Jane Margolis, Allan Fisher and Faye Miller

School of Computer Science

Carnegie Mellon University

5000 Forbes Ave.

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15213

Do women approach the study of computer science differently from men? And does that difference work against their involvement in the field as it currently exists? Although substantially more women than men attend college, only 15-20% of undergraduate computer science majors at leading U.S. departments [Kozen & Zweben, 1998] and only 17% of high school computer science Advanced Placement test takers [College Board, 1998] are female. This is a matter of concern not only for women who may be forgoing opportunities for economic success and personal satisfaction, but also for an industry in the grip of a shortage of skilled workers, and a society deprived of a broader set of perspectives in the design of its increasingly critical information systems.

For nearly four years, we have been interviewing female and male computer science students about their experiences studying computer science at Carnegie Mellon University, in one of the top computer science departments in the country. This paper explores the differences in orientations to computing that we hear in men’s and women’s interviews when they arrive at the university, and traces the effects of these differences on women’s sense of belonging and comfort in the program, and on their decisions to stay or leave. While most of the male students describe an early and persistent magnetic attraction between themselves and computers, women much more frequently link their computer science interest to a larger societal framework. Nearly half of the women we’ve interviewed attach their interest in computer science to other arenas, such as medicine, education, space exploration and the arts. For many of these women, while interest in computing is strong, they are concerned that their study of computer science not require a myopic focus on the machine, or detach them from people and other concerns.

We also discuss how computer science curriculum and culture frequently mirror and bestow prestige on an orientation toward computing commonly identified with men, while devaluing and pushing to the margins the orientations associated with women. Certainly there are women and men whose approaches and perspectives are more alike than different; some women love gizmos, gadgets, and "technology for technology’s sake," and not all men subscribe to the "geek" ethos. Yet the identification of computing as a male domain is so pervasive that men suffer far less from a mismatch with the dominant culture than do women. In this context, we discuss the importance of "re-visioning" computer science, so that the answer to the question "what is computer science?" incorporates and values women’s perspectives as well as men’s.

The study of which this paper is a part is longitudinal, following students’ experiences for two to four years. The heart of our data is transcripts of semi-structured, open-ended interviews with students which occur once per semester. Additional data are gathered through surveys, classroom observations, interviews with faculty, a small journal writing project, and monitoring of electronic discussion forums. Our sample consists of the majority of female CS majors at Carnegie Mellon, and a comparable sample of male majors. To date we have conducted interviews with 51 female and 46 male computer science majors.

Almost all of the women students who are admitted to the Carnegie Mellon School of Computer Science enter with high enthusiasm and interest. We have interviewed the former president of her high school’s computer club and another student who took great pride in being the computer "genius" in her family. These students major in computer science because they feel competent in and enjoy computing and programming. As one woman told us: "I have always been a problem-solving person and it just really gives me a rush when you are working and working on a problem and finally it just works!" Women talk about the pleasure in "systematic thinking," as well as the creative aspects of programming -- having a program express their individuality. Almost every woman in our sample came to computer science as a "math and science person," enjoying problem-solving, puzzles, and logical thinking tasks.

While these students are enthusiastic about computers and programming, and talk about the "rush in having my program run," the context and connections of computing to other arenas makes the study of computer science meaningful for them. Forty-four percent of the women we interviewed, as compared to 9% of the men students, link their interest in computers to other arenas. These women emphasize the importance of having computing and their programs "do something." Some students have specific projects in mind, such as this woman who wants to use computers in biology :

Another is interested in the links between computing and education:

Several of the women we interviewed didn’t have a specific field in mind, but stressed how important it is that their computer work do something useful for society. A first-year student told us how much she enjoyed science fiction when she was young. She remembered reading about a robot that was "more like a tool; it wasn’t something that would take over a place, but it was a machine that would help out." She said she wants to help design this type of intelligent machine. She was inspired by a recent Carnegie Mellon lecture about a robot car, in which the lecturer explained the utility of the car by describing the number of accidents and deaths caused by human error. This use of computers resonated with this student’s desire to connect computer science to real world problems:

Answering the interview question "What interests you most about computer science?", a female student told us she wanted:

Another woman student who has always done well in math and science, who finds these subjects to be fun, relates her interest in computer science to her concern for her grandmother’s medical condition:

These quotes are examples of how women students’ passion for computer science, their excitement about the field, is often presented and articulated in terms of the context of larger, often people-oriented issues. This is not to say that these women do not enjoy the purely technical aspects of computing, because many do. But a distinction is often made. For instance, a woman student described a difference between herself and most of the male students. She says they want to focus on "building bigger and bigger computers." "That’s fine," she says, "and I’d like to be involved with that, too, but in the long run I want to use computers for what they are now, and just use them to help people." These narratives echo the theories of developmental psychologists [Gilligan, 1982; Miller, 1976; Pipher, 1994] who study the lives of girls and women. Miller [1976], in her landmark study of women’s psychology, states:

