Accessibility of Computer Science: A Re Ection For Faculty Members

Accessibility of Computer Science:
A Re ection for Faculty Members

Dianne P. O'Leary
June 25, 1999
Over the past twenty years, the student population in Computer Science depart-
ments has become increasingly male, and the number of women among faculty
members has remained quite small. Thus, many academic Computer Science
Departments are almost exclusively male environments.
These notes are meant to be a contribution to dialog on the implications of this
fact for premier departments.
Some of the quotations are drawn from documents at ETH and the University
of Maryland, because I have rst-hand experience at both institutions, but the
observations and conclusions are more broadly applicable.
Acknowledgements: Version 1 of this document was written while I was
on sabbatical at the Departement Informatik, ETH Zurich, Switzerland, and
I am grateful for the hospitality provided by Professor Walter Gander. This
document benetted from helpful advice and references from Nora Sleumer and
Timothy O'Leary.
Copyright Dianne P. O'Leary, 1999
Version 1: June 1999
1 Picture Yourself:
You are male, almost 20 years old, naive but bright. You choose to major in
Computer Science, and on your rst day at the university you walk into your
rst class and nd a large room full of excited newcomers { and all but a handful
of them are female.
You might begin to wonder
http://www.cs.umd.edu/users/oleary/
1
Why aren't more males interested in this subject?
Aren't males good at Computer Science?
Should you change majors?
You persevere, though, but midsemester you still have doubts.
\Everyone" else seems to have a lot more experience than you do; at least
it seems that they understand the subject better.
The one time you got the courage to answer a question that the assistant
asked, some of the females in the course seemed to resent it.
None of the projects have been very motivating, although many of the
females seem to really enjoy them.
Many of the females have formed study groups, but you aren't invited
to join. The other males seem equally isolated but afraid to be seen as
banding together.
You haven't seen any male faculty members or assistants in the depart-
ment, so you wonder if you have any future in the subject.
After the end of the semester, you take the exam, but don't do very well. This
magnies your earlier doubts.
Will you continue to study Computer Science?
2 Unrealistic?
Yes, this scenario is totally unrealistic, but reverse the genders and you begin
to understand how Computer Science can look to female students.
==========================
\Your mind is like a parachute. It only works if it is open."
Anthony J. D'Angelo
2
3 Are women less talented in Computer Sci-
ence?
\In 1986 in the former GDR, 50% of Computer Science students were
women (after an incredible 80% in 1972 in TU Dresden). Since then, this
has declined to approximately 10%." [1, p.6]
The percentage of women among recipients of U.S. bachelor's degrees in
Computer Science was 37% in 1984, but only 28% in 1994 [2]. The per-
centage has dropped further since then, even though more than half of all
bachelor's degrees are awarded to women.
If women were able to do Computer Science in the 1980's, surely they are
qualied now, but they are making other choices.
Women (on average) outscore men on the verbal portion of the SAT exam,
used for college entrance in the United States. Skills measured by this
exam are at least as important as mathematical ones in many areas of
computer science research today, including visualization, articial intelli-
gence, computational linguistics, language and compiler design, human-
computer interaction, etc.
Males (on average) outscore women on the mathematical portion of the
SAT exam, but the gap seems to be narrowing [3] and once math expe-
rience is factored out of studies comparing male and female math ability,
most of the dierence disappears [4].
From the \prehistory" of computers (Ada Lovelace) through its early his-
tory and up to the present, women have made fundamental and unique
contributions to Computer Science [5].
==========================
\In fact, most work with computers involves manipulation of infor-
mation and communication with people, which relies as much on
verbal and interpersonal skills as on mathematical abilities."
V. Clarke
==========================
\[I]t is not true that girls are no good at computing or that they are
not interested in computing, but it is true that both men and women
believe that girls are no good at computing and believe that they do
3
not like computing. Such beliefs are self-perpetuating, and dicult,
but not impossible, to change."
V. Clarke
References/Resources1
4 Do women \think" dierently about technical

subjects like Computer Science?
That is an interesting biologic and sociologic question, but whether the answer
is \yes" or \no" really has little impact on the fact that women are underrep-
resented in Computer Science.
If they do think dierently, \[W]omen may bring with them specic skills
and approaches that actually enhance the eld of computing." J. Cottrell
[1]
If they don't, there can be no argument that they have less aptitude than
men.
==========================
\The real problem is not whether machines think but whether men
do."
B. F. Skinner
5 So why do so few women enter the Computer

Science program?
Most have little or no exposure to it in their pre-university studies, and
they nd little recreational software that appeals to them. Therefore, they
never seriously consider the major unless they are encouraged by a relative
or friend in the eld or by an outreach program run by a university.
1 20
2 21
4
The media has quite clearly projected the image of computer scientist as
hacker: single minded, socially inept, obsessed with his work. This is not
a particularly appealing professional goal [1].
==========================
\The predominant themes of recreational computer games are war,
battles, crimes, destruction, and traditionally male-oriented sports
and hobbies [14]. Thus, it is not surprising that boys use computers
in courses and summer camps both earlier and more often than do
girls.
A. Pearl, M. E. Pollack, E. Riskin, B. Thomas, E. Wolf, and A. Wu
==========================
\I asked ten friends of mine, all girls and women of color, to paint
a picture for me of the person who came to mind when I said the
words `computer scientist.' Nine out of ten said he was white."
C. Edwards
6 Why do so many of these women leave the

