Skip to content
  • Categories
  • Recent
  • Tags
  • Popular
  • World
  • Users
  • Groups
Skins
  • Light
  • Cerulean
  • Cosmo
  • Flatly
  • Journal
  • Litera
  • Lumen
  • Lux
  • Materia
  • Minty
  • Morph
  • Pulse
  • Sandstone
  • Simplex
  • Sketchy
  • Spacelab
  • United
  • Yeti
  • Zephyr
  • Dark
  • Cyborg
  • Darkly
  • Quartz
  • Slate
  • Solar
  • Superhero
  • Vapor

  • Default (No Skin)
  • No Skin
Collapse
Code Project
  1. Home
  2. The Lounge
  3. Why are there so few girls in programming?

Why are there so few girls in programming?

Scheduled Pinned Locked Moved The Lounge
beta-testingquestiondiscussioncode-reviewlearning
102 Posts 36 Posters 0 Views 1 Watching
  • Oldest to Newest
  • Newest to Oldest
  • Most Votes
Reply
  • Reply as topic
Log in to reply
This topic has been deleted. Only users with topic management privileges can see it.
  • L leckey 0

    Okay, I'm a girl and I like programming. I'm not very good at it yet, but I do like it. I've done research on women in science and the number of girls going into "computer" (whether programming, IT, etc.) keeps dropping significantly every year. For those of you with a formal education I'm curious how many girls you had in classes, how they acted (shy? open for discussion?), ethnic diversity (we had a few foreign girls but i was the only "white" girl in most of my classes.) But why do you think so few girls go into programming/computers? Other girls please give your feedback!

    L Offline
    L Offline
    led mike
    wrote on last edited by
    #41

    That is an interesting question. I propose that we get you, me and as many of the other female CPians that are interested in this topic to meet in person, for about 5 days to discuss the issue.

    "Just about every question you've asked over the last 3-4 days has been "urgent". Perhaps a little planning would be helpful?"
    Colin Angus Mackay in the C# forum

    led mike

    J L 2 Replies Last reply
    0
    • V Vasudevan Deepak Kumar

      I think that should be from your perspective. India, in IT at least, presents a more broader picture with more opportunities for girls in programming. There are tangible evidences for this, as you flip through the daily newspapers or weblogs too. Even the matrimonial advertisements that you can check out in regional news papers in Chennai, you can find that there are a lot of girls in top positions and looking out for on par life partners. Vasudevan Deepak Kumar Personal Homepage namespace LavanyaDeepak
      Personal Weblog
      The World of Deepak and Lavanya
      ViewPoint 24x7

      _ Offline
      _ Offline
      _AK_
      wrote on last edited by
      #42

      But still the number is pretty less if you think about programming. Best Regards, Apurva Kaushal

      V N 2 Replies Last reply
      0
      • S Shog9 0

        leckey wrote:

        Okay, I'm a girl and I like programming.

        Sorry, i don't buy it. Hardly any girls like programming, everyone knows that - but plenty of programmers like to play fast and lose with the sex of their online personas. I suspect you are merely one of the latter... :suss:

        ---- Scripts i’ve known... CPhog 1.0.0.0 - make CP better. Forum Bookmark 0.2.5 - bookmark forum posts on Pensieve Print forum 0.1.2 - printer-friendly forums Expand all 1.0 - Expand all messages In-place Delete 1.0 - AJAX-style post delete Syntax 0.1 - Syntax highlighting for code blocks in the forums

        L Offline
        L Offline
        led mike
        wrote on last edited by
        #43

        Shog9 wrote:

        plenty of programmers like to play fast and lose with the sex of their online personas

        Please don't tell me you are really a girl! :~ :laugh::laugh::laugh:

        "Just about every question you've asked over the last 3-4 days has been "urgent". Perhaps a little planning would be helpful?"
        Colin Angus Mackay in the C# forum

        led mike

        1 Reply Last reply
        0
        • J John M Drescher

          The numbers are even worse in electrical engineering I remember when I was in school there were 65 guys an 2 to 4 girls in most of my core EE classes. John