In our interviews with male students, learning all about the computer is described as a pleasurable end in itself. Concerns with context are rarely articulated in most men’s interviews. In response to our opening interview question, "Can you tell me the story of you and computers?" many male students describe falling in love with the computer the minute they put their fingers on the keyboard--often at a very early age--and the screen responds. For most of the male students in our study, love of computing comes early, and becomes part of their identity and the stories they tell about themselves. They describe a magnetic attraction between themselves and the computer, with the computer becoming an object of fascination and allure. From then on their activities, conversations, waking hours center around the computer. The computer is the ultimate toy. "Intensely fascinated," "play" and "fun" are words they use when they describe their first experiences with computers. One of the male students we talked to says, "My mother bought me a computer back in Alabama when I was four years old and I guess ever since it has been me playing video games, thinking ‘WOW, how did they do that?’" Another student tells us:

This fascination with the computer often leads to self-initiated exploration and learning about various aspects of computing, including programming. When we asked a male student to describe how games were a key source of motivation to learn programming, he told us:

This description of the pull to "figure out how it works" is something prevalent in the male interviews and almost non-existent in the female interviews. It positions the male students in a very active relationship to the machine. As young boys, males step right into the driver’s seat, leaping from the outside to the inside. Many male students report programming to be a source of extracurricular pleasure, having done it since they were young (38% of the men among our sample, compared to 10% of the women). Male interviews are often filled with lengthy accounts of their computing experiences, jobs, and projects. Computing emerges as an integral part of their lives.

Even among the few male students who emphasize the importance of computers in the larger societal context, their focus still tends to be more machine-oriented than the women’s. A male student who wants to make more computers useful for people says, "Since doing so much work with them [computers], it’s become more a tool to me. I can’t imagine a contractor getting excited over a hammer, but having a great respect for it." Another student tells us: "I’ve always had aspirations of making computers. I read science fiction, and a lot of their dreams I would hope would become reality." He goes on to say that he aspires to make:

The suggestion that men and women tend to view technology differently resonates with other research from the field [Honey, 1994; Martin, 1992; Schofield, 1995; Turkle, 1988]. Studying how males and females design technological innovation, researcher Brunner [1997] concludes:

A meta-analysis of research on gender and science concluded that a "major sex difference in interests in math and science is its perceived usefulness" [Linn and Hyde, 1989]. Schofield’s [1995] ethnographic study of the introduction of computers into a high school found this difference among the male and female teachers, as well:

The mass media has popularized a similar conception, the "toy/tool" dichotomy – the idea that boys and men see computers as toys to play with, while girls and women use them as tools to do things with [Kantrowitz, 1994]. Whether these differences are fostered by parents and society or not, they are reinforced by many cultural and educational cues, all pointing to computing as a male domain. Unfortunately, they leave many women questioning whether computer science is a place for them, and wondering if their orientation will allow for comfort and success.

Women we have interviewed often speak of struggling to maintain their own confidence and breadth of interest in the computer science environment. College computing cultures often reflect the ways of the male-dominated hacker subculture, one in which joy, play, fun, love are wrapped up in intense, singular focus on computing and the computer itself. The lifestyle is one in which hackers seem to spend nearly every waking hour at the computer, talking incessantly about computers, eating and sleeping in front of the computer [Hafner & Lyon, 1996; Kidder, 1981; Levy, 1984]. In their article "Encountering an Alien Culture," [1987] researchers Sproull, Kiesler and Zubrow describe the college computing culture as one in which skills such as speedy programming are highly valued:

Many women students are hesitant to join this "computer science world" in which they sense that the links to other interests in their lives will disappear. In her article "Computational Reticence," Sherry Turkle [1988] concludes that "when women are introduced to [computers] in cultural contexts where the most successful users seem to ‘love the machine for itself’, they define themselves as relational women in terms of what the ‘serious’ computer users are not." (p. 44) When we asked a sophomore if there was anything she disliked about computer science, she responded:

We have then witnessed women’s confidence erode when they compare their attachment to computing to that of their male peers. When the world around them grants prestige to the "boy wonders," departure from this path becomes "lesser than." A female junior who was very involved in the Internet before coming to Carnegie Mellon and who has always regarded herself as a math-science person, after several semesters doesn’t think that computer science is for her, because "It’s not my passion like everyone else. They’re all, like, really into it." In her particular case her boyfriend is "really into robotics," planning to go to graduate school and become a professor, but she sees herself as different. When the interviewer asks her to "talk to me a little more about the reasons you are thinking that computer science isn’t for you," she says:

Comparing herself to peers who "dream in code," read computer books on the side, and do computing as their hobby, she feels she is not meant to be in computer science. Another woman questions whether she should even be in the major:

