When I asked a subset of arbitrary individuals to invent a three-sentence story about “a student studying computer science,” 75 percent of these individuals gendered the no-name student as a male.
Go figure. According to an article published in August by the Epistemic Games Group, “only 13 percent of computer science graduates [in the U.S.] are women, a number that has steadily declined since 1984.” But what accounts for this decline?
Gloria Townsend, a computer science professor at DePauw University, blames a lack of computing courses in grades K-12. “The pipeline from elementary school to a computing career shrinks with each level of higher education,” says Townsend. But is early education—or lack thereof—the only contributing factor?
Seeking answers from a more personal perspective, I turned to the University of Maryland’s very own Department of Computer Science. I had the pleasure to discuss this issue with a female undergraduate student, who provided very insightful responses below.
HC: Please give your full name, all majors and any minors, and year.
Krithi: My name is Krithi Ramaswamy. I am a computer science major and plan to declare a minor in Persian studies. I am currently a junior.
HC: Why did you choose this major?
Krithi: I chose this major because I enjoy logical problem solving, and have an inclination towards learning languages. I thought this was a perfect major to marry these two interests.
HC: What are your thoughts on this decline in the number of women studying computer science?
Krithi: I think it is unfortunate that the number of girls in the computer science major is decreasing. Many women choose to go into computer science as a profession later on in life, with or without a computer-related degree, because it tends to be a very practical and flexible field to be in when managing family life and they prove to be very competent in this field.
Often times, boys who are in this major begin programming when they are in middle school, while many of the girls who join the major do not have much exposure to programming prior to college. When we girls see that many boys around us have more prior knowledge of computer science-related concepts, we tend to feel intimidated. I think it is this intimidation that leads many girls to drop out of the major.
HC: Do you think that the learning environment plays a role in this issue? In other words, is it the concepts or the course dynamic that may account for a lower number of female enrollments?
Krithi: From what I have seen, my fellow female students tend to be strong in the logical problem solving aspect of programming. Perhaps computer science is generally perceived as an engineering-like major dealing with the mechanics of computers and computing, especially in the first two years of this major, and some of us tend to stay away from it.
The fact that this major’s classroom environment is so male-dominated may also make it easy for the girls to feel that computer science is not meant for girls. If there was more of a balance in the ratio of girls to boys in the major, girls would be more likely to feel that they belong.
HC: Has the department taken any measures to promote and encourage the major to female students on campus?
Krithi: The Computer Science Department takes many measures to promote female enrollment and make women feel more welcomed in this major. The department’s AWC (Association of Women in Computing) plans many events for women in the major to get to know each other. Through AWC the few girls who are in the major can find each other in events or their classes and become friends. Finding other female students who they can relate to makes the girls more likely to stay in the major.
Another way the department could invite more girls to develop an interest in computer science would be to encourage high schools to offer courses in information systems and computer applications rather than just Theory of Computing, Computer Architecture and other abstract concepts. I think that the department should continue to promote female enrollment.
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Krithi’s discussion, coupled by the input from a male computer science major, is aligned with and supported by extensive research dedicated to this very issue, which is by no means new. Indeed, limited-to-no early exposure to computing courses, differing social preferences and tendencies, common and perhaps narrowed perceptions of the vast field of computer science, pressure from the learning environments in which computer scientists currently thrive, and implicit gender bias have all been identified as discouragement factors to women pursuing degrees.
Fortunately, Krithi is not discouraged. “I have thoroughly enjoyed my last two years as a computer science major,” she says. “Some of my best friends in my computer science classes are males and they always help and encourage me when I am struggling, and also ask me to help them when they have trouble understanding concepts. So it goes both ways.”
What can institutions do to foster learning environments that cater to both men and women, if in fact that is a key contributor? What can schools do to more accurately represent the field of computer science and address gender bias of intellectual abilities? Will we ever bridge this gender gap?