If you are asking women at Stanford University, they are likely to say a computer scientist. According to recently released statistics by the reputable institution, Stanford women are increasingly choosing to major in computer science, making it the most popular major among the school’s female student body. Currently, 218 women are enrolled in the university’s computer science program, making up 30% of students in the program.
Does this mean we are on our way to correcting the gender problem that’s plaguing the Internet and tech industries? It depends on who you ask, but it is advisable to be cautiously optimistic. Reports indicate that the number of women in computer science between 2007 and 2014 more than doubled, increasing from 10 percent to 21 percent, respectively.
While these are all positive developments, it is important to put these number in perspective.
Back in the eighties, women accounted for 30 to 40 percent of the computer science field, but those numbers have drastically dwindled over the years to a mere 16 percent according to the National Science Foundation. Even when taking a broader look at entrepreneurship in the U.S., the numbers are just as underwhelming for women – only 27% of women count themselves as entrepreneurs.
Women’s collective waning interest in this important field is attributable to a broad range of factors including young girls simply trying to be avoid the “nerd” label in grade school to lacking relatable role models in the field. According to the Anita Borg Institute (ABI), women that transition into technical careers often leave those roles for other positions and regularly cite less than favorable working conditions such as no prospects for career advancement and poor compensation.
In recent years, organizations and tech leaders have stepped up to call attention to this problem and factors that feed into it. For instance, current U.S. Chief Technology Officer (U.S. CTO) and former Googler Megan Smith is an evangelist for spotlighting “unconscious bias.” Unconscious bias simply means the bias you exhibit without even knowing it. When it comes to women in the tech industry, unconscious bias goes beyond pay and seeps into areas such as entrepreneurial pitches, institutions gravitating towards male applicants as opposed to female applicants for technical roles, and personality criticisms during performance reviews. And this week, ABI is hosting its annual three-day Grace Hopper conference bringing together thousands of women (and men) in computing to share ideas, make connections, and pay it forward to junior women in the field. Heavy hitters are expected to address the crowd including U.S. CTO Megan Smith, Facebook’s Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg, and YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki.
While there is much work to be done in improving women’s presence in technical areas like computer science, keeping a constant drumbeat on these issues, bringing tough issues to the forefront, and highlighting women in this field may just inspire the next generation of women computer scientists and entrepreneurs.