Kumar 1

Shivani Kumar

Dr. Guenzel

ENC 1102-0M31

April 17, 2018

Women in Computer Science? That’s Funny.

Growing up through middle school and high school, I found myself surrounded by

copious numbers of females that were interested in computer science, like me. I would take

different technology classes to learn as much as I could, allowing me to explore different aspects

of the way computer science is used around the world. In the individual classes, there was always

a mix of females and males, and they all seem to be equally interested in what they were learning

in these classes. When I first walked into my computer science class this semester in college, I

noticed more than three-fourths of the class were male. There were a few females spread out in

the cluster of males that were there. My first thought was that wow, I wish more females were

interested in computer science and technology because they have so much potential to excel in

this career choice. Then I realized that, many females are interested in the field of computer

science. Actually, numerous amounts of them are interested at a very young age to go into this

field of technology. But by the time they reach college, there are only a few that remain

interested in this field. However, author Sohan Murthy in the article “Women in Software

Engineering: The Sobering Stats” presents a graph showing the number of females working in

various industry groups, such as in the technology and software industry.

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Fig 1

As it is displayed in the graph, only 16% of females make their way into the industry. Why is it

that by college, there are only a few handfuls that actually decided to go through and continue

their dream career? Why is it that gender roles have such a huge gap in the field of computer

science? One part of the answer can be found in the numbers of students taking AP CS classes in

high school. In the article “Women and Girls of Color in Computing,” the graph was shown of

students participating in the class AP Computer Science in high school.

1
Murthy, Sohan. “Women in Software Engineering: The Sobering Stats.” 2014. https://business.linkedin.com/talent-
solutions/blog/2014/03/women-in-engineering-the-sobering-stats
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Fig 2

The percentage of males exceed the percentage of females by 48%. Why is that? The numbers do

not lie. Two thirds of CS students are male, and they seem to confirm one issue that emerges

from my experiences and speaking with other female CS majors. Communication practices

among male and female students are dominated by the male perspective. People have heard

communication between two people is key. However, there are several people that simply do not

know how to communicate with others. They are not sure how they can trust someone enough to

communicate with them. Not only does this affect many relationships between friends, but this

also affects relationships between coworkers too. In different workplaces, some people might be

afraid to speak their minds or even ask others for assistance thinking that they’ll be made fun of

or maybe that their ideas will be stolen. For example, if a little girl is working on her science

project in class and stumbles across a problem she isn’t sure how to solve, she might be afraid of

2
Retrieved from the College Board on April 17, 2019. https://www.collegeboard.org
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asking a fellow peer in case that they might steal her idea and hard work. The fact that women

are better communicators in the world is a well-known one. Everyone believes that it is easier to

ask help from a woman and to confine in them. One of the reasons that computer scientist are

lacking the successful ability of communicating is because of the limited number of females in

the field of computer science. This leads to my research questions. My research is based upon

how computer science majors can ask others within the same field for help for their projects or

software without having the fear of someone else taking their ideas or stealing a part of their

software and presenting it as their own. How are they able to communicate with other computer

science majors while knowing the risk they are facing? How do different genders successfully

communicate with others within the field of computer science?

Communicators in Computer Science

Communication is not an easy thing. The little girl was never able to ask anyone for help

because of fear of someone stealing her project idea that developed in her. Communication

between people in computer science not only is important because of the fear of stealing

someone’s idea, but also because it is necessary for people to communicate when they are

working together on a group project or as a team. It is important for them to be able to

communicate with their managers and others in charge. Susan Ruff and Michael Carter, in the

article “Communication Learning Outcomes from Software Engineering Professionals: A Basis

for Teaching Communication in the Engineering Curriculum,” state that many computer

scientists will have an excess knowledge base for a computer science curriculum yet “the

knowledge base contained no knowledge about communication” (Ruff 1). Many computer

scientists are taught everything they need to know to be able to get a successful job and go into

the career of their choices being able to fully comprehend everything they have learned.
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However, many employers tend to notice that the computer scientists and engineers that they

hire, they don’t seem to fully understand the communication skills that come with the job.

In the article, “Developing Communities of Practice to Prepare Software Engineers with

Effective Team Skills,” Ann Q. Gates, Elsa Y. Villa and Salamah S. assert “Using cooperative

learning principles to structure groups generates positive interdependence in which each member

is committed to supporting others in reaching their goals while at the same time working together

to meet the group goal” (Gates 1). Students are not taught in universities and colleges that

communication skills are important in the career of their choice. They are not encouraged to do

team work and to do group projects so that their communication skills are tested. Most of the

times, it’s individual projects and assignments that the students are tested on. However, team

work is just as important as individual work in the field of computer science. Donald W.

