Why don’t more women choose computer science?
A #WomensHistoryMonth post by Victoria Micalizzi, a sophomore at Fordham College majoring in Digital Technology and Emerging Media.
It comes as no surprise that women participate in computer science or technology degree programs at a much lower rate than men. In fact, according to the National Center for Education Statistics, females only accounted for 18.7% of those who received bachelor’s degrees in computer and information sciences in 2016.
So, why is the gender disparity so significant? And how can we as a society encourage more young women to pursue this professional path? The answers to these questions, can only be heard from women in tech themselves.
But first, let’s not forget that gender representation in the the tech industry was not always this way. According to a study from NPR, the percentage of women in computer science was at its highest in the early 1980s, but there was a sharp decline in the mid to late 1980s. Through advertisements for the personal computer, the PC became a household item and the narrative that computers are for boys became widely accepted.
With more recent generations, the ratio between men and women in tech has been improving and it is our generation’s job to push it further according to Helen Dempsey, a sophomore computer science major from Fordham College at Lincoln Center. Although, as stated by Ellen Ullman, a long-time computer programmer and author in a wnyc studios podcast, “People in power don’t give it up easily” and in line with this, Dempsey stated that this gender disparity “seems like a non issue because what [tech companies] are doing is working and they don’t want to change it.”
A huge part of the solution that will encourage women to invade the tech world lies in the importance of representation. Young women will be more encouraged to pursue a career in tech when they can see themselves in and relate to other successful women in tech. However, most notably, only two of the four women interviewed were able to name a notable woman in tech, and only one could name a contemporary one.
Dempsey, who has been watching Apple keynotes since the iPhone 4 was released in 2011, emphasized that she had rarely seen women take the stage at these events and has never seen a female faculty member in the computer science department at Fordham.
“There are for sure more notable women, but we just don’t talk about them” she remarked, observing that their achievements have been cast aside.
All of the interviewees also cited a need to prove themselves before being taken more seriously in class, making it evident that there is also a cultural barrier in the tech world. Dempsey noted that she feels at a disadvantage in that the men in her classes have an easier time connecting and relating to each other. It makes her feel cast aside and sometimes causes her to consider her own ideas not valuable or worthy of being taken seriously.
Tech culture tends to be male exclusive, “I just don’t speak their social language” Cici Ogden, a sophomore math major from Fordham College at Lincoln Center, explained.
In recounting a group project where she communicated an idea that was ignored and then suggested by a man who was praised for it, Phoebe Nezamis a senior computer science major from Fordham College at Rose Hill said, “Some men don’t necessarily want to pay attention to you” and that she has felt herself being talked down to.
Leeba Erlbaum, a sophomore computer science major at John Jay College and the President of the John Jay Women in Tech club, recounted her club being rejected by the judicial board, because it was “too close” to the general Computer Science club. Incidentally, the Computer Science club’s leadership is all male. Highlighting a high rate of women dropping out of Computer Science degree programs she also mentioned how one of her co-executives was close to changing majors, citing a lack of support or place for women in the field.
So how do we achieve more support and representation for women in tech when young women feel as though it is unavailable to them?
Let’s make it available to young women, show them there are women to look up to, bring attention to and highlight the achievements of women like Sheryl Sandberg and Margaret Hamilton. We should encourage and foster natural interests like Phoebe Nezamis’ middle school hobby tinkering with HTML and as she said,“let [young women] know that there is space for them in tech.”
K- 12 programming is fundamental in encouraging girls to get into computer science at a young age, and in showing them how fun and interesting it can be. There are also organizations like Women in Tech and Entrepreneurship in New York and Girls Who Code who are, as Erlbaum stated, “building a network of women.”
Lastly, we should remember that this treatment is meant to silence women. We have to persist and keep speaking up. Demand that you be heard because as Erlbaum firmly put it, “Why can’t we have 50/50 representation in tech?”
Victoria Micalizzi is a sophomore at Fordham College at Lincoln Center, studying Digital Technology and Emerging Media. She has written for the Fordham Observer in the past and enjoys writing in her free time. You can find some of her previous articles here, here, and here. In the future, she would like to continue advocating for women’s rights and social equality.
