Caroline Fagan

Annotated Bibliography
Ashcraft, C., & Blithe, Sarah. (n.d.). Women in IT: The Facts. Retrieved from
http://www.ncwit.org/sites/default/files/resources/ncwit_thefacts_rev2010.pdf
This informational packet includes a lot of useful statistics and graphs relating to why
women are not going into computer science. There is a lot of information on the
psychology behind the tendency (including gender stereotypes). It hypothesizes the risks
that could come from a continuation of the current trend and helps to identify the factors
that keep women out of computer science. I can use this information as a background for
my essaythe statistics show the true problem that the United States is faced with. The
statistics will be especially helpful in showing the lack of major change over time.
Davis, R. (2000, July 13). Women students stick to traditional subjects. The Guardian. Retrieved
from
http://www.theguardian.com/education/2010/jul/13/women-students-stem-subjects
In this article, Rowenna Davis describes how females are discouraged from STEM
subjects from a young age both in school and at home. While some educational systems
are working to increase female interest in math and science from an early age, many
schools are sitting back and waiting for the change to happen on its own. The article
presents stories of girls who have defied the social norms and gone into STEM careers. I
can use the article as it gives good statistics about current numbers of women in
engineering and technology subjects. However, I have to be careful as it does not focus
solely on computer science and I do not want to make generalizations from this broad
information.
Fisher, A., Margolis, J., & Miller, F. (n.d.). Undergraduate women in computer science:

Caroline Fagan
Experience, motivation, and culture. Retrieved from
https://www.cs.cmu.edu/afs/cs/project/gendergap/www/papers/sigcse97/sigcse97.html
In this study, Carnegie Mellon University looked at the characteristics of those in their
computer science department. They discuss some of the reasons for why it is not popular
among females, including the nature of its own stereotype: geeky. Women often do not
want to be associated with this term. There is also a difference in the way men and
women see computers; men think of it as a toy while women see a purpose. This
information provides more information to why computer science is not appealing to
women. I can use it to answer my essential question.
Henn, S. (2014, October 21). When women stopped coding. National Public Radio. Retrieved
from
http://www.npr.org/blogs/money/2014/10/21/357629765/when-women-stopped-coding
This article shows the moment when women stopped working in computer science: when
personal computers were invented. It presents reasoning for the decline as these
computers were advertised specifically towards men. It gives a shocking graph that
shows an increase in female representation in medical school, law school, and physical
science but a sharp decrease in computer science. This article is helpful as it goes directly
toward my essential question: why women are not going into computer science. It shows
why the decline happened, and now I need to figure out how a stimulation can occur.
Murphy, M. C., Steele, C. M., & Gross, J. J. (Oct. 2007). Signaling threat: How situational
cues affect women in math, science, and engineering settings. Psychological Science,
18(10), 879-885. Retrieved from
http://www.jstor.org/stable/40064666

Caroline Fagan
The authors present clear and concise definitions of key terms such as social identity
threat and stereotype threat. They present several studies with further references to
accompany the definitions. This article can be useful as it provides the definitions I need
and several other reasons for underrepresentation of women in STEM-related subjects. I
can use the information gathered from a well-detailed study within the article.
Pearl, A., Pollack, M. E., Riskin, E., Thomas, B., Wolf, E., & Wu, A. (1990). Becoming a
computer scientist. Retrieved from
http://courses.cs.washington.edu/courses/csep590a/06au/readings/p135-pearl.pdf
In their report, the all-female authors give several reasons as to why women are not
studying computer science. They present new, unique thoughts on the topic and give
potential solutions to each problem. One of the major points is the lack of self-esteem that
often requires women to lower their career goals to something easier to obtain. This
report can be useful as it details four specific reasons that directly answer my essential
question. I can use the information as part of my simple answer to the question.
Spertus, E. (1991). Why are there so few female computer scientists? Retrieved from
ftp://publications.ai.mit.edu/ai-publications/pdf/AITR-1315.pdf
One of the major points of this report is that women are disadvantaged in computer
science from an early age. They are given dolls and other toys that prepare them to be
mothers. Boys, though, play with trucks, action figures, and often computer-mechanized
toys as well. The report describes how this trend contributes to the lack of female
representation in computer science. I can use this article to talk more about the effects
that come from an early age as many of the other sources focus on late high school and
early college.

Caroline Fagan
Stross, R. (2008, November 15). What has driven women out of computer science? New York
Times. Retrieved from
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/16/business/16digi.html?_r=0
This article hypothesizes the biggest factor in making computer science a male-dominant
field. The author believes that the introduction of gaming made the field less appealing
and more nerdy to women. He also discusses that people do not understand the potential
career opportunities that can arise from a degree in computer science; therefore, they go
into other safer careers. This article continues to add to my research of the difference in
men and women in computer science. I can also use it to show the steady decrease in
female interest in computer science.
Sydell, L. (2012, July 17). New Yahoo CEO among a rare few: Female execs with tech creds.
National Public Radio. Retrieved from
http://www.npr.org/blogs/alltechconsidered/2012/07/17/156935365/new-yahoo-ceo
among-a-rare-few-women-execs-with-tech-creds
The CEO of Yahoo, Melissa Mayer, is one of very few female business leaders in the
world. She is even more unusual as she leads a computer science-based company. The
article discusses the difficulties Mayer faced in her ascendance to CEO. It states that,
although significant, Mayers position will not have a big effect on the number of women
in computer science. The article is useful as Mayer is a perfect case study and example of
the potential women have to make a change. If Mayer is smart enough and determined
enough to become a driving leader in computer science, then other women can do the
same.
Quinn, D. M., & Spencer, S. J. (2001). The interference of stereotype threat with womens

Caroline Fagan
generation of mathematical problem-solving strategies. Journal of Social Issues, Vol.
57. Retrieved from
http://arts.uwaterloo.ca/~sspencer/spencerlab/articles/2001-QuinnSpencer.pdf
This article talks about the different factors that make stereotype threats so prevalent in
womens mathematical skills. It discusses the role of adult figures such as parents and
teachers in discouraging female students. It also presents evidence that girls are capable
of achieving the same or better grades as their male counterparts through an experimental
study in which students took a test labeled as either stereotype neutral or biased
towards men. This article is helpful as I can see how much of an impact stereotypes have
on female success in math and science. The information leads to the lack of women in
computer science.