Such concerns appear to be heightened as women struggle with course material; some come to conclude that a narrow focus of interest is necessary to do well, and that their orientation to computers isn’t "enough." For example, we interviewed a woman who ended up transferring out of Computer Science to Information and Decision Systems (a computer-related major reputed to be more people-focused). She related that she was not interested when her computer science classmates would talk about "the latest machinery on the market or how much RAM space a computer has and how they have to upgrade it and what new software they want (blah, blah, blah)." Twenty percent of the female computer science majors interviewed have questioned whether they belong in computer science, because they feel they do not share the same type of focus and intensity of interest they see in their male peers. In our last interview with a student who ended up transferring out, we asked her, "What advice would you give to a high school senior thinking about majoring in computer science?" and she replied:

When the interviewer asked her "What do you think it takes to be a good computer scientist?" she responds:

Yet, this same environment can be very comfortable, almost "like home," for most (but not all) male students. They are thrilled to find so many other companions who love computers and computing as much as they do. As one male first-year student says:

We have found the notion that computers is "all they do" to be quite prevalent among majors and non-majors alike, when discussing what it is like to be a computer science major. While we have heard both male and female students assert that "this is not me" [see Margolis, Fisher and Miller, 1998b], this pervasive image of the computer science student has a more deleterious affect on women students.

Curriculum helps set the tone and, unfortunately, most computer science programs in their early years are narrowly focused on programming and the more technical aspects of the field, with applications and multidisciplinary projects deferred to the very end. This gives beginning students the false message that computer science is "only programming, programming, programming," abstracted away from real world contexts. Feminist educator Sue Rosser [1990], from her investigation of gender and science education, argues that "insuring science and technology are considered in their social context…may be the most important change that can be made in science teaching for all people, both male and female" (p.72.) Computer science professor Dianne Martin [1992], in her article "In Search of Gender Free Paradigms for Computer Science Education," discusses "a premise for the gender bias in computer science: the existing educational paradigm that separates studies of science, math, and computer science from studies of the humanities, starting in the secondary schools." She speculates that an integrated approach to computer science would attract more women students, and that "greater attention [should be paid] to values, human issues, and social impact as well as to the mathematical and theoretical foundations of computer science." (p. 1)

We stress that the goal is not to devalue or derail some students’ single-minded pursuit of technical virtuosity, but rather to validate a wider array of ways to think about computer science, to engage students’ interest and motivation to become computer scientists. In light of these considerations, at Carnegie Mellon we have been making some modest efforts to broaden the perceptions of the field. We are trying to establish through the curriculum, pedagogy and culture that there are multiple valid ways to "be in" computer science. Some elements of a more contextual approach include

1. an "immigration course" for new students that exposes them to a wide variety of computer science issues and applications, to counteract the "all programming" stereotype;
2. interdisciplinary courses that bring students of diverse backgrounds together to work on multifaceted problems;
3. an undergraduate concentration in human computer interaction;
4. courses that focus on a variety of advanced computing applications, and
5. a new course (entitled "Computer Science in the Community") that engages students with non-profit groups in the local community, helping members in community organizations become computer literature and learn to use and manage computer technology. One of the male students in the course said: "This has been the only class that really has talked at all about interacting with people...It’s a challenging and different way to think about computer science" [Gerson, 1998].

Until the long-range goal of gender integration and cultural/curricular change in computer science is accomplished, it appears that an important component of women’s persistence in the major involves conscious resistance to the dominant culture. We have found that women who persist are those who have found a way to get the grades they are satisfied with, and are able to reconcile a "different" relationship to computing. One female student told us how she has refused to conform to the image of the myopically focused "computer geek." And since she is "getting really good grades without changing myself" she is ever more confident that she can remain in the major and be herself:

Other students maintain a critical perspective on the "toy" orientation to computers and reaffirm their own perspective. A woman talks about her peers’ response to a faculty lecture on the ways that computers can be detrimental:

Computer scientist Frances Grundy (1998) argues that "the debate about the nature of computing is an important one and not simply because of its intellectual importance but also because of the implications as far as the attraction of women into the discipline is concerned." As an example, in her article "Mathematics and Computing: A Help or Hindrance for Women?" she examines how status and politics shapes the dominant definition of a field. She argues that "pure" computing (such as analysis of algorithms and complexity theory) has historically been considered more prestigious than applied computing because male theoreticians, who are the "inner circle" of computer science, define what is "real computer science." She believes that while "in fact, everything done on a computer requires some abstraction…abstraction by itself is not enough; we must be able to set the results of our task back into the real world."

Without taking a position on the math vs. computer science debate, we concur with the view that re-visioning computer science is an important project, both for engaging and educating more women to be inventors and creators of technology and for society as a whole. Will computer science continue to be staked out as male territory—as "guy stuff"—partly through a curriculum that promotes an unnecessarily (and misleadingly) narrow technical view, or can it be re-visioned as a discipline that is highly technical yet linked to other arenas, people, and the world?

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