Women in Computer Science

          This week we had to read about gender differences in computer science students, which I found to be one of the more interesting papers mostly because it pertains to me. I have never read an actual study on the matter, but I found many of the points in the paper to match my own feelings. It sounds absurd on paper that a female computer science major would feel less confident with computers than male non-majors, but I can understand how a woman would feel as such. I often feel that many males in computer science have more general computer knowledge than me and more experience. For instance, I think that more men have built their own computer - something that sounds basic for a computer science student, but something I have never done. In general, it can be quite intimidating when you are one of the only female students in your class, and I understand why some women would feel discouraged from joining computer science. The thing that probably helped me was the fact that my father was a computer programmer and my brother majored in computer engineering in college, so I had been exposed to programming while growing up. I hope that in the future more women will take a chance and decide to join the field.