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From the article - "Going back to Computer Science, we see a rather sad story unfold. The computer scientists of today find themselves in the same disposition

From the article - "Going back to Computer Science, we see a rather sad story unfold. The computer scientists of today find themselves in the same disposition as the computer scientists of the 1970s: Only ~15% of the CS degrees were conferred to women. Then the late 1970s and early 1980s finally looked promising: With a peak at 37% of all CS degrees in 1983, it seemed as though Computer Science might join the rest of the majors with a more even gender distribution. But 1984 saw fewer women graduating with a CS degree, and the trend has followed a downward spiral ever since. What was it about the 1970s and early 1980s that made Computer Science more welcoming to women? And what changed?" I want the answer to this question too!

deleted 12y ago
[deleted]
- brighteyes 12y ago
  The graph is potentially misleading in that there is no weight for the various majors. This can be misleading just like Simpson's Paradox ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simpson%27s_paradox http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simpson%27s_paradox ). Perhaps more men entered the field while the number of women rose as well, but more slowly, for example. The graph implies visually that the majors are of equal size and have been over time, which is not the case. (but it's hard to visualize everything together of course)
guard-of-terra 12y ago
What changed? Perhaps an influx of affordable home computers that drew a huge amount of male youth to computer-related occupations.
- tobinfricke 12y ago
  What is gender-specific about "affordable home computers"?
  - guard-of-terra 12y ago
    Boys tend to figure out how home computers work, and once they start, this is an endless trip down the rabbit hole. I don't usually observe the same in girls. They use computers for their worth but they don't seek more. Female programmers I know are usually taught formally, not self-taught as opposed to male programmers.
    - tobinfricke 12y ago
      As far as I know, there is no actual evidence for this being a result of innate differences between boys and girls.
parennoob 12y ago
"What was it about the 1970s and early 1980s that made Computer Science more welcoming to women? And what changed? I want the answer to this question too!" A hypothesis (remember this is only a hypothesis): What changed was that science and math became way less cooler in the (American) public perception between the 80s and the 2000s. With the cold war and space race, scientists and engineers were supposed to be the people who took the US to the moon. Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin were, after all, engineers. The last flight to the moon was in 1972. The Voyagers were launced in 1977. Scientists, astronauts, and their like were cool, for a change. No one cared about who was winning college football when people were going to the moon and exploring the Solar System. My theory is that CS / Engineering got caught along in this wave and experienced strong female enrollment Later, in the late 90s, and early 2000s, films like American Pie and whatnot came along, and solidified the appeal of the sports-playing jock, and making fun of the "nerds". Suddenly, nerds were the weak, spotty kids who were buried in their math books, and girls did not want to be associated with them. Enter present day, with probably 10% of CS classes in good schools being composed of women (unless it's MIT etc., which preferentially admits women to even the ratios, if I remember correctly) To see the attitude change, just think of television programs. The scientist/astronaut Major Nelson in I Dream of Jeannie (1965-70) was portrayed as a strong, positive, and socially successful character. The scientists in Big Bang Theory are portrayed as a bunch of socially inept shut-ins who are very socially/romantically unsuccessful and are supposed to be pitied by the audience.
rhiever 12y ago
One plausible theory I've heard is that the early 1980s and the 1990s were a "boom" period for CS, particularly with the dot-com boom in the 1990s. CS saw huge spikes of enrollment during that period, and apparently a larger proportion of women lined up to get a CS degree during the booms.

deleted 12y ago

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brighteyes 12y ago
The graph is potentially misleading in that there is no weight for the various majors. This can be misleading just like Simpson's Paradox ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simpson%27s_paradox http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simpson%27s_paradox ). Perhaps more men entered the field while the number of women rose as well, but more slowly, for example. The graph implies visually that the majors are of equal size and have been over time, which is not the case. (but it's hard to visualize everything together of course)

guard-of-terra 12y ago

What changed? Perhaps an influx of affordable home computers that drew a huge amount of male youth to computer-related occupations.

tobinfricke 12y ago
What is gender-specific about "affordable home computers"?
- guard-of-terra 12y ago
  Boys tend to figure out how home computers work, and once they start, this is an endless trip down the rabbit hole. I don't usually observe the same in girls. They use computers for their worth but they don't seek more. Female programmers I know are usually taught formally, not self-taught as opposed to male programmers.
  - tobinfricke 12y ago
    As far as I know, there is no actual evidence for this being a result of innate differences between boys and girls.

parennoob 12y ago

"What was it about the 1970s and early 1980s that made Computer Science more welcoming to women? And what changed? I want the answer to this question too!" A hypothesis (remember this is only a hypothesis): What changed was that science and math became way less cooler in the (American) public perception between the 80s and the 2000s. With the cold war and space race, scientists and engineers were supposed to be the people who took the US to the moon. Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin were, after all, engineers. The last flight to the moon was in 1972. The Voyagers were launced in 1977. Scientists, astronauts, and their like were cool, for a change. No one cared about who was winning college football when people were going to the moon and exploring the Solar System. My theory is that CS / Engineering got caught along in this wave and experienced strong female enrollment Later, in the late 90s, and early 2000s, films like American Pie and whatnot came along, and solidified the appeal of the sports-playing jock, and making fun of the "nerds". Suddenly, nerds were the weak, spotty kids who were buried in their math books, and girls did not want to be associated with them. Enter present day, with probably 10% of CS classes in good schools being composed of women (unless it's MIT etc., which preferentially admits women to even the ratios, if I remember correctly) To see the attitude change, just think of television programs. The scientist/astronaut Major Nelson in I Dream of Jeannie (1965-70) was portrayed as a strong, positive, and socially successful character. The scientists in Big Bang Theory are portrayed as a bunch of socially inept shut-ins who are very socially/romantically unsuccessful and are supposed to be pitied by the audience.

rhiever 12y ago

One plausible theory I've heard is that the early 1980s and the 1990s were a "boom" period for CS, particularly with the dot-com boom in the 1990s. CS saw huge spikes of enrollment during that period, and apparently a larger proportion of women lined up to get a CS degree during the booms.