Women in Computer Science at Swarthmore
Across the United States, the numbers of women in university level
Computer Science are declining. However, is this trend visible at
Swarthmore College? Moreover, do Swarthmore women perceive there to
be a
problem with the current treatment of both women in Computer Science
and women in science in general?
There is clearly a gender gap in the sciences at Swarthmore
College. With the exception of the Biology department, men who are
majoring, minoring or concentrating the in the sciences outnumber their
female counterparts 2 to 1 in almost every department (see graph, at
right). One of the few exceptions to this ratio is the Computer
Science program, where male majors, minor and concentrators out number
females more than 5 to 1. This statistic is increasingly shocking
when we consider the fact that the Swarthmore Computer Science program
has one of the largest student populations (ie the sum of majors,
minors and concentrators) of any of the science departments, second
only to Biology. Moreover, the Computer Science program is growing at
an alarming rate. Between the classes of 2001 and 2002, the number of
majors, minors and concentrators in the department grew by almost 100
percent. However, out of these 38 new student Computer Scientists,
only six were women. This raises the question whether, given the
large number of students interested in pursuing Computer Science at
Swarthmore, why aren't more of them women?
As part of a study of the viability of a women in science
residential program at Swarthmore, the women of Swarthmore College
were asked to comment about the need for a campus support mechanism
for women scientists. Of the twenty-four respondents, nine women
(predominantly from the sciences) expressed the need for women
scientists to receive some sort of support. Some of these women
detailed personal experiences involving unsupportive or intimidating
departments. However, several respondents indicated that they did not
feel that female science students at Swarthmore were disadvantaged and
need support. Many of these students noted that the myth that women
are weaker than men in the sciences would be perpetuated by the
presence of a women in science support group mechanism.
What is being done to address the issue of women in science and,
more specifically, the issue of women in Computer Science at
Swarthmore? Link on over to our proposed
Swarthmore Recommendations page to see.