Women’s Computing Lag? See Content
In an article titled “As Computer Field Expands, College Women Shrink From It” on April 12, several reasons were given to explain the drop in women electing a computer-related major in college. I would like to add my two bits.
The only courses offered in high school parallel former courses meant to funnel girls into secretarial positions rather than technical fields. Gosh, why aren’t the girls breaking the doors down to get in?
Outside school, young women students feel “left behind” because they haven’t spent years playing blood-spattering shoot-’em-up computer games. These are available for desktop systems, and are some of the largest segments sold for these types of computers.
A click reflex measured in picoseconds might help massacre scores of alien drones, but the only technical benefit is familiarity (bordering on contempt and wrapped in ignorance) with superficial aspects of the computer hardware and system software.
At a recent convention of computer gamers in Long Beach, there were enough women attending to actually be noticed. Before, there were almost all male attendants. However, if our young women are to achieve this minimal familiarity with computers, we need to provide an application that isn’t repellent.
Other likely exposure comes from school reports researched using CD-ROM-based reference sources and printed from a word-processing program. Gee, why doesn’t writing a 10-page state report on Iowa hook girls on computers?
Their family’s computer might have a set of specialized databases for dates, addresses or family finances. Our student could keep track of her social calendar, her boyfriends and her allowance. Yes, sir, those computers sure are an improvement over a spiral notebook and a pocket calendar.
Online chat rooms and interest areas substitute for passing notes and reading teen magazines. The technical expertise picked up in these venues makes me giddy.
Speaking as a programmer, none of this is “computer science.” All these things are prewritten applications, with little encouragement for creativity.
Neither family nor school systems are likely to have high-quality graphics programs (like Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator, or Specular Collage). More likely is some miserable little program like Microsoft Paint, which comes bundled with the hardware at purchase. Crayons and tempera are more fun.
Unlikely also are high-quality MIDI programs, a software and hardware combination used to connect musical instruments to a computer. Finale, for instance, allows you to write music on your desktop, from a single vocal line to an entire symphony score. Play back your composition? Sure, through either a MIDI keyboard interface or the internal speakers. Want a paper copy? Click! Your score appears on your inkjet printer. Want parts? No problem. The hardest thing about Finale is figuring out which musical note you want next.
Folk wisdom holds that women are better at nurturing. Nothing needs more nurturing than a computer program. Nothing infects like the computer-programming bug. Nothing addicts more lastingly than working out a new idea, programming it and receiving the instant feedback from clicking RUN.
Once bitten by the bug, many happily never recover. But without exposing our young women to programming, the bug may never bite and potential women programmers will find their life’s work in other areas.