Mueller, Jr., in the article “Use of Communication Activities Throughout the Engineering

Curriculum to Produce Well-Rounded Engineers,” asserts “studies have shown that

communication skills are extremely important for engineers” (Mueller 1). Researchers have

taken a step to prove to individuals that it is incredibly important for computer scientists and

engineers to learn communication skills and successfully be able to develop them. Computer

scientists will be able to understand the reasoning behind people and what the audience actually

wants. Similarly, in the article, “Communication Problems in Information System and Software

Development,” Goran Bubaš, Željko Hutinski, Dragutin Kermek state “effective communication

can increase the potential for knowledge sharing and creation, as well as reduce task and role

ambiguity” (Bubaš 1). Being able to communicate well will not only advance skills and assets,

but also help advance the different programs and software. They’ll be able to design more

programs that can better the future and cause more inventions. Bringing communication skills
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into computer science will not only open eyes between computer scientists, but also will open

eyes between non-computer scientists as well.

Women Have Limited Interest in Computer Science

As Fig 1 and Fig 2 have shown, there is a gigantic gap between females and males in the

field of computer science, or well Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math, in general. Men

tend to outnumber women significantly, and although there are numerous various organizations

that are trying very hard to close this gap, it still seems to remain tremendously big. There are

many different opinions on why women tend to not be equally interested as men are in computer

science. One of them can be simply that women are not interested in pursuing a career in

computer science at all and haven’t been interested since a young age. In “Women Who Choose

Computer Science—What Really Matters,” it asserts that “an interest in puzzles and problem

solving and a belief that those skills can be translated to a successful career” (Critical Role 2). It

is clearly stated that one of the biggest things that a woman in computer science has to maintain

is her interest in computer science. Many young girls tend to not be interested in computer

science. They would rather be dancers, or nurses, or makeup artists. the article “Women planning

to major in computer science: Who are they and what makes them unique?”, by Kathleen J.

Lehman, Linda J. Sax & Hilary B. Zimmerman, states “in fact, women’s lack of confidence in

their abilities, especially their computing and programming skills, is tied to declining interest in

the major and may lead women to leave the major altogether” (281). If they have no interest in

what they are doing or learning, leaving the field completely might be the only option for them.

They believe there are other careers that are more in line for them then computer science. The

article, “Caring About Connections: Gender and Computing”, states “concerns appear to be

heightened as women struggle with course material; some come to conclude that a narrow focus
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of interest is necessary to do well” (15). Many young girls see math and hate it instantly. They

struggle with math and believe that they are not good at it at all. This might lead them to give up.

Even high school and college students tend to see the high math classes they have to take to get a

degree in computer science and start rethinking if they truly want to go into computer science or

not. Therefore, if a woman is showing the slightest interest in the field of computer science, than,

according to “Barriers to Equality in Academia: Women in Computer Science at M.I.T.” by

Steve Berlin et al. state that “If there is a woman working or taking a course in an area of interest

to you, seek her out and question her. Such questioning is a good means for initiating technical

discussions with women and indicates to them that you take them seriously as professionals.”

(Berlin et al. 23). Encouraging women will not only help them continue their goal, but also the

higher goal of advancing communication skills in computer science. Having an interest in

computer science is one of the biggest issues that many females face; therefore, making it

difficult to close the gender gap that has evolved in computer science from all these years.

Lack of Social Encouragement

Although it is true that maintaining interest in computer science plays a huge role

whether females continue to pursue that field or not, many times it is the lack of social

encouragement for women in computer science and the perception of computer science as a

male-dominated field. In fact, Aman Yadav, Sarah Gretter, and Jon Good, in “Computer Science

for All: Role of Gender in Middle School Students’ Perceptions About Programming” state that

“74% of girls are interested in STEM disciplines during their middle school years” (Yadav 2).

Many of these girls were interested in pursuing a career and looking for their dream job in

STEM. However, that same percentage dropped to about 0.4% of girls starting college and

having the intention to major in computer science and this was not the case of simply losing
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interest in this field. The stereotypical masculine view of computer science, or in fact STEM, can

very negatively influence women’s interest in the field. The article “Understanding the Gender

Gap in Computer Science Undergraduate Academics” by Mikaela Goldrich, inserts

“encouragement and early exposure to CS are considered indicators of a girl’s future interest in

CS… [it is] found that social encouragement and academic exposure to CS were 28.1% and

