rcj@burl.UUCP (Curtis Jackson) (02/28/86)
In article <1028@dcl-cs.UUCP> craig@comp.lancs.ac.uk (Craig Wylie) writes: >Has anybody else noticed a sharp drop in the number of Women applying >to study CS ? > > <more, down to 10%, etc.> > >We are currently examining ways of rectifying this problem, any hints >from others would be most welcome. a) Has anybody tried to find out for what they ARE applying to study instead? That would seem to be a good indicator. b) On a related note -- when I attended the University of Mississippi a few years ago, people (both sexes) were flooding into the CS school in their junior year; abandoning marketing and management majors right and left. Turns out that CS was a little tough for most of these people, who seemed to be strictly $$$-motivated (or should have been tough, but that is a sore subject best left unbroached here). Anyway, I've heard rumors from various colleges across the U.S. that people are now turning away from the technical fields in droves to go back into the "classier" areas of business -- high-level management, banking & finance, brokerage, etc. Seems that the YUPPie craze has enforced the idea that the "in" professions are more along these lines, and that there is much more potential money and upward-mobility in these fields. -- The MAD Programmer -- 919-228-3313 (Cornet 291) alias: Curtis Jackson ...![ ihnp4 ulysses cbosgd mgnetp ]!burl!rcj ...![ ihnp4 cbosgd akgua masscomp ]!clyde!rcj
kendalla@orca.UUCP (Kendall Auel) (03/01/86)
My wife is currently studying physics, and had to learn programming as part of the curriculum. Being a software type myself, I encouraged her to take more CS classes. Her response can be paraphrased "CS is about as much fun as housework." Could it be that this is a pervasive attitude among women in science?
carl@aoa.UUCP (Carl Witthoft) (03/04/86)
In article <2008@orca.UUCP> kendalla@orca.UUCP (Kendall Auel) writes: >My wife is currently studying physics, and had to learn programming as >part of the curriculum. Being a software type myself, I encouraged her >to take more CS classes. Her response can be paraphrased "CS is about >as much fun as housework." > >Could it be that this is a pervasive attitude among women in science? I sure hope you wanted lots of :=) there, because I'm one of many who get ripped at sexism. I'm male ( last time I looked) and consider CS less fun than housework. At least housework has clear rules and documentation, e.g. on how to change a vacuum cleaner bag. BTW I've got two degrees in Physics and fail to see why anyone should be *REQUIRED* to learn programming. Darwin's Dad ( Carl Witthoft @ Adaptive Optics Associates) {decvax,linus,ihnp4,ima,wjh12,wanginst}!bbncca!aoa!carl {wjh12,mit-vax}!biomed!aoa!carl 54 CambridgePark Drive, Cambridge,MA 02140 617-864-0201x356 "Selmer MarkVI, Otto Link 5*, and VanDoren Java Cut."
mrgofor@mmm.UUCP (MKR) (03/10/86)
In article <2008@orca.UUCP> kendalla@orca.UUCP (Kendall Auel) writes: >My wife is currently studying physics, and had to learn programming as >part of the curriculum. Being a software type myself, I encouraged her >to take more CS classes. Her response can be paraphrased "CS is about >as much fun as housework." > >Could it be that this is a pervasive attitude among women in science? A sample size of 1. I think you may be onto something here - ask two or three more people, and if any of them agree, I think you certainly have every justification for calling the attitude "pervasive". :-) -- --MKR If Man were meant to use the metric system, Jesus would have had 10 disciples.