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In the early days of computers and computing, women were well-represented in the field. Women often worked as "human computers," making complicated calculations and working in large groups, such as the Harvard Computers. Women also worked on ballistics calculations and cryptography. Human computers who were women could be paid less than their male counterparts. By 1943, the majority of human computers were women. Early programmers on machines such as ENIAC, were mostly women. The reason that women were involved as programmers and human computers was because "they expected programming to be a low skill clerical function," and that the difficult work was the creation of the hardware, which male engineers largely worked on. The programmers of the ENIAC, six women who designed the public demonstrations and prepared the machine for its public debut, were not fully recognized for their contributions by the media.

By the 1960s, while computer programming was still touted as a good field for women to go into, major shifts were beginning to take place that would help push women out of the field. Men who were programming started to make the field more "prestigious," creating professional associations, education requirements for work and by actively discouraging hiring women in the field. Hiring tools were introduced in which answers were shared among all-male groups and clubs. Another way to push women out of the field was to use personality tests that favored people who were not interested in working with others, which was slanted towards a certain type of male applicant. After these trends were entrenched in the industry, it has continued to perpetuate itself into the modern day. Some computer science programs, such as Princeton, in the mid-1960s would not even admit women into their program.

Gender gap[edit]
A survey, conducted by SWIFT ("Supporting Women in Information Technology") based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, asked 7,411 participants questions about their career choices. The survey found that females compared to males had lower levels of interest and perceived ability in computer science. This study (as well as others) provides a strong base for a positive correlation between both level of interest and perceived ability with career choice.

A project based in Edinburgh, Scotland, "Strategies of Inclusion: Gender and the Information Society" (SIGIS) released its findings based on research conducted in 48 separate case studies all over Europe. The findings focus on recruiting as well as retention techniques for women already studying in the field. These techniques ranged from the introduction of role models, advertisement campaigns, and the allocation of quotas, in order to make the computing field appear more gender neutral. Educating reforms, which will increase the quality of the educating body and technological facilities, are also suggested.

Research suggests that Malaysia has a much more equal split that varies around the halfway mark. A job in the computing industry also implies a safe work environment. Strong belief by the previous generation that IT would be a flourishing sector with many job opportunities caused parents to encourage their children to take a computing career, no matter the gender.

In India, a growing number of women are studying and taking careers in technical fields. The percentage of women engineers graduating from IIT Bombay grew from 1.8% in 1972 to 8% in 2005. In 2014, Arab women made up 59% of students enrolled in computer science at government universities located in Saudi Arabia.[citation needed] Women in Eastern Europe, especially in Bulgaria and Romania, have high rates of pursuing coding and technology. However, women remain underrepresented in information technology fields.

Statistics in education[edit]
In the United States, the proportion of women represented in undergraduate computer science education and the white-collar information technology workforce peaked in the mid-1980s, and has declined ever since. In 1984, 37.1% of Computer Science degrees were awarded to women; the percentage dropped to 29.9% in 1989-1990, and 26.7% in 1997-1998. Figures from the Computing Research AssociationTaulbee Survey indicated that fewer than 12% of Computer Science bachelor's degrees were awarded to women at U.S. PhD-granting institutions in 2010-11.

Although teenage girls are now using computers and the Internet at rates similar to their male peers, they are five times less likely to consider a technology-related career or plan on taking post-secondary technology classes. The National Center for Women & Information Technology(NCWIT) reports that of the SAT takers who intend to major in computer and information sciences, the proportion of girls has steadily decreased relative to the proportion of boys, from 20 percent in 2001 to 12 percent in 2006. While this number has been decreasing, in 2001, the total number of these students (both boys and girls) reached its peak at 73,466.

According to a College Board report, in 2006, there were slightly more girls than boys amongst SAT takers that reported to having "course work or experience" in computer literacy, word processing, internet activity, and creating spreadsheets/databases. It was also determined that more boys than girls (59% vs. 41%) reported course work or experience with computer programming, although this may likely be caused by false reporting. Of the 146,437 students (13%) who reported having no course work or experience, 61% were girls and 39% were boys.

More boys than girls take Advanced Placement (AP) Computer Science exams. According to the College Board in 2006, 2,594 girls and 12,068 boys took the AP Computer Science A exam, while 517 girls and 4,422 boys took the more advanced AP Computer Science AB exam. From 1996 to 2004, girls made up 16-17% of those taking the AP Computer Science A exam and around 10% of those taking AP Computer Science AB exam.

