News Flash: Most Geeks Are Boys

[Frederic Madre]

You mean there's still a gender gap in the computing world? Get out! A
study by the American Association of University Women to be released
today spells out the current disparity between female and male
comp-sci students. Seventeen percent of the high-school students
taking the Advanced Placement exam in computer science are young
women, women earn 28 percent of comp-sci bachelor's degrees, and women
make up 20 percent of IT workers. Call us cynical, but we're surprised
the numbers are even that good.

The report concludes that girls aren't scared of technology, or being
steered away from it by overly traditional parents or teachers. They
just aren't interested. Yep, high tech has an image problem. Female
students think that computer games are too violent, that nerdy boys
dominate the computer world, and that computers are only good for
utilitarian tasks such as e-mail and word processing. "They are
disinterested in the computer culture," said the AAUW's director of
research. "Girls are saying, 'We can do these things, but we don't
want to.'"

The report was full of recommendations: Create more gender-neutral
computer games, use technology in schools for a wider range of
subjects, make comp-sci classes more interesting. The report also
suggested teaching students more about technology careers and
launching marketing campaigns to dispel the stereotype that computer
jobs are just for money-obsessed, one-track-minded social rejects.

Marketing is all well and good, but how about changing the workplace
itself? It's hard to argue with certain aspects of the tech-job
stereotype. Computer workers do tend to talk about money an awful lot
and work more hours than anyone should. You can't blame the kids for
not wanting to be bourgeois workaholics when they grow up. - Jen
Muehlbauer

Female Students Uninterested in Computer Culture, Report Says
http://www.seattletimes.com/news/nation-world/html98/girl11_20000411.html

High-Tech Jobs Boring, Girls Figure
http://www.seattle-pi.com/business/gtek11.shtml