<p>I think that CS programs typically run around 20% female to 80% male.</p>
<p>Our daughter started her first programming course yesterday. She remarked to me that she was the only girl in the class and it was filled (she got the last slot). The sure drags down the average.</p>
<p>I wouldn't be surprised if it was even lower (I'm a woman in CS).</p>
<p>She might be interested in attending the Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing, especially if she applies for and wins a scholarship to attend. I did that for last year's conference and really enjoyed it - much more than I thought I would.</p>
<p>Grace</a> Hopper Celebration 2009 » Grace Hopper Celebration 2009</p>
<p>That's not really surprising. There's 4 or 5 girls in my class of computer engineering out of like 40-50 people.</p>
<p>Yes, it's a shame more girls don't choose to pursue CS. I know a few girls in it (or closely related disciplines) and they're good at it. Oh well. Good for your daughter, though.</p>
<p>You know what they say about a female looking for a MRS in CS?</p>
<p>"The odds are good, but the goods are odd."</p>
<p>Most of the girls in my opinion pick ChemE, Bio, BioMed or Mech...they don't touch EE or CS with a 10 ft. pole for some reason...sigh</p>
<p>I see quite a few in BioE (my school doesn't have ChemE so I cant comment on that) but I see about the same number in ME/EE/CompE</p>
<p>Yeah the Chem-E + Bio-E thing is consistent with my experience. Maybe, as the poster above says, Bio-E being heavily favored.</p>
<p>Well just looking at the trends, it's a little clear from high school too -- lots more girls taking AP Biology and AP Chem than taking AP Physics. There are of course awesome exceptions, but that is definitely the trend I see.</p>
<p>I think Bio is advertised in a way more appealing to women than the other disciplines. And Chem does tend to work with molecules (which for some reason are a big hit with women). Essentially, these two are closer to working with "living" things than the other disciplines... and I think women have a natural propensity towards "living" things. Guys, on the other hand, are just fine working with cold, hard, lifeless, things that they usually can't even see (EE/CS). I think we've always been that way... playing with cars rather than dolls, etc.</p>
<p>My sister went into computer science back in the mid seventies, even got her master's, and she is doing very well in management. My husband works for the same company, and his boss is a woman, about 15 to 20 years younger than him. </p>
<p>I would definitely encourage a woman to pursue a degree in computer science, and there seem to be so many scholarships offered nowadays for women in engineering.</p>
<p>I was discouraged in high school to go into a math field because it was not my best subject. However, many of my classmates did go into engineering. They now hold management positions in major companies, are professors at major universities, and one was even appointed head of the EPA under Obama!</p>
<p>Yes, girls, you can go into engineering!</p>
<p>bceagle:</p>
<p>Both of my Ds, both CS, noticed the same thing. They were sometimes the only females in the class and in classes where there were some other females there were only a few at the most. It doesn't bother either of them though.</p>
<p>My D is in CS too, math concentration and loves it. She thinks it beats Physics by a mile. I guess there might be a couple more females in CS than Physics. Many of her classes don't have girls. But she doesn't care about that. Her best friends in HS were boys. Is she a nerd? no. a geek? yes, a bit, but she is very well rounded and I was stunned she went all mathy on me. She always has, and still scores higher on Verbal skills than Quant (even for GRE.) She is going to rule.</p>
<p>P.S. She is very pretty and she has a boyfriend (not math or CS!)</p>
<p>My daughter is better in the english, lit, humanities, etc. and gravitates towards those subjects. She consented to taking a programming course as a few family members asked her to take one. My guess is that she is going to enjoy it.</p>
<p>As a science and math guy, I've pushed science and math since the kids were young. It was clear that abilities between son and daughter were in opposite directions. At this point (HS junior dual-enrollment in community college), I don't think that she could do a CS degree - physics would be the main problem. Some of the upper level theoretical CS courses could be a problem too. I do think that she could do a CIS degree. She could surprise all of us in her remaining high school time though.</p>
<p>She doesn't know what she wants to do so I'm trying to give her exposure to a variety of things, including suggesting tech courses in case she doesn't want to do a four-year program. If she shows a strong interest in a particular area, then we might just go with that. It's a lot easier with a kid that knows what he or she wants to do and is blazing a trail towards that goal. The parents just have to make it happen.</p>
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I think women have a natural propensity towards "living" things. Guys, on the other hand, are just fine working with cold, hard, lifeless, things that they usually can't even see (EE/CS).