Statistics in the workforce[edit]
Women's representation in the computing and information technology workforce has been falling from a peak of 38% in the mid-1980s. From 1993 through 1999, NSF's SESTAT reported that the percentage of women working as computer/information scientists (including those who hold a bachelor's degree or higher in an S&E field, or have a bachelor's degree or higher and are working in an S&E field) declined slightly from 33.1% to 29.6% percent while the absolute numbers increased from 170,500 to 185,000. Numbers from the Bureau of Labor Statistics and Catalyst in 2006 indicated that women comprised 27-29% of the computing workforce. A National Public Radio report in 2013 stated that about 20% of all U.S. computer programmers are female. In open source fields, only 10% of programmers are women.

Benefits of gender diversity[edit]
A gender-diverse team is more likely to create products that meet people's requirements.[citation needed] When women are underrepresented, many technical decisions are based on men's experiences, opinions, and judgement, resulting in a male-slanted bias. In addition, a review of research on gender-diverse teams reveals that gender-diverse teams are more productive, more creative, and more able to stay on schedule and within budget, compared to homogenous teams, while other research review suggests that the results are mixed, with many studies showing no result, non-linear results or even negative results of gender diversity on team performances. Research conducted by McKinsey & Company showed that companies with women in top management were more financially successful, in contrast, analysis of sample major US companies showed no effect of inclusion of women (or minority members) on financial performance; these varied results give no conclusive evidence of the benefits of diversity.

The book Gender and Computers: Understanding the Digital Divide states that the lack of participation of females in computing excludes them from the "new economy", which calls for sophisticated computer skills in exchange for high salary positions.

Benefits of gender diversity
A gender-diverse team is more likely to create products that meet people's requirements.[citation needed] When women are underrepresented, many technical decisions are based on men's experiences, opinions, and judgement, resulting in a male-slanted bias. In addition, a review of research on gender-diverse teams revealed that gender-diverse teams are more productive, creative, and able to stay on schedule and within budget, compared to homogenous teams, while other research review suggests that the results are mixed, with many studies showing no result, non-linear results or even negative results of gender diversity on team performances. Research conducted by McKinsey & Company showed that companies with women in top management were more financially successful, in contrast analysis of sample major US companies showed no effect of inclusion of women (or minority members) on financial performance, these varied results give no conclusive evidence of the benefits of diversity.

The book Gender and Computers: Understanding the Digital Divide states that the lack of participation of females in computing excludes them from the "new economy," which calls for sophisticated computer skills in exchange for high salary positions.

Bringing women into computing
Computer Repairing Lilongwe Malawi The majority of data collected about women in IT has been qualitative analyses such as interviews and case studies. This data has been used to create effective programs addressing the underrepresentation of women in IT. Suggestions for incorporating more women in IT careers include formal mentoring, ongoing training opportunities, employee referral bonuses, multicultural training for all IT employees, as well as educational programs targeting women.

The number of female college entrants expressing interest in majoring in computer science decreased in the 2000s to pre-1980's levels. A research study was initialized by Allan Fisher, then Associate Dean for Undergraduate Computer Science Education at Carnegie Mellon University, and Jane Margolis, a social scientist and expert in gender equity in education, into the nature of this problem. The main issues discovered in interesting and retaining women in computer science were feelings of an experience gap, confidence doubts, interest in curriculum and pedagogy, and peer culture. Universities across North America are changing their computer science programs to make them more appealing to women. Proactive and positive exposures to early computer experiences, such as The Alice Project, founded by the late Randy Pausch at Carnegie Mellon University, are thought to be effective in terms of retention and creation of enthusiasm for women who may later consider entering the field. Institutions of higher education are also beginning to make changes regarding the process and availability of mentoring to women that are undergraduates in technical fields.

Another strategy for addressing this issue has been early outreach to elementary and high-school girls. Programs like all-girl computer camps, girls' after-school computer clubs, and support groups for girls have been instilled to create more interest at a younger age. A specific example of this kind of program is the Canadian Information Processing Society outreach program, in which a representative is sent to schools in Canada, speaking specifically to grade nine girls about the benefits of information technology careers. The purpose is to inform girls about the benefits and opportunities within the field of information technology. Companies like IBM also encourage young women to become interested in engineering, technology and science. IBM offers EX.I.T.E. (Exploring Interests in Technology and Engineering) camps for young women from the ages of 11 to 13.

