Image "Yes We Can Code" by Charis Tsev is / CC BY 2.

the importance of experience?

a temporary change in the status of women?
efforts by important men to change a situation?
an organisation which focuses on equality?
the way women view a part of the world today?
factors which cause women to avoid studying computers in unversity?
an event which surprised women?
differences between technology and other areas of work and study?
an opinion that early women's work is responsible for today's technology?
dramatic changes in employment trends?

Image "Computer Girl" by The Next Web / CC BY 2.0

It is a little-known fact that many of the earliest leaders in computing and software
engineering were women. Even many women today choose to avoid the tech industry,
seeing it as a male-dominated world. They are right. Perhaps by seeing the important role
women played in the early days of the sector, today's women will change thinking. This role
possibly started in the Second World War, a time when computers started to be used by all
sides in the war. Women built many of these early computers, while most men were
fighting abroad. They were treated as equals in places like Bletchley Park, a military base
where top-secret codes were broken on large machines known as bombes. Outside the
workplace they still had , and indeed their vital role in the 'fight against tyranny' would be
forgotten after the war.

Some women continued to live and work quietly in the shadows. They have not received
the same credit as men like Steve Jobs, Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg, whose creations
continue to be celebrated and used to this day. Nevertheless, their achievements were
impossible without the work that these women had done. Moreover, this work was arguably
just as useful and innovative as today's iPhone and Windows operating system. Take
women like Grace Hopper for example. Hopper was an officer in the US Navy. She
developed a code which was used as the basis for COBOL, a programming language which
is still popular among business and government systems. Another woman, Elsie Shutt
worked on early operating systems. She founded CompInc, which employed mostly
women, working sometimes from home and sometimes in the office. After almost 50 years,
the company is still in business, and is proud of being a female- and minority-friendly
employer.

However, the present-day tech industry comes across as a strongly male dominated
industry. This contrasts sharply with women's earlier status as equals. In fact, the early
female pioneers were amazed to discover that this had happened. Shutt commented: "It
really amazed me that these men were programmers, because I thought it was women's
work!" Nevertheless, a 2015 study showed that women make up the minority of employees
in the industry. In other fields, like medicine and law, women have risen to become around
half of the workforce. In places like Silicon Valley, however, only around 20% of employees
are women. Is there a clear reason for this? Is there any hope for girls who dream of
developing software?
Thankfully, the answer to both questions is "Yes".
1984 was the year when the destiny of women in coding changed. It was in this year that the
amount of women in the tech labour force started to decline. For the rest of this decade the
number would continue to fall steadily. In the 90s it plunged. The reason for this is not
government policy or social change - but advertising.
In the late 1970s, hardware stores like Radio Shack and brands like Apple began advertising
computers as a toy for boys. Girls weren't encouraged to play games or to experiment with
the software, like the boys were. When the children grew up and went to university and the
workplace, the boys were able to use this knowledge to excel. The girls in computer
courses felt overwhelmed. The advertising continued, and so did the idea that computers
were mainly for men.

However, things have started to change. Institutions like Harvard recognise the problem and
want to fix it. Universities are now identifying reasons for the lack of women in their
computer labs. They are removing the obstacles which prevent more women from applying
and succeeding in tech courses. On a more personal note, there are the men that we
mentioned earlier. Male executives and developers want their daughters to have the same
opportunities that the world of technology has given them, and they are working to make
sure that this happens. These changes will take time, probably years. For our daughters and
our equal world, though, there is hope.
 the importance of experience?
D : ...the boys were able to use this knowledge to excel

a temporary change in the status of women?

A : ...their vital role in the 'fight against tyranny' would be forgotten after the war.

efforts by important men to change a situation?

E : Male executives and developers want their daughters to have the same opportunities that
the world of technology has given them, and they are working to make sure that this happens.

an organisation which focuses on equality?

B : CompInc...is proud of being a female- and minority-friendly employer.

the way women view a part of the world today?

A : ...many women today choose to avoid the tech industry, seeing it as a male-dominated
world.

factors which cause women to avoid studying computers in unversity?

E : ...the obstacles which prevent more women from applying and succeeding in tech courses.

an event which surprised women?

C : ...the early female pioneers were amazed to discover that this had happened.

differences between technology and other areas of work and study?

C : In other fields, like medicine and law, women have risen to become around half of the
workforce. In places like Silicon Valley, however, only around 20% of employees are women.

an opinion that early women's work is responsible for today's technology?

B : ...their achievements were impossible without the work that these women had done.

dramatic changes in employment trends?

D : 1984 was the year when the destiny of women in coding changed. It was in this year that the
amount of women in the tech labour force started to decline. For the rest of this decade the
number would continue to fall steadily. In the 90s it plunged.

When Women Stopped Coding - Episode 576, NPR Money Talks (accessed 2 August 2016)
Women didn't just recently stopped coding, they actually stopped coding decades ago - Start-
Up Daily, 24 February 2015 (accessed 2 August 2016)
Obituary: Jane Fawcett - The Economist, 4 June 2016 (accessed 2 August 2016)
Code Like a Girl - Harvard Gazette, 20 February 2015 (accessed 9 September 2016)