Computer Science program?
A lack of self-condence seems to be typical of women in their high school and
college years.
\Self-condence regarding mathematics appears to be the most dis-

tinguishing characteristic separating collegiate men and women. There
are clear indications that at every level, from middle school to the
doctorate, women generally are less condent in their mathematical
abilities than men. Successful women report receiving encourage-
ment and assurance of their abilities at several critical junctions
from parents and instructor." D. J. Lewis [1]
3 22
5
The situation is similar in Computer Science [2]. Since many women lack con-
dence in their decision to enter the program, it is easy to change their minds,
especially if they encounter bias in their teachers and colleagues and see a less
\chilly environment" in another subject area.
If a Computer Science department wants to retain its women students, then
this lack of condence is a fact to be recognized, and the faculty would need to
follow the guidance of the Hippocratic oath: \First, do no harm."
==========================
\[T]he actions often are not intended to be discriminatory; the people
who convey biased attitudes toward women may be well-intentioned.
Nevertheless, the eect of their behavior is to undermine the pro-
fessional image of women held by their colleagues and the women
themselves."
A. Pearl, M. E. Pollack, E. Riskin, B. Thomas, E. Wolf, and A. Wu
==========================
\Singly, these behaviors probably have little eect. But when they
occur again and again, they give a powerful message to women: they
are not as worthwhile as men nor are they expected to participate
fully in class, in college, or in life at large."
B. R. Sandler
==========================
\The unequal treatment of women who come to MIT makes it more
dicult for them to succeed, causes them to be accorded less recogni-
tion when they do, and contributes so substantially to a poor quality
of life that these women can actually become negative role models for
younger women, [wrote the tenured women of the Faculty of Science
in a report to the Dean of Science]. In short, they said, they were
so miserable that any young woman looking up at them would think,
`Why would I want that?'"
Boston Globe, 21 March 1999, p. A01
4 23
6
7 What makes the environment chilly?
Each woman reacts dierently, but some may be made uneasy by conditions
such as these:
few women assistants and faculty members to serve as role models [1,2].
reduced access to study groups [1,9].
programming projects designed for male interests [3].
devaluing of women's contributions, especially attributing them to male
colleagues [2,4].
friction between women coping by being \one of the boys" in work habits,
socialization, and competitiveness, and those seeking an alternative path
[5,10].
hostile attitude from a few male students [4].
expectation of instructor that she will do poorly [6,7] and negative feed-
back from instructors [8, p.51].
classes that overwhelmingly use male language (\the user ... he", or \sup-
pose that your wife...") and gender-stereotyped examples [4].
Each is just a little issue, but the cumulative eect can be overwhelming.
==========================
\However, the lack of social and professional connections available
to most women in academic science and engineering departments,
in concert with overt and covert gender bias as well as dierences in
socialization, creates special and unique problems for women."
H. Etzkowitz, C. Kemelgor, M. Neuschatz, B. Uzzi
==========================
\I have always believed that contemporary gender discrimination
within universities is part reality and part perception. True, but I
now understand that reality is by far the greater part of the balance."
Charles M. Vest, president of MIT
5 24
7
8 But the instructor's attitude can't make the
female student fail, can it?
Studies show that students live up to the instructor's expectations, uncon-
sciously trying to prove the expectations correct [1].
If a professor makes a sexist joke, a female student might well nd it so disturbing
that she is unable to listen to the rest of the lecture [2]. Suggestive pictures used
in lectures on image processing are similarly distracting to the women listeners
and convey the message that the lecturer caters to the males only. For example,
it is amazing that the \Lena" pin-up image is still used as an example in courses
and published as a test image in journals today [3]
==========================
\Dealing with prejudice can drain a person's energy and motivation.
After an oral exam in an honors university physics course, my pro-
fessor said, `You know, you are a girl, but you are good.' My re-
action: why continue in a eld where the established scientists will
expect incompetence from any woman? It is easier to break into a
eld where people will judge me rst on my merits."
D. P. O'Leary
9 Where do prejudices come from?

Professor Alpha had previous female students. He found them too
quiet, and they had too little background. Two of them dropped out.
And his daughter and sister have no talent in Computer Science.
Would you like to have your potential judged on the basis of your brother's
skills?
Or on the basis of the weakest student in your class in high school (gymnasium)?
Unfortunately, children as young as three years old have been shown to have
formed restricting gender stereotypes (for example, that girls cannot be doctors
[1]), so it is unlikely that any of us are free of them. We need to be aware of
the tendency and compensate for it.
==========================
6 25
8
A man and his son are in an auto accident. The man dies, and the
son is rushed to the hospital for surgery. In the operating room, the
doctor says, \I can't do the operation; this is my son!" How is this
possible?
==========================
\Aristotle maintained that women have fewer teeth than men; al-
though he was twice married, it never occurred to him to verify this
statement by examining his wives' mouths."
Bertrand Russell
10 Why should I care about whether women are

