Communications of the ACM
Wanted: Technical Women
Stereotypes that link masculinity and technology, while disconnecting femininity and technology, create false expectations that men are naturally better engineers and computing professionals than women.
Credit: Hiram College
Women are underused but a vital resource in the information technology industry, writes University of Virginia professor Joanne McGrath Cohoon. "Especially at a time when unemployment is high and our economy is weak, we cannot afford to lose anyone with the technical skills to create a sustainable future, improve health, build our cyber and physical infrastructure, and enhance personal and societal security," Cohoon writes.
Stanford University researchers found that women engineering students perform as well as men, but are more likely than men to switch to a different major, Cahoon says. The Stanford study found that stereotypes that link masculinity and technology while disconnecting femininity and technology create false expectations that men are naturally better engineers and computing professionals than women. She says the research helps explain why women feel less confident and end up leaving fields such as computing and engineering. "Improving confidence and attracting more women to technical fields will take effort as long as false stereotypes persist," Cohoon says.
The numbers are improving, however. In the U.S., as many as 20 percent of engineering students are now women, a vast improvement over numbers from 25 years ago.
From U.S. News & World Report
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Abstracts Copyright © 2012 Information Inc., Bethesda, Maryland, USA
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