Career Counseling: Do you ever wonder what happened to women in computer science and technology in general? In 1980’s 30% of programmers were women and the sense was that this number would go up to 50% soon. Now it’s in the low teens, at most. Here is an interesting article with a chart about this gradual change over the years – www.npr.org/…/2014/10/21/357629765/when-women-stopped-coding
“The share of women in computer science started falling at roughly the same moment when personal computers started showing up in U.S. homes in significant numbers.”
“These early personal computers weren’t much more than toys. You could play pong or simple shooting games, maybe do some word processing. And these toys were marketed almost entirely to men and boys.”
“This idea that computers are for boys became a narrative. It became the story we told ourselves about the computing revolution. It helped define who geeks were, and it created techie culture.”
“In the 1990s, researcher Jane Margolis interviewed hundreds of computer science students at Carnegie Mellon University, which had one of the top programs in the country. She found that families were much more likely to buy computers for boys than for girls — even when their girls were really interested in computers.”
“This was a big deal when those kids got to college. As personal computers became more common, computer science professors increasingly assumed that their students had grown up playing with computers at home.”
Career Counseling with Elaine Korngold
Sometimes the person who can help you the most is someone who has been in the same situation as you, has had similar experiences, and knows the territory and the language. The truth is, very few therapists have the appropriate background or life experience to assist you with your career needs. Before becoming a counselor, I had an extensive career in high-tech. My previous job titles included: programmer-analyst, software developer, systems engineer, research scientist, business analyst, product manager, project manager, and a certified scrum master. By combining my skills in mental health counseling with my experience in technology and corporate world, I can help you think strategically through your work-related issues.
Women who work in IT are often exposed to discrimination, hidden bias, and micro-aggressions. Most never report the harassment because they feel unsafe. I offer counseling in a supportive environment that helps empower the women in technology to grow and seek new opportunities. Contact me to learn more.