comfortable in the Computer Science pro-
gram at my university?
Premier departments are making eorts to increase the participation of women.
For example, in the early 1990's when the percentage of women undergraduate
Computer Science majors at MIT dropped to 20%, this became a source of
concern. In many departments, the percentage is far lower; e.g., 6% at ETH in
1999, according to the Sommer 1999 Semesterprogramm.
As the number of males entering college decreases (due to decreased birthrates),
it will become even more dicult for industry to ll their technical positions
unless talented women successfully complete degree programs.
Can a country compete in a global economy when half of its talented citizens
nd it dicult to receive technical training?
==========================
\ `Alle Dienststellen haben in ihrem Bereich die Gleichstellung zu
verwirklichen.' Mit diesem Grundsatz hat der Schweizerische Bun-
desrat 1991 die `Weisung uber die Verbesserung der Vertretung und
der beru ichen Stellung des weibliche Personals in der allgemeinen
7 26
9
Bundesverwaltung' erlassen. Gleichstellung an der ETH Zurich be-
deutet grundsatzlich, dass die Chancengleichheit von Frauen und
Mannern sichergestellt ist."
\All departments have to achieve equality within their area." With
this principle the Swiss Federal Council legislated the direction of the
improvement of the representation of female personnel in the federal
government. Equality at the ETH means that the equality of oppor-
tunity of men and women is secured."
http://www.equal.ethz.ch/scg/scg.html
==========================
\It is the goal of the University of Maryland System to assure that
women and minorities are equitably represented among the student
body, faculty, sta, and administration of the institutions constitut-
ing the System, so that the System re ects the diversity of the State's
population."
132.0 VI-1.00-Policy on Armative Action and Equal Opportunity,
Bylaws of the Board of Regents, University of Maryland http://umdacc.umd.edu/policies
11 Finding a mentor
Often faculty feel most comfortable with students who are younger images of
themselves: the same gender, race, and nationality.
Some \faculty men may see women as being dierent from themselves, less
intellectually able, less committed and dedicated, or simply inappropriate for
academic careers" [1]
Some faculty members even refuse to consider hiring a female assistant.
==========================
\Die ETH Zurich versteht sich ihren Mitarbeiterinnen und Mitar-
beitern gegenuber als verantwortungsbewusste Arbeitgeberin mit fortschrit-
tlichen Anstellungs- und Arbeitsbedingungen. ... Sie duldet keine
Diskriminierung ihrer Angehorigen aufgrund von Geschlecht oder
8 27
10
sozialer, ethnischer und religioser Herkunft. Die ETH Zurich will
den Anteil an Frauen in allen Bereichen von Forschung, Lehre und
Verwaltung erhohen."
Leitbild der ETH Zurich 1996
==========================
\In its relationship with sta, the ETH Zurich conceives itself to be a
responsible employer committed to observing up-to-date employment
practices and working conditions. ... No discrimination among its
members is permitted on the basis of sex or social, ethnic or religious
origin. The ETH Zurich wants to increase the proportion of women
in all elds of research, teaching and administration."
Leitbild der ETH Zurich 1996
==========================
\The University of Maryland, College Park, arms its commitments
to a policy of eliminating discrimination on the basis of race, color,
creed, sex, sexual orientation, marital status, personal appearance,
age, national origin, political aliation, physical or mental disabil-
ity, or on the basis of the exercise of rights secured by the First
Amendment of the United States Constitution."
University of Maryland Human Relations Code
12 Are women judged fairly?

Surprisingly, the answer is no!
Research shows that there is pervasive bias against women in
refereeing of papers [1,2]

assessment of professional accomplishments [1]
9 28
11
teaching evaluations [3]
Bias also comes into play in letters of recommendation. Accomplishments are

often devalued or credited to male colleagues [4], and characteristics that are
considered assets in males are considered faults in women:
Mr. X is assertive; Ms. Y is pushy.
Mr. X is persistent; Ms. Y is stubborn.
Mr. X thinks creatively; Ms. Y is easily distracted by tangential ideas.
==========================
In one study, rst done in 1968 and then replicated in 1983, college
students were asked to rate identical articles according to specic
criteria. The authors' names attached to the articles were clearly
male or female, but were reversed for each group of raters: what one
group thought had been written by a male, the second group thought
had been written by a female, and vice versa. Articles supposedly
written by women were consistently ranked lower than when the very
same articles were thought to have been written by a male [Goldberg
1968,Paludi et al 1985,Paludi et al 1983].
In a similar study, department chairs were asked to make hypothet-
ical hiring decisions and to assign faculty rank on the basis of vita.
For vitae with male names, chairs recommended the rank of asso-
ciate professor; however, the identical vita with a female name mer-
ited only the rank of assistant professor [Fidell 1975].
E. Spertus
13 The pregnancy issue

A U.S. army study found that \even when pregnancy leave is included, [enlisted
women] take less time o than men, who lose it to sports and auto injuries and
drug, alcohol and discipline problems [1]."
Similarly, a study of the hiring of scientists and technical sta at the (British?)
National Health Service found that employers often assume
10 29
12
that all women will leave to have babies and that wastage due to
pregnancy is greater than for any other reason. The pervasiveness of
[this myth] was shown by the way in which they in uenced practices
at selection (for instance, only women were asked questions about
marital status and dependent children). They also in uenced notions
of who can be a manager [2]."
It would be unthinkable in Switzerland to refuse to hire a Swiss male just because
he had an obligation for military service. If a woman takes an eight week
pregnancy leave once over the course of six years of graduate study, she is away
from her work less than half the time that the Swiss male would be!
==========================
\All men are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality."
Martin Luther King, Jr.
==========================
\It would be naive to think that the problems plaguing mankind today
can be solved with means and methods which were applied or seemed
to work in the past."
Mikhail Gorbachev (1988)
14 Status of women faculty

