“Until the day when baby girls like gadgets as much as baby boys, let us look to mathematics itself to see what we can do about attracting young women to computer science.” (Palma, 49) I’ll tell you why I chose not to major in computer science. It’s because there weren’t any hearts next to the check box and the font wasn’t in pink. Since this is a blog post, I’m going to be pretty informal about this topic. I might even throw in a curse word or two (I won’t). According to Palma, “the shortage of women [in the mathematics and science field is due to] lack of confidence along with the perception that computing is a male domain.” This whole thing just reminds me of playing Xbox Live. It’s fine when I kick your ass (oops, threw one in) when you think I’m a guy, but the second I speak into the microphone, I get kicked out of the round. I’m not there because you don’t want me there.
This guys argument was that because more woman study mathematics and engineering, they must not choose computer science because it isn’t as certain as other majors. That’s like saying that since ice cream sales and crime rates go up in summer, there must be some extract in the ice cream that makes everyone go crazy. I’m not seeing the connection. Maybe the reason women don’t join computer club is to avoid people like this guy. Oh, and just because some guy in the 80s said that mathematics is the “most masculine of subjects” and you quoted it, doesn’t make it anything more than opinion. (Palma, 48)