22.4% of the explainable factors for high school girls, respectively” (Goldrich 7). Growing up

with so much potential in computer science and then realizing that there are not many females in

computer science can destroy many young girl’s dreams. These are their career dreams that they

have grown up wanting to successfully achieve. Not having the positive reinforcement to

continue their journey through school and college, in hopes of being a computer science, can

impact their interest heavily. An example of females being encouraged by having positive

encouragement is from the article “An ACM-W Literature Review on Women in Computing” by

Gurer, Denise., and Camp, Tracy. It states that “[a] related method to increase the percentage of

women in computing is through role model” (Gates 122). Role models are one of the biggest

things that many young kids have to look up to. Whether that role model is their parents, a

superhero, or a famous celebrity in the career field of their choice. That person, role model, is

who the young one looks up to in every way, shape, or form. One of the biggest issues here is

that there are not many computer science women that can be named off the top of an individual’s

head. There are almost none that can be named off the top of a high schoolers, let alone a middle

schooler. The article “Anatomy of an Enduring Gender Gap: The Evolution of Women’s

Participation in Computer Science” by Linda J. Sax, Kathleen J. Lehman, Jerry A. Jacobs, M.

Allison Kanny, Gloria Lim, Laura Monje-Paulson and Hilary B. Zimmerman states “generally,

families play a notable role as one of the earliest sources of influence on students’ exposure to
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and interest in STEM subjects. They do so by serving as role models through their own careers,

providing support or encouragement, and sending implicit and explicit messages regarding the

acceptability or potential for their children to pursue STEM careers” (Linda 4). Since the idea of

computer scientist as women is shown off in the real world, not many young girls have anyone to

look up to or follow in their role models footsteps. These girls don’t have the inspiration they

need to continue their dream careers and choices. So many of them have an interest from a young

age to go into computer science, there just needs to be more encouragement from others around

them to continue to show that interest in computer science as they grow. If they are encouraged

more and continue pursuing their dream careers, than more women will be involved in computer

science, which will boost the communication skills in it as well.

Conclusion

Computer science is a continuously rapidly-growing field in this world. Communication

in the field of computer science is an important aspect. Not only will communication skills be

able to help this field grow by allowing computer scientist to fully communicate with each other

while overcoming the fear of someone stealing one’s idea, but also by allowing computer

scientists to communicate easily with non-computer scientists. Many females are afraid of

communicating with others in fear of them being laughed at or humiliated, but to be honest, they

will be able to show others to not be afraid of asking for help or assisting others. Showing an

interest for this field at a young age is a gift. Being able to communicate ideas and potential will

allow women to embrace their passion for computer science. Communication skills will allow

them to fully understand why they shouldn’t be afraid of continuing their dream careers. Females

have an enormous amount of potential that can grow into something beautiful. Whether she be

the first computer programmer, such as Ada Lovelace, or the first to develop a high-level
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programming language, such as Grace Hopper, these females can continue to invent new ideas,

which can lead to advance technology. Closing the gender gap between males and females has

been a lengthy process, and this process is not getting shorter any time soon. Will the percentage

of females grow in computer science, the communication aspect of computer science will be

inspired and grow too. Encouraging more young girls to gain interest and embrace that interest is

a lot more difficult said than done. However, positive reinforcement from family and peers at a

young age will inspire many young girls to show their passion and love for this field. Instead of

letting that positive reinforcement die over the years, it needs to build up and be stronger than

ever as those young girls grow and thrive. Then, and only then, will the gender gap between

females and males slowly die, and more young girls will have role models to look up to in

computer science, as well as the communication skills.

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Works Cited

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Shirley, Mark., and Sieber, Jon., “Barriers to Equality in Academia: Women in Computer
Science at M.I.T.” http://www.math.utah.edu/~newren/linux/random/download/cause-
gpdf-crash.pdf

Bubaš, Goran., Hutinski, Željko., Kermek, Dragutin. “Communication Problems in Information

System and Software Development” Journal of Information and Organizational Sciences
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Gates, Ann Q., Elsa Y. Villa, and Salamah Salamah. "Developing Communities of Practice to
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Goldrich, Mikaela. “Understanding the Gender Gap in Computer Science Undergraduate

Academics.” 2018. 1-30.
https://scholar.umw.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1264&context=student_research

Gurer, Denise., and Camp, Tracy. “An ACM-W Literature Review on Women in Computing”
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Kathleen J. Lehman, Linda J. Sax & Hilary B. Zimmerman (2017) “Women planning to major in
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Margolis, Jane., Fisher, Allan., and Miller, Faye. “Caring About Connections: Gender and
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Muelller, Donald W. “Use of Communication Activities Throughout the Engineering Curriculum

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