"During the first year of my Computer Science course at USYD, there was no shortage of female students -- the ratio was about 50/50. Most of them Asians, very few of Anglo-Saxon background. I think in Asian culture, "geeky" girls are not classed as uncool at all (at least not in Hong Kong, where I grew up -- they are often viewed as well informed and thus cool).
"After the first semester, numbers of females started to drop drastically. I have asked a lot of friends why they dropped out, and they generally say how they don't really care about IT as much as say Economics or Commerce, or Law, so they switched. Of those, there are also many that felt like it's hard to compete with people (mostly guys) who grew up programming and full of "techniness", while they are just starting to take an interest and learn for the first time.
"My Computer Science course in uni was full of guys who were proud of their hard core programming abilities, and often they would paint females as 'noobs' and 'wannabes' -- in a group work intensive uni course, this is a big disadvantage for female students who are generally interested and want to do well, but were labelled as lame and pretty much ostracised from the group.
"Many I found, dropped out thinking "I don't have to put up with this crap", and end up in other courses where they felt they were taken as equals.
"I also think fewer females start being interested in IT when they're young because of that mental image of a computer nerd with thick glasses who can't communicate -- can't help that, it's a popular stereotype."
Thanks to Veronica Luke for sharing her experiences.
It shocks me that women can be made to feel like this in a 'equal' society. We need more female role models and mentors who can inspire future generations about the magic and joy technology can bring and how they can personally shape that future.
ReplyDeleteWith women making 80% of all consumer electronic purchases, it seems incongurent that technology is designed by men for men. Women seem to be an afterthought.
It's absolutely true that university computer science is extremely competitive. However I don't believe that it's intentionally sexist. "Noobs and wannabees" of either gender are likely to experience the same treatment. It's doubly stressful though, to be both a newbie and one of only a few women in such an environment. Being the hardcore programmer girl who can upstage most of the guys brings with it it's own set of challenges, as you need to figure out how not to emasculate fellow students who still have something to prove.
ReplyDeletePersonally though, that's part of what attracted me to the field. I've always enjoyed intellectual competition, and I've always found geeky guys attractive. Plus there's nothing like the feeling of going in as an underdog and coming out successful.
It gets orders of magnitude easier once you graduate and go to work in a business environment. The competition and a lot of the sexual tension pretty much vanishes.
I highly recommend that women (either gender really) who intend to study computer science learn as much as they can about programming and tech stuff before starting university classes. Self-directed learning is a flat-out requirement for success in tech fields. I suspect that it is this which is the major cause of the competitive element of geek culture. If you're not prepared to dedicate a large portion of your personal time to technology-related interests and hobbies, people who do will respect you less, and likely outperform you in classes and in the job market.