Additionally, attempts are being made to make the efforts of female computer scientists more visible through events such as the Grace Hopper Celebration of Women conference series which allows women in the field to meet, collaborate and present their work. In the U.S., the Association for Women in Computing was founded in Washington, D.C. in 1978. Its purpose is to provide opportunities for the professional growth of women in computing through networking, and through programs on technical and career-oriented topics. In the United Kingdom, the British Computer Society (BCS) and other organizations have groups which promote the cause of women in computing, such as BCSWomen, founded by Sue Black, and the BCS Women's Forum. In Ontario, Canada, the Gr8 Designs for Gr8 Girls program was founded to develop grade 8 girls' interest in computer science.

There are a number of thinkers who engage with gender theories and issues related to women and technology. Such thinkers include, for example, Donna Haraway, Sadie Plant, Julie Wosk, Sally L. Hacker, Evelyn Fox Keller, Janet Abbate, Thelma Estrin, and Thomas J. Misa, among others. Recoding Gender: Women’s Changing Participation in Computing, written in 2012 by Janet Abbate examines the history of programming and how gender bias shifted the demographic of programmers. A 2008 book titled Gender and Information Technology: Moving Beyond Access to Co-Create Global Partnership uses Riane Eisler's cultural transformation theory to offer an interdisciplinary, social systems perspective on issues of access to technology. The book explores how shifting from dominator towards partnership systems — as reflected in four primary social institutions (communication, media, education, and business) - might help society move beyond the simplistic notion of access to co-create a real digital revolution worldwide.

A 2000 book titled Athena Unbound provides a life-course analysis (based on interviews and surveys) of women in the sciences from an early childhood interest, through university, to graduate school and finally into the academic workplace. The thesis of this book is that "women face a special series of gender related barriers to entry and success in scientific careers that persist, despite recent advances".

Computer scientist Karen Petrie, from University of Dundee, has developed an argument to illustrate why an attack on sexism in computing is not an attack on men. Ian Gent, University of St Andrews, has described this idea which is key to the argument as the "Petrie Multiplier".

According to J. McGrath Cohoon, senior research scientist for the National Center for Women & Information Technology, there are a few possible hypotheses for why women are underrepresented in computer sciences attributed to already established theories about the influence of gender and technology stereotypes. One gender related hypothesis is that women find it more difficult than men to contribute to the intellectual life of the field. This is in the sense that reviewers of their work are unconsciously downgraded due to their status as women or those women have lower confidence in this field that inhibits women's willingness to publicly present their technical findings. Due to this barrier of women as second-class citizens in the computing world, it creates an environment that is not accessible to women. A study by the Psychology of Women Quarterly backs this hypothesis up by concluding that even the enduring effect of single brief exposures to stereotypical role models leaves a strong mark. Their findings reported that the most important factor in recruiting women to the computer science field is that women meet with a potential role model, regardless of gender of that role model, that conveys to the woman a sense of belonging in the field. This finding suggests that support and encouragement are the two most important aspects that can influence women participation in computing. In order for women to be more receptive to the field is if the environment became a more welcoming place by their male counterparts.

Cordelia Fine in her book Delusions of Gender argues that apparent differences are due to constant exposure to societal beliefs of gender difference. Fine also argues that "...while social effects on sex differences are well-established, spurious results, poor methodologies and untested assumptions mean we don't yet know whether, on average, males and females are born differently predisposed to systemizing versus empathising."

Another argument for why women are less prevalent in computer science is the ill-defined nature of computing according to Paul De Palma. In his article Why Women Avoid Computer Science, he postulates that women find careers in computing unattractive. He finds that among the many reasons offered, he believes the nature of computing is what drives them away. He claims that young men who are drawn to computer science and engineering are those that like to tinker, those who like to use tools to create and dismantle objects. He further claims that computing is not a true profession, that traditional career paths such as law, business, and medicine are more certain and profitable on average than computing. He compares it to using a computer. They nowadays do not come with lengthy manuals on the inner workings of the modern day computer'''. The complicated nature of tools, the tinkering nature of men, and the drive born from gender stereotyping from birth, has made men successful in this field. His claim focuses on the idea that boys and girls fall into gender stereotypes - girls usually are''' given dolls and boys are given trucks and toy tool boxes. He claims that these gender roles placed on children are one of the primary causes for the gender gap seen in computer science. He postulates that if we were to see more girls playing with trucks and other "boy-related" toys that perhaps we would see an increase in this tinkering nature and therefore more participation of women in the computer science field.