After reading this article, I began to think that both of these authors actually held fairly similar views, it's just that Stephenson highlighted how huge the gap between men and women in computer science actually is. I tend to see valid points in both arguments. I think today that in most fields, women do have an equal (or nearly equal) opportunity as men to succeed academically, BUT that their social and cultural expectations, background, and manner and attitude in which certain subjects are presented may hinder their ability to fulfill these potentials. When I read Stephenson's article, I also began to wonder if the gap in computer science comes down to more than just a hostile environment, but a general lack of interest. To me personally, that sounds like a horribly boring major, in all honesty. That doesn't mean that I don't want to learn about technology and have a good working knowledge of computers and their software. There are definitely fields that women tend to excel in, but that more males are entering such as nursing, etc. In speech-language pathology, the field I wish to pursue, there are far more women than men, but it's probably more of an accessibility and general interest issue. However, if coursework and general attitudes towards women studying and entering the fields of computer science are in fact, biased and hostile, this needs to be changed to give both genders an equal opportunity.
This article can be found in ISTE Learning and Leading with Technology Vol. 34. No.2 , May 2006.
It is really hard to determine what drives males and females to generally pursue opposite careers. In my opinion, the main culprit is the different ways males and females are socialized. Yes there may be brain differences between the two sexes, but I think our environment creates this gender gap. For example, if you show a child a picture of a doctor and a nurse, the child will most likely associate a male with the doctor and a female with the nurse. From early on, children are given messages of what boys and girls can and cannot do. Based on these standards governed by our society, children begin gravitating towards gender appropriate roles and interests.
ReplyDeleteDoes the gender gap exist? Definitely. Is it getting better? Maybe,depends on what you are focusing on. For example, according to CSUSM's 2007 Portrait Report, women make up 61% of the undergraduate population. This is a huge improvement from the years when women were not even allowed to attend college.
There is a big gender gap in the teaching profession. The students in my cohort for the Integrated Credential Program are mostly girls with only two boys. You even notice in schools that most of the teachers are female. I think that students need to be exposed to different career opportunities from a young age. It doesn't shock me that more males are interested in computer science. I do agree that if there are any hostile environments or biases towards women then that needs to be fixed. But for the most part I feel like people just study what they enjoy and what appeals to their interests.
ReplyDeleteI agree both, I think women are able to do almost anything (career) a male can. But when I was persuing my math major and I really did not see many females in my class. Especially in the upper devision classes. There has been a couple of math classes were there are about 18 students and sometimes I was the only girl or there were 3 girls in all. The past two semesters I have notice an increase in the upper division classes and more females are taking math. So, their has been a change but I think it is a change that will take longer and interest and exposure plays a role in it too.
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