4 ms·

By the early '80s, around 35% of all comp sci degrees went to women[1] and roughly the same percentage worked as programmers. The old "they're just different!"

• rjsw 12y ago
  I would see the mid 80s as the point where wider society became aware that computer programming existed as a job, your link does suggest this but also puts some blame on parents. Before this point there was no negative pressure on women to avoid it as a career, they just drifted into it same as the men.
  • cgh 12y ago
    I work with a lot of Indian and Chinese programmers and plenty of them are women. I've asked them about the whole "why are there so few women in programming?" thing and they look at me like I have three heads. To them, it's like saying "have you notice that accountants often have red hair?" It's just a normal job that you get, no real stigma attached.
    • walshemj 12y ago
      That's because of "extreme" societal pressures to get a "good" job though engineering is often seen as third best behind Medical and Lawyers.
• TylerE 12y ago
  I heard an intresting argument once, I think it was on Planet Money or Freakanomics, that argued that early personal computer advertising had a major role. Early on it was a career or maybe a video game. In the early 80s when home systems like the C64 and TRS-80 were hitting the market they were marketed, essentially, as toys for boys. So people bought them for their kids. Their male kids. Fast forward 10 years and the comp sci demographics shift.
  • mcantelon 12y ago
    There's also the aspect, that I seldom see mentioned, that being a "nerd" was considered unattractive/uncool in the 80s (in part because of movies like "Revenge of the Nerds").
  • 300bps 12y ago
    In the early 80s when home systems like the C64 and TRS-80 were hitting the market they were marketed, essentially, as toys for boys. I've seen a lot of advertisements for the Commodore 64 and don't recall any gender bias. Here is an example of the ads I remember: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vLwTLpGzBB4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vLwTLpGzBB4 After begging my parents for months, I was given a Commodore 64 for Christmas in 1982 when I was 10 years old. My two sisters never had any interest in it despite my constant attempts to get them to use it with me.
    • _abattoir 12y ago
      Okay, but you're one person offering an anecdote. We are going to need better than that for a discussion about a cultural movement.
      • Karunamon 12y ago
        That also applies to the GP's assertion that the computers were gender biased in their marketing. Somehow I doubt anyone here is going to do a quantitative analysis of 80's advertising...