          A Offline
          A Offline
          ankita patel 0
          wrote on last edited by
          #44

          John M. Drescher wrote:

          The numbers are even worse in electrical engineering

          yep, I have seen that too. One big surprise for me was the civil engineering class in undergrad. Some how we had 2 clsses for civil engineering, where as one for every other field. One of the civil eng. class had more than 80% girls and other one had 40-60 or may be 50-50 girls and guys. I can't explain that now :-D Ankita

          1 Reply Last reply
          0
          • L led mike

            That is an interesting question. I propose that we get you, me and as many of the other female CPians that are interested in this topic to meet in person, for about 5 days to discuss the issue.

            "Just about every question you've asked over the last 3-4 days has been "urgent". Perhaps a little planning would be helpful?"
            Colin Angus Mackay in the C# forum

            led mike

            J Offline
            J Offline
            Jeremy Falcon
            wrote on last edited by
            #45

            led mike wrote:

            I propose that we get you, me and as many of the other female CPians that are interested in this topic to meet in person

            And yet in your profile you keep on referring to yourself as "He". Yeah, women do that all the time. :doh: Jeremy Falcon

            L C 2 Replies Last reply
            0
            • L leckey 0

              Okay, I'm a girl and I like programming. I'm not very good at it yet, but I do like it. I've done research on women in science and the number of girls going into "computer" (whether programming, IT, etc.) keeps dropping significantly every year. For those of you with a formal education I'm curious how many girls you had in classes, how they acted (shy? open for discussion?), ethnic diversity (we had a few foreign girls but i was the only "white" girl in most of my classes.) But why do you think so few girls go into programming/computers? Other girls please give your feedback!

              R Offline
              R Offline
              Rocky Moore
              wrote on last edited by
              #46

              Try of the places I have worked had females. The first place had a few and they seemed to well, but where not aggressive in their work, much more willing to listen and produce what they were assigned. Many of the males where more likely to enhance the designs and push more. The other place I worked that had females, had only one but that was 1/5 the developers :) She was much like the females at the other shop that had them, in that she would build to spec and not go outside that spec usually. She was a really good and fast developer, she could crank out the code and do repetitious work that most of us did not like. The only battles there on design came from the male developers :) So far, my view of female developers have been a positive one! Rocky <>< Latest Post: Visual Studio 2005 Standard, whats missing? Blog: www.RockyMoore.com/TheCoder/[^]

              1 Reply Last reply
              0
              • L leckey 0

                Okay, I'm a girl and I like programming. I'm not very good at it yet, but I do like it. I've done research on women in science and the number of girls going into "computer" (whether programming, IT, etc.) keeps dropping significantly every year. For those of you with a formal education I'm curious how many girls you had in classes, how they acted (shy? open for discussion?), ethnic diversity (we had a few foreign girls but i was the only "white" girl in most of my classes.) But why do you think so few girls go into programming/computers? Other girls please give your feedback!

                H Offline
                H Offline
                HakunaMatada
                wrote on last edited by
                #47

                leckey wrote:

                But why do you think so few girls go into programming/computers?

                Coz most of them don't like programming? :rolleyes: --- With best regards, A Manchester United Fan The Genius of a true fool is that he can mess up a foolproof plan!

                C 1 Reply Last reply
                0
                • L leckey 0

                  Okay, I'm a girl and I like programming. I'm not very good at it yet, but I do like it. I've done research on women in science and the number of girls going into "computer" (whether programming, IT, etc.) keeps dropping significantly every year. For those of you with a formal education I'm curious how many girls you had in classes, how they acted (shy? open for discussion?), ethnic diversity (we had a few foreign girls but i was the only "white" girl in most of my classes.) But why do you think so few girls go into programming/computers? Other girls please give your feedback!

