According to the Census Bureau’s 2009 American Community Survey, women comprise 48 percent of the U.S. workforce but just 24 percent of STEM workers. STEM is an acronym that stands for science, technology, engineering and mathematics.
In other words, half as many women are working in STEM jobs as one might expect if gender representation in STEM professions mirrored the overall workforce.
We’ve heard it all from claims that programming is boring to cries that computer science is too hard. Well everyone understands that hard work brings results and programming is anything but boring — in fact it’s quite fun!
Research has shown that gender stereotypes tend to usher women away from STEM enrollment, and this Huffington Post article by Dr. Imogen Coe, Dean of Faculty of Science at Ryerson University, is very insightful. She noted that, “By 1987, 42 percent of the software developers in the U.S. were female, and continued growth seemed secure.”
Those numbers have dropped significantly since the advent of the personal computer in the mid 80’s, and one of the best ways to remedy the situation is to encourage more women to join the field. The internet is ripe with computer training courses to fit every budget. Are you interested in building single page applications? Try your hand at an Angular training.
If the self-taught route is more your style, there is no shortage of communities such as Reddit or Github that you can join for free support from fellow developers.
Whatever your path may be, the important thing is not to be deterred by gender stereotyping or false claims that programming is boring. Forge your own path and be the voice to share with others just how fun programming can be.