CS is in the Wrong Paradigm for Women
In Karen A. Frenkel's article "Women and
computing," the author raises the issue of gender differences in the
approach to computing and computer science. Not only is there a noticible
male bias to computing on the user end, but, Frenkel contends, traditional
software design (ie procedural programming) seems to be the wrong paradigm
for women in general. Frenkel mentions some research that states that
women tend to see computers as problem solving tools whereas men tend to
see computers as toys and become "passionate" about them. Frenkel brings
up the idea that women prefer to "tinker" with programs, working on them
as a whole, bouncing back and forth between functions instead of
working in a much more linear fashion. These ideas suggest that women do
indeed have a different mindset coming into computing, which should be
accomodated.
