Study Finds Stagnation in Number of Women Studying Computer Science
A recent study says the percentage of women in computer science programs will likely remain stagnant while overall undergraduate computer science enrollments increase rapidly over the next few years, according to the Association for Computing Machinery.
The association’s Committee on Women in Computing found that women make up 17 percent of the undergraduate computer science majors at U.S. universities that offer doctorates in computer science. Their study says enrollment of women will increase slightly, reaching about 17.5 percent for the 2000-2001 school year, but the following years should see the proportion dropping to a range between 16 and 16.5 percent.
“Women are going to be left behind,” Dr. Tracy Camp, a professor at the Colorado School of Mines, told The New York Times. Camp is co-chairwoman of the women in computing committee, which has completed studies on the proportion of women studying computer science. Camp is the lead author of the committee’s most recent study.
“There are certainly more students than in the past,” Camp noted. “The raw numbers are increasing. But the percentage of women is not.”
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