Women faculty members face a dicult balancing act. Administrators at MIT
were convinced that they treated male and female faculty members equally, but
data on oce space and other resources proved them wrong. Here is part of
what an MIT report has to say about the situation in 1999:
==========================
\We believe that unequal treatment of women who come to MIT
makes it more dicult for them to succeed, causes them to be ac-
corded less recognition when they do, and contributes so substan-
tially to a poor quality of life that these women can actually become
negative role models for younger women... ....
11 30
13
Each generation of young women, including those who are currently
senior faculty, began by believing that gender discrimination was
`solved' in the previous generation and would not touch them. Grad-
ually however, their eyes were opened to the realization that the play-
ing eld is not level after all, and that they had paid a high price both
personally and professionally as a result.
Given the tiny number of women faculty and the fact that they are
essentially irreplaceable, one would have assumed that all tenured
women would be treated exceptionally well { pampered, overpaid, in-
dulged. Instead, they proved to be underpaid, to have unequal access
to the resources of MIT, to be excluded from any substantive power
within the University. How did this surprising state of aairs come
about?
First and foremost it is essential to set aside the issue of whether
these women were badly treated because they were simply not good
enough. It must be understood that for these particular women the
opposite was undeniably true. Despite discrimination, most of these
women achieved at an outstanding level within their professions.
Forty percent of the tenured women faculty are members of the Na-
tional Academy of Sciences and/or the American Academy of Arts
and Sciences. Only people above the average MIT faculty could have
succeeded at this level despite the many obstacles the senior women
faculty encountered in their careers. Indeed, it should be almost ob-
vious that the rst women, the rst blacks, the pioneers who break
through despite enormous barriers must be exceptional. Once and
for all we must recognize that the heart and soul of discrimination,
the last refuge of the bigot, is to say that those who are discriminated
against deserve it because they are less good."
Committee on Women Faculty in the School of Science
15 What can be done at the faculty level?

Shared governance and a high level of democracy is a strong asset in
recruiting women faculty members.
Hire female faculty. Until equity is achieved:
{ Actively recruit good women candidates; don't just wait for them to
apply.
12 31
14
{ After they interview, stay in contact to let them know that you would
welcome them as a colleague.
{ Be aware of biases that might appear in recommendation letters and
try to avoid undervaluing a female candidate because of them.
{ If two candidates rank virtually the same, and if law permits, make
the oer to the woman candidate rst.
Support qualied women as candidates for administrative positions such
as department head, dean, and higher.
Invite more female seminar speakers and longer term visitors and make
them visible to students. By their presence, these visitors tell women
students that they have a future, and they tell the male students that
they are preparing for a career in which they need to deal with male and
female peers.
Support qualied women candidates for heading departments or divisions.
==========================
\I think men have a hard time collaborating with women (in either re-
search or general lab activities) until there are enough women around
that they feel comfortable and have productive expectations of women
colleagues.... When enough women are around, the fraternity atmo-
sphere becomes a society, a community."
C. Sidner, AAAI fellow and a member of the research sta at Digi-
tal's Cambridge Research Laboratory
16 What can be done in beginning courses?

Accommodate a variety of dierent backgrounds. If the rst course weeds
out students who have little background in programming, then many tal-
ented students will be turned away, including a disproportionate percent-
age of women. If prior experience is assumed from entering students,
then to remedy this loss there would need to be an institutional commit-
ment. Oering a summer orientation course to introduce the necessary
principles is one such example. One alternative would be to establish
an alternate introductory course, for students with less background, that
has more class meetings or a two-semester duration, and to provide more
supervised hands-on experience as part of the curriculum.
13 32
15
Communicate the broad applicability of Computer Science to life and so-
cietal issues. Medicine relies heavily on visualization. Biology uses pat-
tern matching. Encryption and privacy are essential for banking and e-
commerce. Numerical and statistical computations form the basis for data
analysis in science, engineering, and the social sciences.
Choose projects that make applications clear and that draw upon the
students' previous experience. Some examples:
{ Discuss privacy and security issues with the class and have them
program an encryption algorithm.
{ Program a code-breaking algorithm.
{ Write a simplied spreadsheet package.
{ To illustrate sorting and searching, write a spell-checker.
{ Write a program to reformat a paragraph to a given width.
{ Write a user-interface for an existing spell-checker.
{ Write a simplied \draw" program or mail-lter.
==========================
Girls usually score better than boys on verbal tests, and boys have
more diculty than girls in learning to read. But schools do not
take this as a reason for letting boys drop out of reading classes.
Quite the reverse: most schools have remedial reading classes which
are used predominantly by boys. Teachers put extra eort into teach-
ing boys to read to make up for any deciency, whether its origin is
biological or social.
A. Kelly
17 What can be done throughout the curricu-

lum?
In all courses:
Establish an environment where it is easy to ask questions.
Give students a glimpse of how their knowledge would be used in indus-
try. Industry advisors tell U.S. academic Computer Science departments
that the main skill that the students miss learning during their studies
is the ability to interact well on team projects. Consider including some
16
assignments in which students, while acting relatively independently, can
contribute to a larger project and see results that they could not have
achieved by themselves.
Use inclusive examples and language. For example, don't use articial
intelligence examples in which the men are active players and the women
passive props. Use \he or she" when talking about the end-user, to empha-
size that software should be designed for both males and females. Don't
choose all of your examples from a narrow subject area (e.g., warfare).
Aim for broader appeal.
Don't water down the content of the course but make sure that your
examples emphasize the wide usefulness of the principles. For example, a
robot is fun to play with, but it will be even more appealing if students
understand the relevance of robot research in advancing remote surgery,
handling of hazardous wastes, space exploration, etc.
Rewrite some abstract course assignments to develop the same skills and
tools while including a specic interesting application. For example, as-
signments in numerical courses can be use data drawn from applications
in medicine, transportation engineering, scheduling, etc.
Grade assignments and written exams without looking at the students'
names, so that the grader does not know the gender of the student.
Recruit more female students:
Invite female students to visit your department a year or two before they
need to decide where to attend university. Organize a day of demonstra-
tions and tutorials.
Make use of printed resources and web documents to encourage such stu-
dents to choose computer science.
Oer summer short courses to help talented female pre-college students
bridge deciencies in their background and develop condence in their
abilities in computer science and mathematics.
Eorts such as these require dedicated eort for some faculty members and
graduate assistants. This should be recognized by a reduction of other duties
and funding provisions (either within the institution or from outside sources) so
that these programs are not run as an overload.
==========================
17
\When Alexander the Great visited Diogenes and asked whether he
could do anything for the famed teacher, Diogenes replied: 'Only
stand out of my light.' Perhaps some day we shall know how to
heighten creativity. Until then, one of the best things we can do for
creative men and women is to stand out of their light."
J. W. Gardner
==========================
\The whole art of teaching is only the art of awakening the natural
curiosity of young minds for the purpose of satisfying it afterwards."
A. France
==========================
\A teacher aects eternity; he can never tell where his in uence
stops."
Henry Adams, The Education of Henry Adams
18 What can be done within graduate educa-

