Comment Re:it makes sense... maybe (Score 1) 299
Any idea how well those programs actually work? Let me give you some examples from my own experiences as a female interested in computers.
The only reason my university has such a "high" percentage of women attending (25-30%) is because of our business program; I am one of three women (and I believe that one of the other two was thinking about switching) in my class in CompE (there's something like 30-40 students in CompE per class year). That's about average for my university; though, we've never had zero women in CompE. All engineers take a general engineering course (if you can call learning MATLAB engineering), so you'd think that the male-female ratio might be better; it's barely better. There is one other woman in my lecture section (approx. 20 students total) and two other women in my lab section (approx. 25 students total).
Some women leave computer engineering, electrical engineering and computer science (maybe other tech/engineering majors as well, but these are the ones I'm most familiar with) because of the men in the class, and sometimes the professor, making fun of them in various ways (for example, saying the only reason they got into the major was because they're female and the school has to fill a quota). Personally, it wasn't until I got to college that I met any asshole-men that didn't want women around, and that wasn't even until this semester (second semester); I was told that I should switch my major to what all engineering, science and mathematics majors here consider the easiest major (business) and that I shouldn't give our mutual (male) friend any STDs.
Those programs are working very, very slowly, and they benefit every science, math and tech major other than electrical and computer engineering, even though every program I've been in that tries to help minorities in science and engineering are predominantly female. There are also initiatives that accept men; one I attended was aimed at all of the minorities in science and technology, so that would include some men. As a note, the programs I was in aren't what got me into computers; it was that I grew up around computers with a father that was happy to teach me what he could about computers (he does computer support).
People still have a negative view of women and computers, most often thinking that a woman just can't use a computer or know more than the basics. Hell, even I assume that a female knows jack-all about computers until shown otherwise. When that image changes, and it is changing slowly, more women will realize that tech majors might actually be viable path for them.
As for why there is a larger percentage of women online, I'd attribute that to MySpace, Facebook and other social networking sites, as well as instant messengers; not because more women are getting into computer-related majors/careers. You don't need to know how to use a computer or be "internet savvy" to use those sites. Probably the most difficult thing on those sites is when you upload images from your computer.
The only reason my university has such a "high" percentage of women attending (25-30%) is because of our business program; I am one of three women (and I believe that one of the other two was thinking about switching) in my class in CompE (there's something like 30-40 students in CompE per class year). That's about average for my university; though, we've never had zero women in CompE. All engineers take a general engineering course (if you can call learning MATLAB engineering), so you'd think that the male-female ratio might be better; it's barely better. There is one other woman in my lecture section (approx. 20 students total) and two other women in my lab section (approx. 25 students total).
Some women leave computer engineering, electrical engineering and computer science (maybe other tech/engineering majors as well, but these are the ones I'm most familiar with) because of the men in the class, and sometimes the professor, making fun of them in various ways (for example, saying the only reason they got into the major was because they're female and the school has to fill a quota). Personally, it wasn't until I got to college that I met any asshole-men that didn't want women around, and that wasn't even until this semester (second semester); I was told that I should switch my major to what all engineering, science and mathematics majors here consider the easiest major (business) and that I shouldn't give our mutual (male) friend any STDs.
Those programs are working very, very slowly, and they benefit every science, math and tech major other than electrical and computer engineering, even though every program I've been in that tries to help minorities in science and engineering are predominantly female. There are also initiatives that accept men; one I attended was aimed at all of the minorities in science and technology, so that would include some men. As a note, the programs I was in aren't what got me into computers; it was that I grew up around computers with a father that was happy to teach me what he could about computers (he does computer support).
People still have a negative view of women and computers, most often thinking that a woman just can't use a computer or know more than the basics. Hell, even I assume that a female knows jack-all about computers until shown otherwise. When that image changes, and it is changing slowly, more women will realize that tech majors might actually be viable path for them.
As for why there is a larger percentage of women online, I'd attribute that to MySpace, Facebook and other social networking sites, as well as instant messengers; not because more women are getting into computer-related majors/careers. You don't need to know how to use a computer or be "internet savvy" to use those sites. Probably the most difficult thing on those sites is when you upload images from your computer.
