WHY SO FEW WOMEN IN THE (U.S.) INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY WORKFORCE?
It is the policy of the United States to encourage the progress of women and other underrepresented population groups in science and engineering, including information technology (IT). Two related social phenomena in the U.S. would suggest that women, at least, would have made more progress in IT: (1) the trend in overall employment growth of relatively more jobs normally requiring a bachelor’s degree or above, and (2) the predominance of women (57%) over men (43%) earning the baccalaureate. Given this scenario, why do women remain so underrepresented in IT-related academic programs and the IT workforce? Recent findings about the educational backgrounds of IT workers in the U.S. reveal significant differences between IT and other science and engineering disciplines and occupations. What are the implications of these unique characteristics of the IT workforce for continuing efforts to increase the representation of women in IT? And what are the implications for academic Computer Science