                  C Offline
                  C Offline
                  Corinna John
                  wrote on last edited by
                  #48

                  leckey wrote:

                  how many girls you had in classes

                  A while back, when I learned the profession Fachinformatiker[^] (German word for somebody who learned an IT job for three years in a company an a school), we were five girls in my class, and about 20 or 25 boys. Two of the girls didn't get it and don't work in IT anymore. Today I'm just about to finish the next part of german IT education, in a few days I'm going to be Techniker für Informatik[^]. When the class started four years ago, we were five girls, two of them left the school during the first year, the third one left in her second year. So we are only two girls (and six boys) who'll leave the school with the full certification. One of the boys wants to go to university. All others are happy to be finished with that stuff. Seven years of IT school seem short, now, when looking back ... but it must have been hard enough to reduce the size of our class from 28 (first day) down to 8 (people you actually did the final exams).

                  leckey wrote:

                  why do you think so few girls go into programming

                  Most of the girls I know have more social and less technical interests, and they have strange ideas about the IT business. They say they want to work with people, or that they don't understand all that tech stuff. Well, an IT worker has a lot to do with people, software is only there to be used by people - anyway, the image of the pale hacker in front of the screen seems to be programmed into girl's minds. Another point is that most of the girls I kno think that programming would be complicated and hard to understand. They are afraid of the "challenge" ... lazy and badly informed are those ladies... Anyway, we cannot force girls to do programming. If they don't like computer, well, let them do the low paid "women's

                  C 1 Reply Last reply
                  0
                  • _ _AK_

                    But still the number is pretty less if you think about programming. Best Regards, Apurva Kaushal

                    V Offline
                    V Offline
                    Vasudevan Deepak Kumar
                    wrote on last edited by
                    #49

                    In a way yes. Perhaps, it is by law of nature too. Even after joining work, females shoulder a lot of family responsibilities, which reduces thier contribution on par with thier male counterparts. Vasudevan Deepak Kumar Personal Homepage namespace LavanyaDeepak
                    Personal Weblog
                    The World of Deepak and Lavanya
                    ViewPoint 24x7

                    _ 1 Reply Last reply
                    0
                    • H HakunaMatada

                      leckey wrote:

                      But why do you think so few girls go into programming/computers?

                      Coz most of them don't like programming? :rolleyes: --- With best regards, A Manchester United Fan The Genius of a true fool is that he can mess up a foolproof plan!

                      C Offline
                      C Offline
                      Corinna John
                      wrote on last edited by
                      #50

                      Yes, that's a fact. But why don't they like programming? _____________________________________________________________________________ I don't expect too much, all I want is your vote for Halbsichtigkeit.

                      H L 2 Replies Last reply
                      0
                      • J Jeremy Falcon

                        led mike wrote:

                        I propose that we get you, me and as many of the other female CPians that are interested in this topic to meet in person

                        And yet in your profile you keep on referring to yourself as "He". Yeah, women do that all the time. :doh: Jeremy Falcon

                        L Offline
                        L Offline
                        led mike
                        wrote on last edited by
                        #51

                        That is not meant to suggest I am a girl ;)

                        "Just about every question you've asked over the last 3-4 days has been "urgent". Perhaps a little planning would be helpful?"
                        Colin Angus Mackay in the C# forum

                        led mike

                        J 1 Reply Last reply
                        0
                        • V Vasudevan Deepak Kumar

                          In a way yes. Perhaps, it is by law of nature too. Even after joining work, females shoulder a lot of family responsibilities, which reduces thier contribution on par with thier male counterparts. Vasudevan Deepak Kumar Personal Homepage namespace LavanyaDeepak
                          Personal Weblog
                          The World of Deepak and Lavanya
                          ViewPoint 24x7

                          _ Offline
                          _ Offline
                          _AK_
                          wrote on last edited by
                          #52

                          ya that is true but the things are changing rapidly. Best Regards, Apurva Kaushal

                          V 1 Reply Last reply
                          0
                          • _ _AK_

                            ya that is true but the things are changing rapidly. Best Regards, Apurva Kaushal

