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.