IT gender gap to widen?

An article in today’s New York Times on the gender gap in computer science education further underscores the troubling trend of women opting out of IT as a career path, as reported by Carmen Noble in a recent InfoWorld feature.

Recent InfoWorld Features

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The Times article examines failures within the American educational system, which has resulted in a significant drop in computer science bachelor’s degrees awarded to women over the past 20 years. Chief among the explanations given for diminishing enrollment in computer science among women in the past several years are the dot-com bust and offshoring. But, as the article states, experts aren’t buying it, pointing out that the number of computer-related jobs is at least on par with the dot-com boom.

Moreover, the article goes on to suggest that demand for computer scientists should increase in the coming years, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Jan Cuny, who directs a National Science Foundation program to broaden participation in computer scientist, presents one take on the downside of the gender gap in tech education as relates to the increasing demand for computer scientists in the workforce:

“If you look at the demographics of the country, if we are not going to get our new professionals from women and minorities and persons with disabilities, we are not going to have enough.”

Another problem with imbalance in the IT workforce, as Maggie Biggs assesses in her recent analysis of the trend, is that “today’s global IT envrionment requires an organizational chart rife with intangibles — not just a checklist of technical skills. And as the tenets of Web 2.0 continue to take hold, women will be an increasingly vital component of any winning IT strategy, as they tend to be effective communicators who thrive in highly distributed and collaborative environments.”

Activism at the educational level is vital, as experts quoted in the Times article advocate. Companies are also getting into the education activism mix. For example, IBM and Cisco have launched highly successful initiatives aimed at inspiring girls and young women to take an interest in IT. And when it comes to keeping women in the IT workforce, many women tech leaders stress the ongoing importance of on-job mentoring.

The competition for bright minds among career tracks is stiff. And drawing from a smaller applicant pool will prove problematic for IT’s long-term prospects. Especially as some feel the trend of women opting out of computing careers may in fact signal a greater migration away from IT among men in the future. As the Times article states:

“Women are the canaries in the coal mine,” Lenore Blum, a computer scientist at Carnegie Mellon University, told an audience at Harvard University in March, in a talk on this “crisis” in computer science. Factors driving women away will eventually drive men away as well, she and others say.