User:Jag223/sandbox

WikiProposal

I will be contributing to the "Gender Disparity in Computing" Article. Here are some of the contents of my proposal:

Importance:

The gender disparity in computing refers to technology being a male-dominated field and consequently, women being underrepresented in the field. It is an important issue as it results in technology being biased towards male perspectives and there being a disparity in capabilities between genders (e.g. employment in technology, influence over technology’s directions, who technology is designed for, etc).

Areas of Need:

Initial Writing:
 * 1) More Content
 * 2) More updated information
 * 3) Writing mechanics/grammar
 * 4) Coherency

Geek culture has led to an underrepresentation of women in computing especially when it comes to people of color and people from low-income backgrounds. In relation to computing, “geek culture” is characterized by people who have a deep interest and understanding in computing and tend to be socially awkward and prefer spending time with technology over socializing with people. “Geek” is also synonymous to “hacker” and “nerd”. The geek archetype is seen as white and masculine, and thus projects an ideal of who drives and succeeds in computing—white men. When it comes to women, the impact of geek culture may begin as early as middle school, with surveys of girls in middle and high school finding that they believe computing to be an “isolating” field. Furthermore, the impact of geek culture contributing to the dominance of men in computing has led to women facing more intimidating classroom environments and a lack of resources for women in education and the workforce.

Full Contribution Sections:

Female and male perspectives:

Geek culture has led to an underrepresentation of women in computing especially when it comes to people of color and people from low-income backgrounds. In relation to computing, “geek culture” is characterized by people who have a deep interest and understanding in computing and tend to be socially awkward and prefer spending time with technology over socializing with people. “Geek” is also synonymous to “hacker” and “nerd”. The geek archetype is seen as white and masculine, and thus projects an ideal of who drives and succeeds in computing—white men. When it comes to women, the impact of geek culture may begin as early as middle school, with surveys of girls in middle and high school finding that they believe computing to be an “isolating” field. Furthermore, the impact of geek culture contributing to the dominance of men in computing has led to women facing more intimidating classroom environments and a lack of resources for women in education and the workforce.

In a chapter on cultural perspectives to gender diversity in computing, reasons as to why women join or do not join computing are very related to the field’s environment and how it is perceived, as opposed to gender itself; gender can be thought of as a culture topic. To help more women and underrepresented people join computing, it is important to develop a culture or subcultures that better account for women and the experiences of minorities. Culture refers to the values, relationships, behaviors, and attitudes that are shared across a group of people, and it shapes those in a certain culture and thus serves as spaces to create change and intervene. A case study of women and men in CS at Carnegie Mellon University in the mid-1990s found that women and men tended to have different attitudes toward computing—women wanted to be productive with computer science, and men were more interested in computer science itself. It was also learned that women had significantly lower confidence when it came to computer science, and felt that they did not fit into the computer science community.