                            V Offline
                            V Offline
                            Vasudevan Deepak Kumar
                            wrote on last edited by
                            #53

                            apurva kaushal wrote:

                            but the things are changing rapidly

                            Yes... In 'Leaps and Bounds' :rose: Vasudevan Deepak Kumar Personal Homepage namespace LavanyaDeepak
                            Personal Weblog
                            The World of Deepak and Lavanya
                            ViewPoint 24x7

                            _ 1 Reply Last reply
                            0
                            • L leckey 0

                              Okay, I'm a girl and I like programming. I'm not very good at it yet, but I do like it. I've done research on women in science and the number of girls going into "computer" (whether programming, IT, etc.) keeps dropping significantly every year. For those of you with a formal education I'm curious how many girls you had in classes, how they acted (shy? open for discussion?), ethnic diversity (we had a few foreign girls but i was the only "white" girl in most of my classes.) But why do you think so few girls go into programming/computers? Other girls please give your feedback!

                              P Offline
                              P Offline
                              Peter Wone
                              wrote on last edited by
                              #54

                              Because nature and nurture conspire against them. Just this week I read a med sci piece on some bit of the brain that lights up like a christmas tree in autistic idiots savant and not at all in women, with blokes in the middle and nerdy engineers lighting up more than usual. That said, of the two (count them, two of forty) women in my computing course fifteen years ago, one was an oxygen thief and the other was so good it was scary. And she was a natural blonde with a radiant smile and a body to die for, with nice perky, oh wait wrong type of website. But you get the gist. I feel that we let down engineers everywhere when we failed to capture and clone her. Imagine, if you will, a world of hot chicks who like pizza, video games, programming computers and building gadgets, rode around on a trailbike... man, she even brewed her own beer! -- modified at 2:04 Thursday 22nd June, 2006

                              C L 2 Replies Last reply
                              0
                              • S Shog9 0

                                leckey wrote:

                                Okay, I'm a girl and I like programming.

                                Sorry, i don't buy it. Hardly any girls like programming, everyone knows that - but plenty of programmers like to play fast and lose with the sex of their online personas. I suspect you are merely one of the latter... :suss:

                                ---- Scripts i’ve known... CPhog 1.0.0.0 - make CP better. Forum Bookmark 0.2.5 - bookmark forum posts on Pensieve Print forum 0.1.2 - printer-friendly forums Expand all 1.0 - Expand all messages In-place Delete 1.0 - AJAX-style post delete Syntax 0.1 - Syntax highlighting for code blocks in the forums

                                E Offline
                                E Offline
                                Edbert P
                                wrote on last edited by
                                #55

                                Hardly. But I personally know one who prefers programming to any other stuff. She's a bit tomboyish though, very independent, doesn't like make-ups and likes to wear her pants jeans. (No, she's not lesbian). "Democracy is two wolves and a sheep voting on what to have for dinner" - Ross Edbert Sydney, Australia

                                1 Reply Last reply
                                0
                                • J Jeremy Falcon

                                  led mike wrote:

                                  I propose that we get you, me and as many of the other female CPians that are interested in this topic to meet in person

                                  And yet in your profile you keep on referring to yourself as "He". Yeah, women do that all the time. :doh: Jeremy Falcon

                                  C Offline
                                  C Offline
                                  code frog 0
                                  wrote on last edited by
                                  #56

                                  Dude. Your SLLLLLOOOOOOOOOOOOOWWWWWWWWWWWW.:-D He wants to hook up with all the programming chicks and hand pick the hotties for 5 days of fun and sun.


                                  "You have an arrow in your butt!" - Fiona:cool:
                                  Welcome to CP in your language. Post the unicode version in My CP Blog [ ^ ] now.

                                  People who don't understand how awesome Firefox is have never used CPhog[^]CPhog. The act of using CPhog (Firefox)[^] alone doesn't make Firefox cool. It opens your eyes to the possibilities and then you start looking for other things like CPhog (Firefox)[^] and your eyes are suddenly open to all sorts of useful things all through Firefox. - (Self Quote)

                                  J A 2 Replies Last reply
                                  0
                                  • C code frog 0

                                    Dude. Your SLLLLLOOOOOOOOOOOOOWWWWWWWWWWWW.:-D He wants to hook up with all the programming chicks and hand pick the hotties for 5 days of fun and sun.


