Gender Gap in Computer Science Growing 1027
EReidJ writes "Looks like finding a compatible girl geek in the computer profession is becoming even harder, as an already wide gender gap among Computer Science majors is becoming larger. From the article: 'A Globe review shows that the proportion of women among bachelor's degree recipients in computer science peaked at 37 percent in 1985 and then went on the decline. Women have comprised about 28 percent of computer science bachelor's degree recipients in the last few years, and in the elite confines of research universities, only 17 percent of graduates are women [...] The argument of many computer scientists is that women who study science or technology, because they are defying social expectations, are in an uncomfortable position to begin with. So they are more likely to be dissuaded from pursuing computer science if they are exposed to an unpleasant environment, bad teaching, and negative stereotypes like the image of the male hacker.'"
Good! (Score:4, Funny)
Best quote on Comp. Sci. gender gap (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Good! (Score:2, Funny)
Trinary (Score:5, Funny)
Just as the hard-wiring of binary mathematics spun the entire twentieth century about a simple yes-no axis, the invention of the three-state switch promised to revolutionize twenty-fifth century computing. After all, with three states (negative, positive, and null charges) on nanoswitches, computers could now think in terms of yes, no, and maybe, greatly humanizing their internal logic.
This would have brought many, many more female engineers into the field of computer science (hence accelerating the pace at which computers could do useful things besides transmit, compress, and enhance pornography), except that the same abbreviational logic that turned "binary digit" into "bit" turned "trinary digit" into "tit." This nomenclatural error set computing back nearly three hundred years, and two entire generations of promising computer scientists were lost trying to keep abreast of bad puns.
-- The Tayler Corporation. "Plotting to take over the world since 1998"
You don't need to meet a cs girl (Score:4, Funny)
Re:Best quote on Comp. Sci. gender gap (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Unplesant environment (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Best quote on Comp. Sci. gender gap (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Trinary (Score:2, Funny)
(Bruce Ediger, bediger@teal.csn.org, in comp.os.linux.misc, on X interfaces.)
Re:Best quote on Comp. Sci. gender gap (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Unplesant environment (Score:2, Funny)
Negative stereotypes (Score:2, Funny)
It must be the popularization in the mass media of conversations like:
Re:As a geek girl... (Score:5, Funny)
As a geek guy, I'd put it a bit above 95%. You only hear from the ones brave enough to come forward.
Speaking of which, what are you doing Friday night?
Thoughts of a guy on seeing a girl in his CS class (Score:5, Funny)
if (g.hotness > -10) {
while (true) {
hair.smooth();
lysol.spray(armpits);
mouth.stammer();
mouth.tellJoke(lameBinaryJoke);
if (g.noticesYou()) {
return semen;
}
}
}
Re:Gender gaps elsewhere... (Score:1, Funny)
Dude. Women don't like being treated as objects. (Score:5, Funny)
obligatory (Score:1, Funny)
Bah-dum dum, tshhhh!!!
Negative Stereotype!? (Score:3, Funny)
Re:As a geek girl... (Score:5, Funny)
Going to recompile the Linux kernel and fix the m0n0wall issues. Just like any other Friday night. You?
Re:As a geek girl... (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Unplesant environment (Score:1, Funny)
No, when you don't have social skills it manifests more like confusion and shame. Think of it like illiteracy, where the person cannot understand or relate to the subject matter and is excluded from the benefits of proficiency.
There are of course instances where not having social skills can result in an accumulation of torment and create desperation. In that state one might be so eager to find some sort of social comfort as to immediately frighten off other parties. That's close enough to what you mean, but the process of reaching that state is more complex than just a lack of social skills.
Re:Stinky-pants (Score:2, Funny)
Man I sure am glad I chose an English degree over CS
Re:Good! (Score:4, Funny)
Re:As a geek girl... (Score:5, Funny)
Is this a Turing test in action?
Re:Why most geeks are male (Score:1, Funny)
>1. Not overweight. (120 pounds)
>2. Not ugly. http://www.heartlandsi.com/HeartlandServices/IT.a
>3. Not bi or lesbian (although the way men are, I have certainly considered going the other >way, especially after dumping my last boyfriend -- in October)
Are you crazy ?? Admiting you are a single geek women on slashdot. Anyways, since no one has kept up the tradition
You are beuatifull will you marry me ?
There! Thanks for posting your picture again
Re:As a geek girl... (Score:4, Funny)
You may now send smilies at each other.
Re:Why most geeks are male (Score:2, Funny)
But why did you post as an Anonymous Coward?
Re:Unplesant environment (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Why most geeks are male (Score:3, Funny)
I checked, and the web page stats says the IT Page has been hit over 800 times since I posted that note...
That's more hits than we have had in one year...
*sigh*
Re:Unplesant environment (Score:2, Funny)
You mean, "Who needs girls in CS?" (Score:3, Funny)
The question not being asked here is, why would you want to get a CS degree? CS doesn't exist in a vacuum - computers are tools to solve other problems. If you're a woman, and you are smart enough to use computers, why not major in biology, and use computers to solve biology problems? Or major in chemistry, and use computers to solve chemistry problems? Or major in any of several engineering fields? You don't need to know how operating systems or cache management or machine code works to write useful programs.
Women don't participate in CS because women don't want to. Men major in CS because:
1) They think it will make them lots of money
2) They REALLY REALLY REALLY like computers.
3) They are social idiots and CS ain't a bad career for people who don't like people.
Maybe, just maybe, girls don't major in CS because they have other things they'd rather major in, that better match their interests and talents, both intelletual AND social?
I've met several women who are proficient at computers. Only one of them majored in computing - the rest all majored in something else, whether it be chemistry, biology, technical writing, or graphics design. They didn't pass on CS or drop out of CS because of bias, they did so because of better options for them. Of the women I knew who dropped out of CS, they dropped out either because they were dumb (the same as all the guys who drop out of CS), or because they were BORED OUT OF THEIR SKULLS. They took a chem or bio or english elective and liked that better. About half-and-half. Contrast that with many of the men in CS - how many of them even have the option of doing something else? There are many, many men in CS who are in CS because they have no idea what else they can do, because they were socially stunted, and instead of being pushed to do girly things, were allowed to spend those career-forming high school years staring at their monitor and occasionally watching Star Trek.
Re:Unplesant environment (Score:3, Funny)
You say: "these from 2000 and 1999".
The document says: data as of "Fall 1992".
I told you that the data was 13 years old and you respond with the publication date. What does that prove?
And your data itself is incomplete: you post the interpretation of "Four out of five full professors are males" and in the fall of 1992 this was true. HOWEVER - the significant data would include the averge time employed of those at the rank of professor. The devil's in the delta - compare the average time since bestowment of professorship of women then compare those numbers with the count of men awarded professorship during that period of time. Cross-tab with years of experience. Then we'll talk.