When Women Stopped Coding
npr.org
When Women Stopped Coding
1–10 of 190 posts
Re: When Women Stopped Coding
#2This story makes a compelling case that women stopped programming because
- 1. Computers started being sold as consumer products - 2. They were marketed almost exclusively to boys - 3. Boys played with computers and learned about them, while girls were made to feel that computers weren't for them - 3. Men showed up to college with more computer experience - 4. Women felt they must not be "naturally good" at computers, based on how men already knew more
While I think people sometimes exaggerate how much of gender differences come from society, advertising, etc, the facts of women's history in programming are clear, and I think the cause is well-argued here.
We need to fix the perception that women aren't welcome to program. We're missing out on talented developers.
Re: When Women Stopped Coding
#3> And these toys were marketed almost entirely to men and boys.
They give two piddly links to commercials aimed at boys.
Explain these ads, then: http://minotaurproject.co.uk/blog/?p=342
Or Commodore ads like this one: http://assets.sbnation.com/assets/1325832/commodore-765.jpg
In the 80s, computers were marketed to the whole family, boys and girls included.
Re: When Women Stopped Coding
#4> And these toys were marketed almost entirely to men and boys. They give two piddly links to commercials aimed at boys. Explain these ads, then: http://minotaurproject.co.uk/blog/?p=342 Or Commodore ads like this one: http://assets.sbnation.com/assets/1325832/commodore-765.jpg In the 80s, computers were marketed to the whole family, boys and girls included.
Were you there? I was. Computers were marketed to boys and families for whatever reason reinforced this as well. It may not explain everything, but it explains the genesis of the situation.
Re: When Women Stopped Coding
#5The "women just aren't as interested in programming" trope rings hollow when the participation of women in CS majors is about half of what it was in 1985, a time when, by all accounts, programmers were far less socially mainstream than they are today.
Re: When Women Stopped Coding
#6Maybe just a total coincidence, but the mid-80's is also the time when media and authorities started their witch hunt against hackers and the word "hacker" became equal to "criminal".
Basically, in the mid-80's the predominant media image of computer engineers was either social outcast of criminal.
Gee, wonder why women weren't attracted to that.
Re: When Women Stopped Coding
#7Maybe just a total coincidence, but the mid-80's is also the time when media and authorities started their witch hunt against hackers and the word "hacker" became equal to "criminal". Basically, in the mid-80's the predominant media image of computer engineers was either social outcast of criminal. Gee, wonder why women weren't attracted to that.
Why should the "not attracted to that" factor be specifically gendered?
Re: When Women Stopped Coding
#8This story makes a compelling case that women stopped programming because - 1. Computers started being sold as consumer products - 2. They were marketed almost exclusively to boys - 3. Boys played with computers and learned about them, while girls were made to feel that computers weren't for them - 3. Men showed up to college with more computer experience - 4. Women felt they must not be "naturally good" at computers…
When I studied CS , only a small minority arrived with programming skills, a much larger number came with knowledge of gaming and by extension computer building because it was much easier to afford a PC required for the newest games if you could build it yourself.
Re: When Women Stopped Coding
#9Interesting link in the comments: http://cs.stanford.edu/people/eroberts/cs181/projects/women-...
This graph shows that the drop off was nearly identical for men.
Maybe the initial bump was just people getting overexcited for this computer thing and then hearing from their friends that it's kind of nerdy.
Edit
Another interesting link seems to show that women receive degrees at a significantly higher rate than men, and that the gap is widening: http://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=72
Why is this?
Re: When Women Stopped Coding
#10Maybe just a total coincidence, but the mid-80's is also the time when media and authorities started their witch hunt against hackers and the word "hacker" became equal to "criminal". Basically, in the mid-80's the predominant media image of computer engineers was either social outcast of criminal. Gee, wonder why women weren't attracted to that.
This argument seems to rest on the assumption that women are fundamentally more susceptible to decisions based on stereotypes than men are. Do you have any evidence both that this is the case, and that any measurable difference (if there is one) is significant enough to blame for this effect?