                                    "You have an arrow in your butt!" - Fiona:cool:
                                    Welcome to CP in your language. Post the unicode version in My CP Blog [ ^ ] now.

                                    People who don't understand how awesome Firefox is have never used CPhog[^]CPhog. The act of using CPhog (Firefox)[^] alone doesn't make Firefox cool. It opens your eyes to the possibilities and then you start looking for other things like CPhog (Firefox)[^] and your eyes are suddenly open to all sorts of useful things all through Firefox. - (Self Quote)

                                    J Offline
                                    J Offline
                                    Jeremy Falcon
                                    wrote on last edited by
                                    #57

                                    :doh::laugh: Oops. Jeremy Falcon

                                    1 Reply Last reply
                                    0
                                    • L led mike

                                      That is not meant to suggest I am a girl ;)

                                      "Just about every question you've asked over the last 3-4 days has been "urgent". Perhaps a little planning would be helpful?"
                                      Colin Angus Mackay in the C# forum

                                      led mike

                                      J Offline
                                      J Offline
                                      Jeremy Falcon
                                      wrote on last edited by
                                      #58

                                      led mike wrote:

                                      That is not meant to suggest I am a girl

                                      Well I feel releived. :-D Jeremy Falcon

                                      1 Reply Last reply
                                      0
                                      • V Vasudevan Deepak Kumar

                                        apurva kaushal wrote:

                                        but the things are changing rapidly

                                        Yes... In 'Leaps and Bounds' :rose: Vasudevan Deepak Kumar Personal Homepage namespace LavanyaDeepak
                                        Personal Weblog
                                        The World of Deepak and Lavanya
                                        ViewPoint 24x7

                                        _ Offline
                                        _ Offline
                                        _AK_
                                        wrote on last edited by
                                        #59

                                        Vasudevan Deepak Kumar wrote:

                                        In 'Leaps and Bounds'

                                        what is that Leaps and bounds :( Best Regards, Apurva Kaushal

                                        1 Reply Last reply
                                        0
                                        • L leckey 0

                                          Okay, I'm a girl and I like programming. I'm not very good at it yet, but I do like it. I've done research on women in science and the number of girls going into "computer" (whether programming, IT, etc.) keeps dropping significantly every year. For those of you with a formal education I'm curious how many girls you had in classes, how they acted (shy? open for discussion?), ethnic diversity (we had a few foreign girls but i was the only "white" girl in most of my classes.) But why do you think so few girls go into programming/computers? Other girls please give your feedback!

                                          P Offline
                                          P Offline
                                          peterchen
                                          wrote on last edited by
                                          #60

                                          I haven't seen many classes, but I remember one girl that was struggling desparately, I always felt she'll never make it, and I was torn between "tell her my opinion so she tries to find something else", and "not telling her because how should I know?" OTOH, a long term acquaintance turned out to be a real code geek after years 'knowing' her (gosh, a girl arguing about C code - I never thought I'd ever meet one, and there she was all the time). At least now I understand some of her personality quirks better. Being from east germany, ethnic diversity in tech jobs is still close to zero.


                                          Some of us walk the memory lane, others plummet into a rabbit hole
                                          Tree in C# || Fold With Us! || sighist

                                          1 Reply Last reply
                                          0
                                          Reply
                                          • Reply as topic
                                          Log in to reply
                                          • Oldest to Newest
                                          • Newest to Oldest
                                          • Most Votes


                                          • Login

                                          • Don't have an account? Register

                                          • Login or register to search.
                                          • First post
                                            Last post
                                          0
                                          • Categories
                                          • Recent
                                          • Tags
                                          • Popular
                                          • World
                                          • Users
                                          • Groups