Is Computer Science missing female perspective?
Bangalore: Out of the total computer science graduates only 22 percent are females and this percentage has been steadily decreasing, according to 2008 data from the National Science Foundation. "When people think of computer science, the image that immediately pops into many of their minds is of the computer geek surrounded by such things as computer games, science-fiction memorabilia and junk food. That stereotype doesn't appeal to many women who don't like the portrait of masculinity that it evokes," said Lead Researcher Sapna Cheryan, an Assistant Professor of Psychology at the University of Washington to MSNBC.
Not only are women missing out on some of the "best career opportunities, but computer science is missing out on female perspectives," Cheryan and her colleagues wrote in a recent issue of the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.
The results come from four studies with more than 250 students who weren't studying computer science. The study also said that women can be turned off by just the physical environment, say, of a computer-science classroom or office that's strewn with objects considered "masculine geeky," such as video games and science-fiction stuff.
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