Is it hard having a female avatar on the internet? Do people take your arguments less seriously or sexually harass you. Never fear! The internet has the cure.
OSGCC was absolutely amazing this year. The games made for it were all impressive. We had a kinect game, a tablet game, a vimscript game, and even a Dart game. The source for all of the games will be available on github and you can learn more about previous competitions on the osgcc website.
"It's such a transformative field for society as a whole. And without the involvement of a diverse group of people, the results of what we do are not going to be appealing or useful to all aspects of our society. A piece of our challenge is to make computing, and all that it enables, accessible to everyone. That's an ideal." - Frances E Allen [1]
The lack of women in computing is generally an issue that universities have taken a great interest in. Many of them have outreach programs for high school aged women and other minorities in the computing field. However, every single one of us in the community can take ownership of this issue and do something to improve it. Making computer science pink won't increase the number of women, instead, we need to build up support and encouragement for all students.
1. Encourage others to embrace any interest in computing they may have
It's important that we encourage others with any sort of interest in the field to embrace it and learn. It's also important to keep in mind that we shouldn't isolate this encouragement to just young students, but older students as well who are looking for new ways of thinking. Speak to the pervasiveness of this technology. Share your love of your field with someone else. Dismantle the image of the programmer coding alone in the dark [2].
2. Contribute to projects that help learners
Learning to program can be a daunting task and the first exposure can greatly effect how anyone feels about the computing field on the whole [3]. However, programmers have been working on projects in order to make it a little bit easier for everyone. These projects require all the help they can get if they are to successfully educate. Not just from fellow programmers to help write the code and fix bugs, but from writers and artists who can help make the information easy to read and clearly designed. Hackety Hack is an amazing project used by young and old learners alike, but it needs the assistance of the community in order succeed.
3. Mentor
Mentors need to step up and help the new generation of learners on their way. Assist a student with a project, or peer program a project with a student. "Becoming a Computer Scientist" laments the lack of female mentors for incoming students [4], but there is no reason why anyone in the community cannot mentor another student. The community needs more role models for learners and less "rockstar" developers. Coding should not be a lonesome experience. It's easier to learn and keep learning when you have a support system behind you driving you forward.
4. Create a culture that makes people want to stay
One people are actually involved in the field we need to take steps in order to keep them there. The programming culture should remain open to all people. We should embrace new people and not shun someone because they haven't been programming since age 5. We should spend less time infighting and more time supporting each-others' goals. We need to focus in on equality and move past previous mistakes.
The community must take ownership of the problem if we wish to resolve it. We must encourage people to enter the computing field and be there to support them once that interest develops. Fellow programmers need to step up and be there to help students push themselves. Discussing the issue will not solve the issue. We must take action in order to resolve the problem.
The lack of women in the computing fields is something that is surprisingly controversial. I've dug through countless websites and threads following the discussion of this issue and found many arguments, shockingly, against treating this as a problem that needs to be solved. Instead, many of the arguments would rather dismiss any problem rather than attempt to fix the status quo. The very notion is a fairly dangerous one when it comes to under-representation in any field. I realize that the anonymous nature of the Internet and the existence of trolls causes some parties to say things that they don't really believe or wouldn't say otherwise, but I do notice arguments that seem common and widespread enough to silence. I refer to the majority of these arguments as non-arguments since they neither exist in reality nor are founded on any actual data.
1. "There is no lack of women in the computing fields"
It's a simple matter of examining the hard data to understand just how much of a non-argument these statements are. The actual percentage of women in the computing fields in 2009 was 25%, while the total percent of the professional workforce was 58% [1]. These numbers are not improving nearly as quickly in computer science as all of the other STEM fields and actually has been declining since 1985[2]. In 2010 only 13.8% of the bachelor degrees in computer science were awarded to women, which is surprisingly an increase from the previous year[3].
2. "If more women wanted to be in the computing fields they would be"
This is based on the belief that men and women each have their own distinct places in society. However, numerous studies have been done to show that these apparent differences are the result of social constructs rather than that of brain function differences. Primarily, one of the major concerns in computer science is the supposed lack of female mathematical abilities. Data suggests that male and female mathematical performance is equivalent [4]. Dr. Justin Baley has a great paper on the perceived differences between men and women and how these are social constructs more than they are biological ones [5]. "Despite decades of searching for differences, the evidence does not support large or even moderate gender differences, much less a 'different worlds' analogy" (Bailey, 4). The most convincing data point in support of women actually wanting to become computer scientists happens to be the fact that simply by revamping the CS program at Harvey Mudd College the female enrollment in CS is now 42% well over the 14% seen elsewhere [18].
3. "Lack of women in computing is not a problem"
"Becoming a Computer Scientist" (Amy Pearl et al.) does a fairly good job of addressing the real problem with the lack of women in computer science. From the perspective of the raw numbers the number of white men entering high education has been decreasing (the primary demographic for computer scientists) while the demand for computer scientists has been increasing [6]. The lack of women in computer science indicates that there is something at work preventing women from entering it [7]. Limiting the field to just men is rather detrimental; there is even data that shows that women on teams help improve performance [8]. If you restate the argument as "lack of women in computing is not a problem it's a symptom of bigger societal problems" we end up with a statement that we can use to help improve the situation rather than just ignore it.
4. "Patriarchy doesn't exist"
This argument comes about in many different forms, but it comes down to the idea that the existence of patriarchy in our society is completely false. "Patriarchy refers to any social system in which men are the dominate force. [...] Wherever women's choices are limited by the decision-making power of men, patriarchy exists." [9]. However, women only make up 17% of the senate and only about 22% of the house [10]. In the business world there are only 12 women running fortune 500 companies [11]. Additionally, The wage gap in the U.S. is still very real. "Women in the United States still earn only 78 cents on the dollar compared to men" [12]. Patriarchy is still alive and well in the U.S.
5. "There is nothing stopping women from being in computing fields"
There was a study that infers that the geek stereotype is what is driving women out of computer science [13]. I think that the geek culture itself that is pushing them out. Women are seen as "quota-fillers" rather than peers [14]. The cultural belief that women programmers are naturally worse than men discourages women from becoming a part of the programming community [15]. Additionally, a field already deficient of women should not participate in the defense of sexist remarks or actions [16]. The geek feminism wiki lists 96 other high profile incidents of sexism in the tech community [17]. Other STEM fields have trended positively to become a 50/50 split [2]. The fact that Computer Science has not shows that there are factors that discourage women from being introduced or contributing to the field.
There is no question anymore as to the existence of this problem. We as a community need to acknowledge it and move forward. The problem is not a simple one to solve and it is only together that we can begin to make progress. We cannot as a community continue the mistakes of the past if we are to hope for change. It is a time for mentors to step up and educate the next generation. Now is the time for us to unite and come up with solutions.
Lindsey is a computer scientist, grad student, software hacker, tea enthusiast, book worm, stenciler and art kid wannabe
