Addressing the Problem of Women in Science at Swarthmore


Given the poor number of female Computer Science majors, minors and concentrators at Swarthmore College, what is the Swarthmore community doing to encourage the participation of women in computing?

Currently, several of the computing groups on the Swarthmore campus have been enacting affirmative action-type policies in an attempt to recruit more women for their staffs. Specifically, the Computer Science program and the Swarthmore College Computer Society have been making efforts to encourage female students to apply for system administrator and webmaster positions. Since women students may not be as comfortable with their computing skills as their male counterparts, both organizations have targeted potential female applicants with emails that emphasized the fact that computing experience was not necessary for the job openings. Similarly, the Swarthmore Computing Center has been enacting measures to recruit more women to their dorm- consultant program. In advertising for dorm-consultant positions, the Computing Center was careful to create flyers that played down the geekiness of the job and emphasized that little experience was required. For example, rather than create flyers, as in the past, emblazoned with the Apple logo or geek jokes about Bill Gate, the Computing Center posted signs with simple wording like "Do you know how to fix your email? If so, then apply to be a dorm-consultant!"

The Computer Science program at Swarthmore has also been investigating the viability of a women-in-science residential program on campus. Inspired by the "Women in Math, Science and Engineering" residential program at the University of Illinois, Champaign, such a program would house women scientists together on the same floor of a residence hall. This "living and learning" community would provide female science students with a safe, supportive environment that they may not enjoy in their predominantly male fields and serve to alleviate some of the frustration that causes many college women to drop out of the sciences. Currently, an initial survey of the student body regarding the need for such a program has been conducted. However, since the respondent pool was relatively small, a second survey will be necessary to correctly gauge the opinions of the student body on the issue.

The female science students at Swarthmore have also been attempting to start a program to recruit to Swarthmore prospective female students who have indicated an interest in the sciences. The women scientists plan to write postcards to these accepted women in an effort to encourage them to come to Swarthmore.

Finally, in the past, the Swarthmore female science students and science faculty have co-sponsored a support group for women scientists called WINS (Women in Natural Sciences). The WINS program organized informal gatherings of female scientists, thereby encouraging the women to form a women-in-science community. Unfortunately, WINS has recently become defunct at Swarthmore; however, there are plans to revive the group next year.