tion?
Faculty need to use their contacts at peer institutions to identify qualied
female undergraduates and then actively recruit them.
When you write a letter of recommendation for a woman, list her quali-
cations and accomplishments and then draft the letter pretending that
you are discussing a male candidate. You may nd that you write a very
dierent (and more fair) letter using this approach.
Success begets success { to the extent that current students are treated
with fairness and encouragement, good male and female candidates will
be likely to choose that department.
==========================
14 34
18
\All women students and faculty interviewed reported that they joined
it rather than a department at an other prestigious institution, be-
cause of their perception that it oered a collaborative, cooperative,
and collegial milieu. They were attracted by the warm interper-
sonal interactions they had experienced when they interviewed and
by a sense of personal concern for the candidate conveyed by fac-
ulty and students. ... Most had been disturbed by the demoralization
of students at other departments where they had interviewed, having
heard stories of exploitative advisors and anonymity in large research
groups."
H. Etzkowitz, C. Kemelgor, M. Neuschatz, B. Uzzi
19 Did you notice?

The suggestions above don't just improve the climate for women; they aim to
improve it for men as well. Everyone should benet as the environment becomes
more equitable.
That is what accessibility is all about.
20 References:Are women less talented in Com-

puter Science?
References for Section Are women less talented in Computer Science?16
1. \Noch 1986 waren in der ehemaligen DDR 50% (nach unglaublichen 80%
1972 an der TU Dresden) Frauen im Informatik-Studium. Sie sind inzwischen
insgesamt auf etwa 10% gesunken."
Britta Schinzel, Frauenforschung in Naturwissenschaft und Technik - beispiel-
hafte Ergebnisse uas der Informatik 17
2. T. Camp, The Incredible Shrinking Pipeline18, Communications of the ACM
40 (October 1997) pp. 103-110.
3. L. E. Brody, L. B. Barnett, and C. J. Mills, Gender dierences among tal-
ented adolescents: Research studies by SMPY and CTY at The Johns Hopkins
15 35
16 3
17 http://www.iig.uni-freiburg.de/modell/publikationen/publik schinzel.html
18 http://www.mines.edu/fs home/tcamp/cacm/paper.html
19
University19 In K.A. Heller and E.A. Hany (eds.), Competence and responsibil-
ity: Proceedings of the Third European Conference of the European Council for
High Ability, Hogrefe and Huber, Seattle, WA (1994) pp. 204-210.
4. For a review of the literature, see
V. Clarke, \Strategies for Involving Girls in Computer Science," in C. D. Martin
and E. Murchie-Beyma, eds. In Search of Gender Free Paradigms for Computer
Science Education, International Society for Technology in Education, Eugene,
Oregon, (1992) pp. 71-86.
5. Past Notable Women of Computing and Mathematics20 The Ada Project,
Yale University
Further Resources:
6. Pioneering Women in Computing21 D. Gurer, SRI International, Palo Alto,
CA (September, 1997).
7. ACM, Minerva's Machine: Women and Computing22 (1995)
8. 4000 Years of Women in Science23
9. Annotated Bibliography of Books Related to Gender Equity in Math and
Science24 , U.S. National Atmospheric and Space Administration (NASA)
10. Lewiston, Women Computer Professionals: Progress and Resistance, Ed-
win Mellen Press, New York, (1997).
11. B. Studer, Frauen an den Universitaeten in der Schweiz, Arbeitspapiere,
Dokumentationsstelle fur Wissenschaftspolitik, Wildhainweg 9, PF/CP 2732,
CH-3001 Bern (1998) , p. 11, 19.
Quotation:
12. V. Clarke, \Strategies for Involving Girls in Computer Science," in C.
D. Martin and E. Murchie-Beyma, eds. In Search of Gender Free Paradigms
for Computer Science Education, International Society for Technology in Edu-
cation, Eugene, Oregon, (1992) pp. 71-86.
19 http://www.jhu.edu/gifted/research/biblio.html#Gender
20 http://www.cs.yale.edu/ tap/past-women.html
21 http://www.acm.org/women/speech.html
22 http://www.acm.org/minerva
23 http://crux.astr.ua.edu/4000WS/4000WS.html
24 http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/women/resources/annbib.html
20
21 References: Do women \think" dierently
about technical subjects like Computer Sci-
ence?
References for Section Do women \think" dierently about technical subjects
like Computer Science?25
1. J. Cottrell, \I'm a Stranger Here Myself: A Consideration of Women in
Computing," ACM SIGUCCS User Services Conference 20 (1992) ACM Publi-
cations, New York, pp. 71{76.
Further Resources:
2. C. W. Hu, J. H. Flemming, and J. Cooper, \Gender Dierences in Human-
Computer Interaction", pp 19-32 in C. D. Martin and E. Murchie-Beyma,
eds. In Search of Gender Free Paradigms for Computer Science Education,
International Society for Technology in Education, Eugene, Oregon, (1992)
3. V. Valian, \Why So Slow?: The Advancement of Women", MIT Press,
Boston, Massachusetts (1998).
22 References: So why do so few women enter

