I'm one of 3 girls in the Taylor Computer Science & Engineering Department. Last count I think there are something like 70-80 students in our CS family. Naturally, I have a desire to see this ratio change. I would love to have other women to talk to about my classes or homework whose eyes don't glaze over when I say something like "the computational complexity of this algorithm...." Unfortunately, I don't think it will ever change, at least not significantly and I don't think it should. *Ensue gasps of shock*

I had the blessing of being able to go to the Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing. It's a great conference that is partially for learning, and partially for empowering women in computing. I met some really amazing older female computer scientists and loved the experience. I'll be satisfied if I become half as awesome as they are. There were also many other students there and as I sat around during downtime I overheard some incredibly depressing bits of conversations. Many were sitting around doing homework or talking about why they went into computer science.

"I'm in computer science for the money."

"I have no idea what this homework means. It's like a foggy maze to me."

" I really wanted to go into _____ but there's no money in that so I'm going to be a programmer."

"I just feel like my brain doesn't work the same way as everyone else in my class."

"I have no idea how I"m going to pass this class."

"I hate programming."

It breaks my heart to hear these things. I love my major and couldn't imagine being anything else. As I thought about these conversations, and about the women in my life, I've slowly come to realize that I'm pretty unique. The majority of women that I know could not be successful in computer science. There are some that could, but didn't know the opportunity was available to them, but again, the majority could not. But what if we flipped the context and thought about these conversations in a different light. Let's frame these conversations in the context of the most stereotypical female major: the elementary education major.


"I'm in teaching for the money."

"I have no idea what this homework means. It's like a foggy maze to me."

" I really wanted to go into biology but there's no money in that so I'm going to teach."

"I just feel like my brain doesn't work the same way as everyone else in my class."

"I have no idea how I"m going to pass this class. "

"I hate drawing up lesson plans."


The first thing we would say to them is Get out! If this is not your passion, you shouldn't be teaching! We don't want you teaching our kids! We all know that you have to be passionate to be a great teacher, and let's face it, many women are passionate about children and teaching.

But, somehow we don't do this when it comes to girls in computer science. We tell them that any female can be a computer scientist, you just have to try, and don't worry about the boys, anything they can do we can do better, and on and on and on but it's simply not true. Most women are not wired that way.   It's not about being less intelligent than men or competent, it's about wiring and passion.

I have talked about this in terms of "wiring" because I firmly believe that every individual has been "wired" to be passionate about certain things. When your wires interface with the rest of the world correctly, something beautiful is created that no one else can do. Otherwise, you fizzle and the world has missed out on what you could have brought to it.

Please don't get me wrong -- I'm all for opening up opportunities for women to be in computer science. I do want all women to know that if they feel passionate about solving problems, they can be a successful computer scientist and that they can do it. Many brave women have gone before us and I'm excited to see what women will do in the future. I am one of those women. I love problem solving; I love walking through programs; I love that moment when the output is correct. I am wired like a computer scientist. 

 I have literally told a girl who was a computer science major and wanted to continue being one,  "This is not what you want. I believe that you can muddle through this and maybe even come out with A's, but in the end you will hate what you are doing. Go and be who you really are." She's a history major now and enjoys what she's doing. It breaks my heart to see a fellow girl leave, but in the end it was the right thing to do.

What can we do moving forward? Education institutions need to to start working at a more individual level to help students find their optimum career path. This focus on demographics and macro things has to stop.  Maybe we'll see a rise in female  computer scientists, or maybe we'll see even more of a decline. But, either way, I know I want my colleagues to be just as passionate about what they're doing as I am.

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