Blog 2: Women's Career Choice

The article “What Has Driving Women out of Computer Science” by Randal Stross explores why statistics from recent years show that women are not joining the computer science field of study. Women have come a long way and could choose any career path they wish at this point. What is so specific about computers that are turning away women? To add to the mystery, approximately around 1980 the amount of women in the computer studies sky rocketed, but then, up until now, it has fallen. For reference, the article is dated November 15, 2008.
Unknown to myself, and possible more people, during the 1990s the gaming industry pushed to have games aimed for girls. The stereotype that boys are always in front of the computer or TV however was proven true. The project for girl games failed. Most girls aren’t up for participating in this type of entertainment.
I believe that the statistics are surprising. I don’t feel that it harms anyone if women are just not interesting in this career. The key to the decline in women majoring in computer science careers is that there is no external force preventing them. This issue would be larger if, for example, the males are stopping women. One of the hypothesis for the decline is the image of a nerd or geek Most girls seem to relate sitting and dealing with computer aspects a job for a smart person who doesn’t get out much or isn’t social. Unfortunately, this is a stereotype. Just because someone has a passion for computers and works really well with technology doesn’t mean that they don’t have a social life or get out of the office daily. Whether the decline is solely caused by the nerd stereotype or not, it is a shame that young girls do not realize the potential in this field. We are all hurting ourselves if all the girls go into nursing, as the article indicating that it was popular. We are not all going to get jobs. Also, if a girl has a passion for computers, they shouldn’t ignore it based on social images. In the article, it was mentioned that most girls who do follow this career path have family members that are engineers or related to technology somehow.
I disagree with the way things have been going; our world is growing technologically. To keep up with businesses and the competitive world, women need to keep up with computers and technology as well.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/16/business/16digi.html?_r=1&ref=technology