the Computer Science program?
References for Section So why do so few women enter the Computer Science
program?26
1. V. Clarke, \Strategies for Involving Girls in Computer Science," in C. D.
Martin and E. Murchie-Beyma, eds. In Search of Gender Free Paradigms for
Computer Science Education, International Society for Technology in Educa-
tion, Eugene, Oregon, (1992) pp. 71-86.
2. B. F. Sloat, \Perspectives on Women and the Sciences," in A Hand Up:
Women Mentoring Women in Science, Association for Women in Science, Wash-
ington, D.C. (1993) , pp. 194-204.
Quotation:
2. A. Pearl, M. E. Pollack, E. Riskin, B. Thomas, E. Wolf, and A. Wu Becoming
a computer scientist: a report by the ACM committee on the status of women in
computing science.27 Communications of the ACM 33 (Nov. 1990), pp. 47-58.
Citation to [14] S. Kiesler, L. Sproull, and J. S. Eccles, \Pool Halls, Chips, and
25 4
26 5
27 ftp://cpsr.org/cpsr/gender/becoming.comp.sci
21
War Games: Women in the Culture of Computing ," Psych. of Women Q., 9
(1985), pp 451-462.
3. C. Edwards, \Implications of the Computer Culture for Women of Color,"
pp. 57-68 in C. D. Martin and E. Murchie-Beyma, eds. In Search of Gen-
der Free Paradigms for Computer Science Education, International Society for
Technology in Education, Eugene, Oregon, (1992)
23 References: Why do so many of these women

leave the Computer Science program?
References for Section Why do so many of these women leave the Computer
Science program?28
1. D. J. Lewis, \Mathematics and Women: The Undergraduate School and
Pipeline,"29 Notices of the American Mathematical Society 38 (7), (Sept. 1991)
pp. 721-723.
2. How Schools Shortchange Girls, 1992 report; and Gender Gaps: Where
Schools Still Fail Our Children30 http://www.aauw.org/2000/ggpr.html, 1998
report, American Association of University Women. See also the fact sheet31 .
Quotation:
3. A. Pearl, M. E. Pollack, E. Riskin, B. Thomas, E. Wolf, and A. Wu
Becoming a computer scientist: a report by the ACM committee on the status
of women in computing science.32 Communications of the ACM 33 (Nov. 1990),
pp. 47-58. Citation to [2] Barriers to equality in academia: Women in computer
science at MIT. Laboratory for Computer Science and the Articial Intelligence
Laboratory at M.I.T., (1983).
4. B. R. Sandler, \The Classroom Climate: Chilly for Women?" in A. L.
Deneef, C. D. Goodwin, and E. S. McCrate, editors, The Academic Handbook,
Duke University Press, Durham, North Carolina (1988) pp. 146{152.
28 6
29 http://www.awm-math.org/articles/notices/199107/lewis/
30 ,
31 http://www.aauw.org/2000/ggfs.html
22
24 References: What makes the environment
chilly?
References for Section What makes the environment chilly?33
1. M. D. Burton, \Gender Dierences in Professional Socialization: A Study
of Women and Men Becoming Computer Scientists," Technical report, Carnegie
Mellon University, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (1987) referenced in C. D. Martin,
\Report on the Workshop: In Search of Gender Free Paradigms for Computer
Science Education," in C. D. Martin and E. Murchie-Beyma, eds. In Search of
Gender Free Paradigms for Computer Science Education, International Society
for Technology in Education, Eugene, Oregon, (1992) pp. 1-8.
2. H. Etzkowitz, C. Kemelgor, M. Neuschatz, and B. Uzzi, \Restructuring
Departments for Equity," pp. 93-101 in C. D. Martin and E. Murchie-Beyma,
eds. In Search of Gender Free Paradigms for Computer Science Education,
International Society for Technology in Education, Eugene, Oregon, (1992)
3. V. Clarke, \Strategies for Involving Girls in Computer Science," in C. D.
Martin and E. Murchie-Beyma, eds. In Search of Gender Free Paradigms for
Computer Science Education, International Society for Technology in Educa-
tion, Eugene, Oregon, (1992) pp. 71-86.
5. H. Etzkowitz, C. Kemelgor, M. Neuschatz, and B. Uzzi, How Women
React to and Cope with Chilly Environments: Barriers to Women in Academic
Science and Engineering34 in W. Pearson Jr. and I. Fechter (eds.) Who Will
Do Science? Educating the Next Generation, Johns Hopkins University Press,
Baltimore, 1994.
6. J. Gutbezahl, How Negative Expectancies and Attitudes Undermine Fe-
males' Math Condence and Performance: A Review of the Literature35 ERIC/CSMEE
data base (article ED 380 279).
7. R. Rosenthal and L. Jacobson, Pygmalion in the Classroom, Irvington
Publishers, Inc., New York (1992).
8. L. S. Klein, \Female Students' Underachievement in Computer Science and
Mathematics: Reasons and Recommendations," pp. 47-56 in C. D. Martin and
E. Murchie-Beyma, eds. In Search of Gender Free Paradigms for Computer
Science Education, International Society for Technology in Education, Eugene,
Oregon, (1992)
33 7
34 http://www.ai.mit.edu/people/ellens/Gender/EKNU.html
35 http://camel.math.ca/Women/BOOK/Gutbezahl.txt
23
CH-3001 Bern (1998)
10. D. C. Fort, \The Consensus," in A Hand Up: Women Mentoring Women
in Science, Association for Women in Science, Washington, D.C. (1993) , p.142.
Resources:
11. InGEAR: Report on the Status of Women 1993-199836, Georgia Institute
of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia
12. See the interviews with 37 women in A Hand Up: Women Mentoring
Women in Science, Association for Women in Science, Washington, D.C. (1993)
Quotation:
Baltimore, 1994.
14. Charles M. Vest, Introductory Comments38 Study of Women Faculty in
Science at MIT (March 1999)
25 References: But the instructor's attitude can't