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<p>Yeah, this is true, but I'm going to be more harsh. I think the fact that fewer women are socially stunted accounts for the 10/90 women/men (or whatever) split in EE/CS programs. I bet most women would rather choose careers where they can interact with real people rather than with machines all day. Hanging out with nerds all the time in an EE/CS program also would be a big downer too.</p>
<p>Ouch, silence_kit. Ouch.</p>
<p>Would I fit the stereotype if I was CompEng girl that wants to switch to Biomed Eng? </p>
<p>I do like CompE but I want to help people in a different way i.e. building medical devices, etc... and from what I've seen from CompE careers, most of it is coding and a lot of ppl I know switched from CS/CompE into different fields because it was dull. So, I figured I didn't want to go in that direction :/ </p>
<p>I'm thinking about doing a concentration in EE though for BME. Robotics is very interesting. </p>
<p>And for the record, I LOVE physics. For me, that was not why I switched.</p>
<p>hey everyone, this is my first post at cc...i was just looking around and felt like commenting on this thread. i'm a senior in high school right now and i'm planning on majoring in CS. i'm a girl by the way. do you think i may have a better chance of getting into certain engineering colleges because of that? my grades, test scores, and classes are competitive but so is everyone else applying. so does being a girl help at all? and i'm majoring in CS because i find it interesting, not because it might help my chances. thanks everyone</p>
<p>knl57: absolutely..girls have a huge advantage over us male nerds in terms of admissions to engineering programs and later too when they graduate and start looking for a job...case in point all the girls I know in my EE program all have jobs (in this bad economy too) but the majority of us lowly males....nothing</p>
<p>I'm in CS and some of the smartest CS majors I know are girls. In fact, the smartest person I know in my CS program is a girl, and she and I are good friends.</p>
<p>Girls are good at math (and that's really what CS is, once you've stripped away the programming and computer architecture), but from my experience they sometimes just don't have the patience and grit it takes to stick it out. I'm sorry if that sounds sexist, but that's how I feel.</p>
<p>And KidNovelist, I don't mean to be rude, and this doesn't (necessarily) apply to you, but I think that girls make up excuses for quitting when their patience has run out. They'll say that they "want to make a difference", or "want to help people", or "want to work with people" or "want to work outdoors", want to "work with children" or "don't want to sit a desk all day", etc. They'll say the course material is "dull", "pointless", "boring", "too messy / complicated", "uneccessary", etc. I've known many people (mostly girls, but a few guys too) who come up with these excuses just because they lose interest somewhere along the way. Oh well.</p>
<p>Anyway, girls do have it good in any science or engineering. They get a lot of scholarship money thrown at them to encourage them not to drop out. I think it's a blessing and a curse. But you'll be good.</p>
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i'm a girl by the way. do you think i may have a better chance of getting into certain engineering colleges because of that?
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<p>Some. Different schools have different policies. But don't <em>assume</em> that you will.</p>
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...I think that girls make up excuses for quitting when their patience has run out.
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<p>Yes, you can read their minds. You know all their motives and experiences, for sure.</p>
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Anyway, girls do have it good in any science or engineering.
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<p>Except for, you know, the sexism and negative assumptions. And don't try telling me that those don't happen...I have personal experience with it, you don't.</p>
<p>knl57, you're welcome to PM me, or reply to me here, if you want to talk to/ask questions of a woman in computer science.</p>