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From: owens@gatech.UUCP
Newsgroups: net.women
Subject: Re: Computing and Gender - (nf)
Message-ID: <1116@gatech.UUCP>
Date: Mon, 19-Sep-83 09:54:16 EDT
Article-I.D.: gatech.1116
Posted: Mon Sep 19 09:54:16 1983
Date-Received: Tue, 20-Sep-83 20:34:41 EDT
References: <31@ism780.UUCP>, <1036@utcsstat.UUCP>
Organization: Georgia Tech School of ICS, Atlanta
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	I taught 70% of the computing courses at a private college for
five years.  The Business department was very progressive, and required
an introductory computer course for all secretarial, business, and
accounting majors.  A fair number took CS minors thanks to the Intro
to Computing course.  I would say that about 40% of the students were
female (In a college where 60% were female), and that there wasn't a
bulge gender-wise in the grades handed out, although I got the impression
that more females withdrew from the course than males.  I have the
impression that most of the difficulty women encountered in the CS program
was social expectations ("girls aren't supposed to do that.."), and that
the fiercest opposition to their being in the CS program came from their
own sex!  Peer pressure was fierce until a certain redhead, whom I fondly
remember, told the whole pack of them to go to..., er, well after that
CS became an "acceptable" ladies profession.
        I'd like to see a discussion on peer pressure, and how it affected
career choices.

					Gerald owens at Gatech