We had a computer at home in 1981 (only one friend’s brother had one that early-on, otherwise no one had one) and our public school system was top-notch. In 1985, I took the intro programming course at my HS, which was super easy and there were a few other girls in the class. In ‘86 I took the next course and was the only girl in the room. No one spoke to me. I quietly finished all assignments, quizzes, and tests within the first 10 min of class. The male teacher would look over my work while standing at the front of the room, then say out loud and with an annoyed look on his face, “well, you got it all right, so you might as well leave.”
I went off to college, choosing an Ivy League with 50% women rather than a top engineering school that had 20% women. Silly me, the 50% women was irrelevant to many of the courses I would be taking. A classmate & dorm neighbor accused me of sleeping with the Bio TA after I got an A and he got a B on an exam because he had studied for hours, long after I was finished. My chemistry lab TA demanded that I demonstrate I was able to reach the handle for the safety shower (I’m 5’ 1”) while my 100% male (again) classmates stood around me in a circle. I did it, but he announced it was probably dangerous for me to be in the lab. Again, no one in class would speak to me, unless they were asking me about my sex life (loudly). They could barely look at me when I asked to borrow a striker. I made an appointment to speak with my genetics prof. about what steps I should take to have a future in the field. He spoke in incredibly vague terms and seemed to be looking past me until I left with no information. It got worse from there…I didn’t return to science or coding until I was 32 and determined.
As far as the ads, PCs were used for office work in the 80s — partially a fancy typewriter, otherwise for accounting or inventory. I recall the all-female accounting dept. using them at the company I worked for in high school, but those women weren’t coding.
