case Study of Computer Usage
Computer
Projects for Mother and Daughter
Expanding
Your Horizons in Math and Science
Computers
and Technology: Differences In Gender
Gender
Bias In Educational Software
Educational
Software For Girls
- Purple Moon: Thanks but No Thanks for Rockett's New School
- Girl Tech - Not Girl Friendly Enough
- Her Interactive
- Broderbund - Classroom Software Done Right
Computers
In the Classroom: What is the Effect on the Gender
Gap?
Currently, there are a far smaller number of women in the computing field than men. According to an MIT study, the women in the field are just as qualified as the men, yet their numbers remain small. After some research, the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) has concluded that in general women stop their training in computer science earlier than men, thus accounting for the difference in proportion, especially at higher professional levels. While women receive about a third of the undergraduates computer science degrees, many fewer receive masters degrees, and fewer still stay to get their PhD's. This means that there are far more male computer science professors than female ones, which helps to perpetuate the male-dominated atmosphere of computer science.Obstacles to women's participation in the field of computer science seem to stem from something inherent in the field. In modern society, the computer is introduced early in life and accompanies the development of many children who may later work with it for a living. Unfortunately, software for those young children is designed almost expressly for boys. As children grow, the computer industry which holds their attention consists of male-targeted computer games. Clearly, the male-dominated computer science field is deeply rooted and perpetuated throughout a potential computer scientist's life. This cultural basis for the gender gap leads to difficulty for those women interested in computer science. The nature of the work itself also seems to conform to stereotypical gender roles. According to Eric Roberts, programming is such an intense field that it almost promotes obsessiveness, a character trait more common and more accepted in men than in women.
The existence of stereotypes in the context of computer science results in a general atmosphere where discrimination, whether deliberate or not, prevails. Fellow employees often doubt the a female employees dedication to the job and also underestimate her skill level. Studies done by the ACM and MIT have concluded that people hold different expectations for women, different even from men with similar jobs. Unfortunately, women's self esteem has been found to be naturally lower and more easily crushed, making any of these obstacles a serious threat to the presence of women in the computing field. The negative environment created by subtle unchecked discrimination not only injures a woman's self esteem on a personal level, but it has also been proven to decrease the ability to work effectively and productively, thus inadvertently perpetuating the stereotypes.
The gender gap in computer science must be eliminated for two reasons. (1) The more obvious reason raises ethical issues regarding the fairness of a male-dominated field, especially for the women entering or already in the field. (2) The less considered danger of the gender gap concerns the advancement of the field as a whole. By hindering half of the population of potential contributors, the field of computer science decreases its chance of further development. Demographically, there is also a trend that predicts a serious shortage in the computing industry.
The solution to the gender gap in computing lies with society as a whole, not just the women in it. In order to improve the situation, open-mindedness must be encouraged and the cultural stereotypes which perpetuate the inequality must be eliminated. Furthermore, by increasing the number of women in the computing field, the presence of more role models will encourage other women to pursue the profession. These solutions clearly would greatly reduce the gender disparity, but they are merely ideas and cannot be easily put into effect. On a more tangible note, the gender gap can be slowly decreased by improving equality at its base. Equal access to computers should be encouraged at an early age, and more educational software can be developed to increase girls' interest in computers.
