I know Sheryl Sandberg is the COO of Facebook. Why don’t I see more women in computer classes?
This is a particularly sensitive question. The doors are open, but many women choose not to enter into the world of computers. What is happening at elementary school through college that may lead girls on a different path?
The statistics speak for themselves with regards to women earning degrees and working in computer and IT related fields. According to the National Center for Education Statistics only 18% of degrees in computer science were awarded to women in US colleges in 2014. The figure has been in decline since the 1980s, with over 35% of computer science majors going to women three decades ago. The gender imbalance continues into the workplace as reports indicate that Google’s tech roles are only 17% female occupied and Twitter just 10%. However, in other job titles, women occupy over 50% of the positions in content development and social media, reveals Ocean SEO.
A large number of women drop out of computer science with up to 30% citing sexism in the culture as the cause. A feeling of isolation will ensue when there is only one female in a male team or class.
The National Center for Women and Information Technology predicts that there will be over a million computer-related job openings by 2024 but only 41% of them filled. Further studies indicate that businesses with a large gender inequality to not tend to be as successful as more balanced organizations.
Back to your question, why are we not seeing more women in computer science? There are three key factors: culture, the way women perceive things, and lack of industry representation. Many believe it all goes back to childhood, when we are socialized by parents and grandparents. Little boys are given cars and encouraged to tinker and little girls are given dolls, which may lead the males onto a STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) path into education.
Some trends in the academic path may also explain the lack of women computer science graduates. Interest and appeal is higher in middle school where computing is ‘cool’ and teachers are inspiring. This then wanes into high school as girls are often put off by male dominated classes and fewer friends studying computing. Girls are usually in the minority in computer classes, from high school through college. Studies have shown that boys are not affected by the gender of the teacher but girls are more likely to be engaged in computer science if they have a female teacher.
Education institutions and the government have placed more importance on computing and coding with initiatives such as the Obama administration’s Computer Science for All Program; however, the need to intentionally target girls remains. The concept of coding is less challenging for girls who typically prefer health, environment or real-world problem solving.
Positive role models encouraging girls to believe in themselves and their place in the future of computing science is needed. Efforts are being made to balance the scales with support groups and systems being implemented at traditionally male-orientated technical colleges. Stanford for example has a Women in Computer Science Club which has had an immediate impact with computer science surpassing human biology as the top major for women at the college. The change is slow, but it is happening.
Computing is too important to be left to men… Karen Sparck Jones, Professor of Computers and Information at Cambridge Computer Laboratory.
John Regan is a former Director of Sales for equity research.