make the female student fail, can it?
References for Section But the instructor's attitude can't make the female stu-
dent fail, can it?39
1. J. Gutbezahl, How Negative Expectancies and Attitudes Undermine Fe-
males' Math Condence and Performance: A Review of the Literature40 ERIC/CSMEE
data base (article ED 380 279). Citations to R. Rosenthal and L. Jacobson,
Pygmalion in the Classroom, Irvington Publishers, Inc., New York (1992).
R. S. Feldman and A. J. Theiss, \The Teacher and Student as Pygmalions: Joint
Eects of Teacher and Student Expectations. Journal of Educational Psychol-
ogy 74 (1982) pp. 217-223.
T. L. Good, and J. E. Brophy, Looking in classrooms (4th ed.), Harper and
Row., New York (1987).
36 http://www.academic.gatech.edu/study/report.htm
38 http://web.mit.edu/fnl/women/Vestfnl.html
39 8
40 http://camel.math.ca/Women/BOOK/Gutbezahl.txt
24
2. E. Spertus, Why are There so Few Female Computer Scientists? 41 (1991).
\Sexist or Sexual Humor" section
3. For example, three separate papers in IEEE Transactions on Image Process-
ing Volume 8, Number 4, April 1999, use \Lena" as an example (pp. 559-60,
569-70, 591).
26 References: Where do prejudices come from?

References for Section Where do prejudices come from?42
1. [Weinraub et al 1983, page 33] M. Weinraub and L. M. Brown. \The
Development of Sex-Role Stereotypes in Children: Crushing Realities" in Franks
and Rothblum, editors, The Stereotyping of Women: Its Eects on Mental
Health, Springer Publishing Company, New York (1983) pp 30-58. referenced
in E. Spertus, Why are There so Few Female Computer Scientists? 43 (1991).
27 References: Why should I care about whether

women are comfortable in the Computer Sci-
ence program at my university?
References for Section Why should I care about whether women are comfortable
in the Computer Science program at my university44
2. R. M. Hall, with the assistance of B. R. Sandler, \The Classroom Climate:
A Chilly One for Women?" the Project on the Status and Education of Women,
Association of American Colleges, Washington, DC (1986).
3. A. Pearl, M. E. Pollack, E. Riskin, B. Thomas, E. Wolf, and A. Wu
Becoming a computer scientist: a report by the ACM committee on the status
of women in computing science.45 Communications of the ACM 33 (Nov. 1990),
pp. 47-58.
4. The Supply of Information Technology Workers in the United States 46
41 http://www.ai.mit.edu/people/ellens/Gender/pap/pap.html
42 9
44 10
46 http://www.cra.org/wits/cra.wits.html
25
Computing Research Association, Washington, DC (1999)
Quotations:
4. Stelle fur Chancengleichheit von Mann und Frau, ETH, Zurich47
5. 132.0 VI-1.00-Policy on Armative Action and Equal Opportunity, Bylaws
of the Board of Regents, University of Maryland48
28 References: Finding a mentor

References for Section Finding a mentor49
1. A. Simeone, Academic Women: Working Towards Equality, Bergin and
Garvey Publishers, Inc., Massachusetts (1987) p. 103. referenced in E. Spertus,
Why are There so Few Female Computer Scientists? 50 (1991).
Further resources:
2. Adviser, Teacher, Role Model, Friend: On Being a Mentor to Students
in Science and Engineering (search) 51 U.S. National Academy Press, National
Academy of Sciences, 2101 Constitution Avenue, NW, Washington, DC, U.S.A.
(1997).
3. A Hand Up: Women Mentoring Women in Science, Association for Women
in Science, Washington, D.C. (1993)
Quotations:
4. Leitbild der ETH Zurich 199652
5. Leitbild der ETH Zurich 199653
6. University of Maryland Human Relations Code, College Park54
29 References: Are women judged fairly?

