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Carnegie Mellon tries to buck sliding trend of women studying computer science
Apr 02, 2009 (The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) --
Her presentation to teenage girls in Point Breeze covered the coolness of computer science.
"It encompasses so many things," Heather Friedberg, 19, a sophomore computer science major at the University of Pittsburgh told them. "You can integrate it into everything."
Cars, special effects in movies, cell phones -- computer science improved all.
Yet at the end of her talk, Friedberg said, one girl asked her: "Are you sure this is what you really want to do with your life?"
Thousands more girls and women today say no to that question than in 1985, National Science Foundation data show. Women received 36.4 percent of computer science bachelor's degrees that year. By 2005, women accounted for 22.2 percent of bachelor's degrees awarded in computer science.
"Computer science is the only science where the percentage of women earning undergraduate degrees has dropped significantly since the early '80s," said Jan Cuny, 57, director of the foundation's Broadening Participation in Computing program, which spends about $14 million a year to attract women and minorities to computer science.
Why women turn away from the field baffles computer scientists. Some say the geeky computer scientist stereotype turns off girls when they're in elementary school. Others argue that few female peers causes girls to follow other academic and career paths. The myth of the isolated computer scientist who has no social interaction could steer women away.
Increasing the number of female computer scientists is crucial, said Leigh Ann Sudol, 33, a Carnegie Mellon University graduate student earning her doctorate in computer science education.
"Otherwise, we're losing a huge percentage of smart people in the country to other interests," said Sudol of Squirrel Hill, who taught high school computer science in Bedford, N.Y., for eight years.
That's not an option in a society that relies on computers, said Brina Goyette, 23, a CMU master's student focusing on robotics.
"Computers are what allow us to do so much of our banking -- use ATMs, go to any branch and get money, make credit cards work," said Goyette, a native of Alberta, Canada, who lives in Squirrel Hill.
Pitt and CMU professors have founded organizations and created events to spark computer science interest among young women.
During Computer Science Day, high school students, undergraduates and grad students roamed the halls of the fifth and sixth floors of Sennott Square playing games, participating in competitions and meeting potential employers.
"We used to come to Computer Science Day when we were in high school," said Farhanah Sheets, 20, of Beaver Falls.
The Pitt sophomore spoke during this year's festivities and credited her experiences at Computer Science Day as one reason she chose to major in the field.
It's a perfect way to demonstrate how much fun computer science is, said Roxana Gheorghiu, 28, a native of Romania earning her doctorate in computer science at Pitt.
"I don't see any geeks," said Gheorghiu, surveying the female Computer Science Day attendees.
From 2001-08, women constituted 6 percent to 16 percent of Pitt's undergraduate computer science majors, university officials said.
"Our numbers reflect national averages," said Rami Melhem, chairman of Pitt's Department of Computer Science.
During that period, women undergraduate computer science majors at CMU fluctuated between 20 percent and 36 percent, university officials said. Unlike most universities, CMU has a School of Computer Science that consists of six departments and institutes.
CMU and Pitt professors and students have become more active in showing girls the opportunities computer science presents, said Diane Litman, 51, a Pitt computer science professor who specializes in artificial intelligence and natural-language processing. She coached girls in middle school during robotics competitions.
"The more we can bring computer science activities to younger students, the more kids will get excited about entering the field."
Mike Cronin can be reached at mcronin@tribweb.com or 412-320-7884.
To see more of The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review or to subscribe to the newspaper,
go to http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/. Copyright (c) 2009, The
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.
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