Re: Opening doors for women in computing
Helen Faulkner writes:
> I wonder how many other people here experienced a similar thing to what
> the woman interviewed relates: namely that the apparent level of
> programming expertise of the men in her course, before the course even
> started, was so high that she felt incompetant by comparison and was
> discouraged from pursuing it further.
That's apparently very common, for a fairly obvious reason: girls
get much less access to computers while growing up, and less opportunity
to spend the time with computers needed to learn programming, so by
the time they hit college many women students are already way behind.
("Unlocking the Clubhouse", by Jane Margolis and Allan Fisher, has
a wonderful chapter on the various sorts of different treatment
women students at Carnegie Mellon experienced while growing up,
even in families who thought they were very progressive and
non-sexist. Highly recommended reading for anyone interested
in these issues.)
While finding ways to teach college students who are just getting
their first exposure to programming sounds excellent, and certainly
should be pursued, it would be even better to find a way to change
the discrimination that younger girls are experiencing.
...Akkana
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