References for Section Are women judged fairly?55
47 http://www.equal.ethz.ch/scg/scg.html
48 http://umdacc.umd.edu/policies
49 11
51 http://www.nas.edu/readingroom
52 http://www.ethz.ch/overview/prole ge.html
53 http://www.ethz.ch/overview/prole en.html
54 134.0 gopher://umdacc.umd.edu/00VI100B
55 12
26
2. C. Wenner As and A. Wold, "Nepotism and Sexism in Peer-Review", Nature,
387 (22 May 1997) pp. 341{343.
3. Gender Dierences in Student Evaluations of Teaching, Coalition on the
Status of Women Faculty at Miami57
Includes references such as S. A. Basow and N.T. Silberg, "Student Evaluations
of College Professors: Are Male and Female Professors Rated Dierently?,"
Journal of Educational Psychology, 79(3) (1987) pp. 308-314.
4. \ Not Getting the Award, Grant, or Job? Check Your References," in A
Hand Up: Women Mentoring Women in Science, Association for Women in
Science, Washington, D.C. (1993) , pp. 333-342
Further resource:
5. A. Statham, L. Richardson, and J. A. Cook, Gender and University Teach-
ing: A Negotiated Dierence State University of New York Press, Albany, NY,
U.S.A (1991).
Quotation:
Cites P. Goldberg, \Are Women Prejudiced Against Women?" Trans-Action 5
(1986), pp. 28-80.
M. A. Paludi and L. A. Strayer, \What's in an Author's Name? Dierent
Evaluations of Performance as a Function of Author's Name," Sex Roles: A
Journal of Research, 12 (1985) pp. 353-361.
M. A. Paludi and W. D. Bauer, \Goldberg Revisited: What's in an Author's
Name," Sex Roles: A Journal of Research, 9 (1983) pp. 387-390.
L. S. Fidell, \Empirical Verication of Sex Discrimination in Hiring Practices
in Psychology," in R. K. Unger and F. L. Denmark, (eds.), Women: Dependent
or Independent Variable, Psychological Dimensions, New York (1975).
30 References: The pregnancy issue

References for Section The pregnancy issue59
,
57 http://www.netgain.muohio.edu/cswam/Teaching/gender.htm
59 13
27
references D. G. McNeil, Jr. \Should Women Be Sent Into Combat?" The New
York Times, July 21, 1991, page E3.
,
references H. Homans, \Man-made Myths: The Reality of Being a Woman
Scientist in the NHS," in A. Spencer and D. Podmore, eds., In a Man's World:
Essays on Women in Male-dominated Professions, Tavistock Publications, Lon-
don and New York (1987).
31 Reference: Status of women faculty

Reference for Section Status of women faculty62
1. Committee on Women Faculty in the School of Science, A Study on the
Status of Women Faculty in Science at MIT63 Massachusetts Institute of Tech-
nology, (1999).
Resource:
32 References: What can be done at the faculty

level?
References for Section What can be done at the faculty level?65
Resource:
Quotation:
62 14
63 http://web.mit.edu/fnl/women/women.html
65 15
28
3.C. Sidner67
33 Resources: What can be done in beginning

courses?
References for Section What can be done in beginning courses?68
1. Educational Issues for Girls and Women in Mathematics69 Canadian Math-
ematical Society.
2. Achieving Gender Equity in Science Classrooms: A Guide for Faculty,
Brown University70 (1996).
Quotation:
3. A. Kelly, \Why Girls Don't Do Science." New Scientist 94 (May 20, 1982),
pp. 497{500. referenced in E. Spertus, Why are There so Few Female Computer
Scientists? 71 (1991).
34 Resources: What can be done throughout

the curriculum?
Resources for Section What can be done throughout the curriculum?72
1. Creating Gender Equity in Your Teaching73 College of Engineering,
University of California Davis (1997)
2. D. Tannen, You Just Don't Understand: Women and Men in Conver-
sation Ballantine Books, New York (1990). Du kannst mich nicht verstehen,
Goldmann- Verlag ISBN 3-442-12349-6.
3. S. M. Malcom, \Letting Nurture Take Its Course," in A Hand Up: Women
Mentoring Women in Science, Association for Women in Science, Washington,
D.C. (1993) , pp. 181-193.
4. Further resources are available from the Association for Women in Science74 .
67 http://www.ai.mit.edu/people/ellens/Gender/ieee/subsectionstar3 2 5.html
68 16
69 http://www.camel.math.ca/Women/EDU/Education.html
70 http://www.brown.edu/Administration/Dean of the College/homepginfo/equity/Equity handbook.html
72 17
73 http://www.engr.ucdavis.edu/college/information/gender/
74 http://www.awis.org
29
35 References: What can be done within grad-
uate education?
References for Section What can be done within graduate education?75
CH-3001 Bern (1998)
Resource:
3. A Hand Up: Women Mentoring Women in Science, Association for Women
in Science, Washington, D.C. (1993) , especially the article B. R. Sandler, \Men-
toring: Myths and Realities, Dangers and Responsibilities," pp. 271-279.
Quotation:
Baltimore, 1994.
75 18
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A Re ection for Faculty Members

June 25, 1999

4 Do women \think" di erently about technical

5 So why do so few women enter the Computer

6 Why do so many of these women leave the

\Self-con dence regarding mathematics appears to be the most dis-

9 Where do prejudices come from?

10 Why should I care about whether women are

12 Are women judged fairly?

 refereeing of papers [1,2]

Bias also comes into play in letters of recommendation. Accomplishments are

13 The pregnancy issue

14 Status of women faculty

15 What can be done at the faculty level?

16 What can be done in beginning courses?

17 What can be done throughout the curricu-

Recruit more female students:

18 What can be done within graduate educa-

19 Did you notice?

20 References:Are women less talented in Com-

22 References: So why do so few women enter

23 References: Why do so many of these women

25 References: But the instructor's attitude can't

26 References: Where do prejudices come from?

27 References: Why should I care about whether

28 References: Finding a mentor

29 References: Are women judged fairly?

30 References: The pregnancy issue

31 Reference: Status of women faculty

32 References: What can be done at the faculty

33 Resources: What can be done in beginning

34 Resources: What can be done throughout

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4 Do women \think" dierently about technical

\Self-condence regarding mathematics appears to be the most dis-

refereeing of papers [1,2]