The Computer Science Gender Gap

Princeton prepared Erin Mulder '98 to work in a male-dominated field. Two years ago, Mulder was one of only six women to graduate from the computer science department in a class of 38 majors. Now she runs the technology department of whispernumber.com, an Internet group that is creating waves in the business world and was recently featured in Newsweek.

And the phenomenon that Mulder experienced two years ago has not gone away.

Engineering schools and other science-based majors have long struggled to attract female undergraduates to their ranks. But during the last five years, interest in computer science has exploded as the job market for programmers and Web designers has become increasingly lucrative.

And that's something that should appeal to both women and men — or at least one would think.

In recent years, Princeton's computer science classes have been dominated by male majors. In last year's graduating class, for instance, only two of the 37 computer science concentrators were female. And though the numbers have rebounded somewhat this year — eight of 49 seniors and 11 of 51 juniors are women — the department remains overwhelmingly male.

"Other than the Class of 2000, there is a steady increase in the number of women," Tina McCoy, the department's undergraduate coordinator, said.

An increase, yes — but the era of a male-oriented technology sector is far from over. And female professors and students alike say that for women hoping to prove themselves in the male-dominated world of computer science, it's still something of an uphill struggle.

Mariyam Mirza '02 believes that female undergraduates must often overcome the expectation from their peers that they simply can't do technical work.

"When I first thought of taking [COS] 126 I thought to myself, 'Are you crazy?' " Mirza said about the introductory-level programming course. "I asked people. They said, 'It's a really hard class. I don't think you can handle it.' "

"If I were a guy, maybe it would've been a different answer," added Mirza, who is now a lab assistant for several computer science courses, including COS 126.

Many of these lowered expectations take shape before women arrive at the university level. Girls are taught at an early age that they should avoid work that involves mathematics, Jennifer Ganzi '01, a computer science major, said.

Get the best of the ‘Prince’ delivered straight to your inbox. Subscribe now »

"Traditionally, girls have steered away from all things mathematical, and, in a way, are taught not to like anything that involved numbers through the media, peer pressure and even in some cases high school and middle school teachers," she said in an e-mail.

Women who major in computer science often come from special circumstances that encouraged them to develop their interests in mathematics and sciences.

Mulder, for instance, had planned on studying physics before switching to computer science — as did computer science professor Andrea LaPaugh, who majored in physics as an undergraduate before doing graduate work in computer science at MIT. And for Lee Goddard '01, computer science became more alluring after her school received grants to develop programming classes for students on the honors track.

"Most of the people entering the department don't have the background I have," Goddard said. "[Why there aren't more women] is something I've asked myself."

If young girls were simply encouraged to experiment with computers, more of them would become interested in the field, several professors and students said.

"I don't think I was ever discouraged, but I was never encouraged," noted Linda Seiter, who teaches COS 217, an introductory course in programming systems. "Computer games are very male-oriented, and there's not much of marketing toward girls."

Armed with greater experience using computers, boys are more comfortable and familiar with programming, even at a young age. By the time they reach the high school level, girls become discouraged by what they perceive as a huge gap between their knowledge of computers and that of their male counterparts.

Still, LaPaugh said she does not consider this an adequate excuse for Princeton's low number of female computer science majors. "A lot of people point at the [differences in] high school experience," she said. "That's a very hard thing to work around, but it doesn't take the institution off the hook."

Some women who want to close the knowledge gap believe they have a daunting task ahead of them.

"Compared to other majors, there's a disparity. Some people have had a lot of it in high school. These people are really way ahead, and that's very intimidating," Mirza explained. "I've never met a girl who is one of these people, and that tends to scare other girls off."

LaPaugh noted she has encountered more women coming into Princeton with less experience in programming than men. Of these women, the ones who persevere through introductory courses such as COS 126 with experienced programmers must often work harder to prove themselves to their peers. For example, disproportionate numbers of minorities and girls who haven't had prior training in programming attend help sessions, said Inna Barmash '01, a lab teaching assistant.

