I have been ruminating on the this topic since last week and for some reason the same thing keeps popping into my head. In the early 1990s the Teen Talk Barbie was introduced. One of her many phrases was "math class is tough." Now I was a teenager at the time and even while part of me agreed that math class was indeed tough, hearing Barbie say that made me angry as it did many other people. I knew that even if some girls had problems with math that there were boys who were having the same trouble just as some of the best math students in my class were female. I also knew that it was wrong to have this message sent to millions of little girls. It always bugged me that I was not very good at math because I never wanted this deficiency tied to my gender. It had nothing to do with being a girl I just was not very good at it. (FYI Mattel did come out with Computer Engineer Barbie a few years ago)
Just as girls have been stereotyped as not being good at math they have also been steered away from the world of technology and computers. It has been deemed a male domaine and I think that has put many women off of pursuing a career in IT. You would think after many years of telling girls they can be anything and seeing women work their way into visible positions as CEOs, politicians, and everything in between that more women would be present in the world of technology. Geek has become chic, but only if you are a male geek. Women get the "idiot geek girl meme."
For all the strides women have made it is hard to understand why it is still difficult to make a significant dent in this field. In fact women were making good progress in the 1980s, but then the trend reversed according to Nora Denzel of the Anita Borg Institute for Women in Technology. A ComputerWorld article from last year says she called it "a revolution in reverse." The high of 1985 where women made up 37% of CS undergraduates to only 18% in 2010. Why is this? Our discussions and readings show that there is a downward trend in the field for both men and women, but especially for women.
The ComputerWorld article provides several reasons for the lack of gender diversity in the field. One reason is because girls are often not exposed to computer science in high school. It is not typically a required part of the curriculum. If more girls were encouraged or if the course was made mandatory then that would be a good first step. Another reason is because of the historic lack of diversity. It is hard to feel comfortable in an area when there is no one else like you. You need trailblazers to pave the way. There has been some of that, but the field of ICT for better or worse is still viewed as a boy's club. Another reason that is tied to this is the culture within this world. The long around-the-clock type sessions of work are not appealing to many especially those, both men and women, who have or want to have families.
There is some light at the end of the tunnel however. The article states that shifting skill sets may favor women. There is a need for more social and user centered products, project management skills, and higher level analytics that open the door for women. One area that is given as an example is healthcare IT. I have experienced this in my own work. Health informatics is an emerging field that blends information science, computer science, and health care. As is mentioned in the article you cannot just drop one on top of the other there is a need to understand the health care systems workflows. There needs to be someone who can bridge the communication gap between IT and the health care professionals.
This is not an issue that will be solved overnight. Until we really understand why women are not choosing this field we cannot hope to recruit them to it. Some of the articles I have read give some reasons for this, but nothing has provided a clear picture. Until then we need to work to expose girls and boys to the world of computer science at a young age and strive to make it a gender neutral enterprise. Studies have shown that innovation happens most often in a heterogeneous environment. Future breakthroughs are more likely to come when diverse groups that include both genders work together.
Just as girls have been stereotyped as not being good at math they have also been steered away from the world of technology and computers. It has been deemed a male domaine and I think that has put many women off of pursuing a career in IT. You would think after many years of telling girls they can be anything and seeing women work their way into visible positions as CEOs, politicians, and everything in between that more women would be present in the world of technology. Geek has become chic, but only if you are a male geek. Women get the "idiot geek girl meme."
For all the strides women have made it is hard to understand why it is still difficult to make a significant dent in this field. In fact women were making good progress in the 1980s, but then the trend reversed according to Nora Denzel of the Anita Borg Institute for Women in Technology. A ComputerWorld article from last year says she called it "a revolution in reverse." The high of 1985 where women made up 37% of CS undergraduates to only 18% in 2010. Why is this? Our discussions and readings show that there is a downward trend in the field for both men and women, but especially for women.
The ComputerWorld article provides several reasons for the lack of gender diversity in the field. One reason is because girls are often not exposed to computer science in high school. It is not typically a required part of the curriculum. If more girls were encouraged or if the course was made mandatory then that would be a good first step. Another reason is because of the historic lack of diversity. It is hard to feel comfortable in an area when there is no one else like you. You need trailblazers to pave the way. There has been some of that, but the field of ICT for better or worse is still viewed as a boy's club. Another reason that is tied to this is the culture within this world. The long around-the-clock type sessions of work are not appealing to many especially those, both men and women, who have or want to have families.
There is some light at the end of the tunnel however. The article states that shifting skill sets may favor women. There is a need for more social and user centered products, project management skills, and higher level analytics that open the door for women. One area that is given as an example is healthcare IT. I have experienced this in my own work. Health informatics is an emerging field that blends information science, computer science, and health care. As is mentioned in the article you cannot just drop one on top of the other there is a need to understand the health care systems workflows. There needs to be someone who can bridge the communication gap between IT and the health care professionals.
This is not an issue that will be solved overnight. Until we really understand why women are not choosing this field we cannot hope to recruit them to it. Some of the articles I have read give some reasons for this, but nothing has provided a clear picture. Until then we need to work to expose girls and boys to the world of computer science at a young age and strive to make it a gender neutral enterprise. Studies have shown that innovation happens most often in a heterogeneous environment. Future breakthroughs are more likely to come when diverse groups that include both genders work together.
I was very lucky. I knew nothing about that Barbie or that it ever existed, and I went to schools that nurtured my predilection toward math and science. In elementary school, we had individualized lesson plans in math, so I was two books ahead of some kids (boys and girls) by the time I left. At my all-girls 7-12, I was in all honors and AP math and sciences. Because of the discrepancy between genders, my high school made sure that we used the potential we had in those areas. Now that STEM has become the new buzzword, hopefully all schools will try to realize girls' potential in those areas, and maybe one day, girls will feel comfortable in those areas. I will keep my fingers crossed.
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