Women in computing programs: does the incredible shrinking pipeline apply to all computing programs?

ABSTRACT

Despite the fact that demand for employees with skills in computing still exceeds supply, there has been a steady decline in the number of women entering and graduating from computer science programs. Many attempts have been made to remedy the situation. A recurrent theme for both engineering and computer science programs is that programs can be made more attractive to women if they place a greater emphasis on applications of the technology. To date, most of the research on the under-representation of women has been conducted on computer science programs, and ignores the fact that many students enter the IT workplace with degrees in Information Systems (IS) or Information Technology (IT). Moreover, programs in IS and IT place a greater emphasis on applications. Given the reported importance of applications for the recruitment and retention of women, one might expect to see a higher participation of women in these programs. Using data obtained from baccalaureate or above institutions within the University System of Georgia, this paper shows that this indeed seems to be the case.

REFERENCES

• 1: Alfe, C. (2002). "Does the I.T. Industry Have an Equal Playing Field?" Thingamajob.com. Available at: www.thingamajob.com/it/articles/alfe/010823_itwomen.shtm
• 2: Tracy Camp, The incredible shrinking pipeline, Communications of the ACM, v.40 n.10, p.103-110, Oct. 1997 [doi>10.1145/262793.262813]
• 3: Tracy Camp, The incredible shrinking pipeline, ACM SIGCSE Bulletin, v.34 n.2, June 2002 [doi>10.1145/543812.543846]
• 4: Debbie Clayton , Teresa Lynch, Ten years of strategies to increase participation of women in computing programs: the Central Queensland University experience: 1999--2001, ACM SIGCSE Bulletin, v.34 n.2, June 2002 [doi>10.1145/543812.543838]
• 5: Clow, J. (2002). "Statistics Show Fewer Women in IT Careers, Computerworld Canada, April 10.
• 6: Jeri Countryman , Alegra Feldman , Linda Kekelis , Ellen Spertus, Developing a hardware and programming curriculum for middle school girls, ACM SIGCSE Bulletin, v.34 n.2, June 2002 [doi>10.1145/543812.543828]
• 7: Department of Education (2001). "Digest of Education Statistics, 2001". Available at nces.ed.gov.
• 8: Vashti Galpin, Women in computing around the world, ACM SIGCSE Bulletin, v.34 n.2, June 2002 [doi>10.1145/543812.543839]
• 9: Anne Greenhill , Liisa von Hellens , Sue Nielsen , Rosemary Pringle, Asian women in IT education, an Australian examination, Proceedings of the 1st Australasian conference on Computer science education, p.171-176, July 1996, Sydney, Australia [doi>10.1145/369585.369613]
• 10: Andrea Jepson , Teri Perl, Priming the pipeline, ACM SIGCSE Bulletin, v.34 n.2, June 2002 [doi>10.1145/543812.543826]
• 11: "How to Get More Women and Minorities into IT," ITworld.com, November 11, 2000. Available at: www.itworld.com/Career/3731/ITW3394/
• 12: Margolis, J. & Fisher, A. (2002) "Unlocking the Clubhouse: Women in Computing." Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
• 13: Milgram, D. (2002). "Recruiting and Retaining Females into the Cisco Networking Academy Program in the United States: Focus Group Report," Cisco Learning Institute Gender Initiative, January 31, 2002. Available at: www.gender.ciscolearning.org/bestpractices/northamerica/focusreport.html
• 14: Neilsen, S., von Hellens, L. & Wong, S. (2001). "The Male IT Domain: You've Got To Be In It To WinIT," Panel discussion addressing the IT Skills Crisis: Gender and the IT Profession at the Twelfth Australian Conference on IS (ACIS 2001), Coffs Harbour, NSW.
• 15: NSF (2001) "WebCASPAR: Your virtual bookshelf on academic science and engineering" Available at caspar.nsf.gov.s
• 16: Robb, D. (2003). "IT Gender Gap Widening," EarthWeb, January 6, 2003. Available at: www.itmanagment.earthweb.com/career/article.php/1564501
• 17: Eric S. Roberts , Marina Kassianidou , Lilly Irani, Encouraging women in computer science, ACM SIGCSE Bulletin, v.34 n.2, June 2002 [doi>10.1145/543812.543837]
• 18: Rosser, S. (1990). "Female Friendly Science: Applying Women's Studies Methods and Theories to Attract Students". New York, NY: Pergamon Press.
• 19: Trauth, E. (2002) "Odd Girl Out: An Individual Differences Perspective on Women in the IT Profession," Information Technology & People, 15(2), 98--118.
• 20: Liisa von Hellens , Sue Nielsen, Australian women in IT0, Communications of the ACM, v.44 n.7, p.46-52, July 2001 [doi>10.1145/379300.379310]