Prospective female computer science majors must often deal with a computer science culture that some females described as distinctly male.

"My explanation back then for the few numbers of women was that the personalities of guys and girls are different," Kathleen Guinee '95 said. "Computer science is a very social major, with everyone in the lab working on a program. Guys talk trash and until a girl realizes the guy is talking trash and that she is actually a better programmer, it can be very intimidating."

"Women don't boast as quickly as men do," added Guinee, who is studying at Harvard's graduate school of education after working for several years as a technology consultant for American Management Systems.

Women have to ignore these tactics, Mirza said. "Guys boast, but it doesn't bother you afterward," she said. "Early on you have a hard time and you feel like you can't do it. But once you identify the people who are going to act like that, it doesn't matter. You stick it out."

Those who do stick it out, at least for now, are far and few between. Yet the numbers are rising — more than 21 percent of computer science majors in the Class of 2002 are female.

But is this the beginning of a trend toward a more equal ratio between women and men in the computing field? Though she said she is pleased that there are more women in the department, LaPaugh warned that it is too early to make an assessment. "When I was going to school, it was 10 percent," she noted. "But the numbers fluctuate enough that we can't tell right now."

Several factors may be behind the current growth in the number of women in Princeton's computer science department. For example, in recent years, the explosion in information technology and its coverage in the media has made the medium more familiar to all incoming students, including women.

"Overall, women are becoming more familiar with computers," explained Marisa Range '98, who worked at the configuration department at Trilogy after Princeton. "Among online shoppers, women are more than men. People are just seeing the value of the impact they can make in this area now."

Range's former classmate, Jocelyn Lenormand '98 — who develops software for internal departments of Deutsche Bank — said changing views of computers have played a significant role in the increase of women interested in computer science. "Women are realizing that it's OK to be nerdy because you make a lot of money," she remarked. "Before we were outcasts — now we're taking over."

More jobs require programming, Guinee noted, and so a degree in computer science means better employment.

"I did some interviewing at AMS, and it definitely makes a difference," she said. "Just seeing the major on the resume made us feel [applicants] had all the skills we were looking for, as compared to those even with electrical engineering as a major."

Mulder emphasized the particular benefits the degree gives to women in the business world.

"It really is quite important to have a CS degree. As a younger, more recent grad — and more importantly as a female — it lends more credibility," she said. "People are more likely to believe a male to have a computer hobby than a female."

A computer science degree can also mean a salary boost by tens of thousands of dollars. Mulder, for example, said she would offer a computer science major directly out of Princeton between $50,000 and $75,000 to work at whispernumber.com. And at Trilogy, entry-level workers in the configuration department are probably now earning around $100,000, Range said.

At Princeton, some changes have been made to make computer science more appealing to undergraduates, department chair David Dobkin said.

"We have been very concerned about [the small number of women] and have tried to help," he said in an e-mail. "We've tried to make our beginning course — COS 126 — friendlier and we've started a summer program to help students."

Rachel Fithian '02 agreed that improvements in the introductory courses might be causing more women to major in computer science. "The first computer class has gotten better and more friendly to people without experience," she said. "People in the past took 126 and decided not to be CS majors. That might have had more of an effect on women."

The summer program to which Dobkin refered — the Summer Programming Experiences course for students in introductory-level computer science classes — runs for four weeks each summer and includes 40 hours of weekly work on individual projects with help from a teaching assistant. Participating students also receive a weekly stipend. Though not specifically targeted at women, the department established the program in part to make women without prior programming experience more comfortable as they take more advanced classes.

Women may also become more comfortable in the computer science department if they have more role models to look up to, Seiter said.

With the addition of Seiter, there are now three female faculty members in Princeton's computer science department. But LaPaugh said the hiring of more female professors is not enough in and of itself.

"I don't think Princeton has the best numbers of women undergraduates around. We're not one of the schools doing the best jobs recruiting women," she said. "We've tried recruiting excellent prospective students but we don't target minorities or women. Maybe that's something we can change."