Survey Results from the Incredible Shrinking Pipeline

Survey Says! Results on the Incredible Shrinking Pipeline

Tracy Camp¹
Colorado School of Mines

The introduction of the incredible shrinking pipeline is taken from Communications of the ACM, vol. 40, no. 10, pp. 103-110, Oct. 1997, with permission. See [Camp 1997] for the full paper.

Abstract
Many of us in the computer community are aware of the pipeline shrinkage problem; the pipeline represents the ratio of women involved in computer science from high school to graduate school. In this article, we consider the incredible shrinking pipeline; in addition to the pipeline shrinking from high school to graduate school, the pipeline also shrinks at the bachelor's level. Furthermore, while the percentage of bachelor's degrees awarded in CS to women decreased almost every year over the last decade, the corresponding percentages of other science and engineering disciplines increased. Since the number of women at the bachelor's level affects the number of women at levels higher in the pipeline and in the job market, these facts are of great concern.

In [Camp 1997], we looked at the harsh facts concerning the percentage of degrees awarded in CS to women since 1980 and we speculated on what the future holds. We also requested that the community respond to the facts presented through an interactive survey. At this time, 111 unique responses to the survey have been tabulated. In this article, we summarize the facts presented in [Camp97], and we outline the results obtained from compiling the community's response to the incredible shrinking pipeline.

Introduction

The pipeline shrinkage problem concerning women in computer science is a known phenomenon. Although women make up 50% of high school Computer Science (CS) classes[Walker and Rodger 1996], the percentage of bachelor's degrees in CS awarded to women in the 1993-94 academic year was only 28.4%[NCES 1996].² At the graduate level, for the academic year 1993-94, the percentages of degrees in CS awarded to women dropped even further: 25.8% at the M.S. level and 15.4% at the Ph.D. level. In addition, for women who become faculty members, the pipeline shrinks through the academic ranks. According to the CRA Taulbee Survey, only 15.6% assistant professors, 9.4% associate professors, and 5.7% full professors were women in CS Ph.D.-granting departments during the academic year 1993-94 [Andrews 1994-97]. We illustrate the pipeline shrinkage problem in Figure 1.

In Figure 2, we illustrate the incredible shrinking pipeline: the percentage of bachelor's degrees awarded in CS to women decreased almost every year over the last decade. In other words, not only does the pipeline shrink from high school to graduate school, but it also shrinks at the bachelor's level. Furthermore, while the percentage of bachelor's degrees awarded in CS to women decreased, corresponding percentages of other science and engineering disciplines increased. Since the number of women at the bachelor's level affects the number of women at levels higher in the pipeline and in the job market, these facts are of great concern.

There are a number of reasons why we need to improve the percentage of degrees awarded in CS to women. We direct readers interested in these reasons to [Pearl et al. 1990]. In short, there is a critical labor shortage in CS and, although women are more than half the population, they are a significantly underrepresented percentage of the population earning CS degrees.

In [Camp97], we consider the trend of degrees awarded in CS since 1980, we compare the trend in CS to other science and engineering disciplines, and we request that the community respond to the facts and speculations presented. In this article, we summarize the facts presented in [Camp97], and we outline the results obtained from compiling the community's response to the incredible shrinking pipeline.

Trends in Degrees Awarded: 1980-81 through 1993-94

We have already established that as women progress from high school to graduate school, they will be part of a smaller and smaller proportion of students. In this section, we consider the total number of degrees awarded in CS at each level and we further examine another kind of shrinking in the pipeline. From 1983-84 to 1992-93, the percentage of B.A./B.S. degrees awarded in CS to women consistently decreased. The percentages of M.S. degrees awarded in CS to women were more stable over this period, and the percentages of Ph.D. degrees awarded in CS to women (though still meager) increased.

The National Center for Education Statistics at the U.S. Department of Education classifies Computer Science departments within the Computer and Information Sciences (CIS) category. Figure 3 illustrates the percentage of degrees awarded within different fields of study in CIS for B.A./B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. levels in 1993-94. As illustrated, the bulk of the degrees awarded are in the general computer science category, with information science and systems a distant second. We, therefore, use the acronym CS is this article to represent all the fields of study in CIS. Table 1 lists the number of B.A/B.S, M.S. and Ph.D. degrees awarded in CS (i.e., CIS) from 1980-81 to 1994-95 and the percentage of recipients that were women.

Although the percentages of Ph.D. degrees awarded in CS to women are very low, the numbers from the four most recent years available suggest the percentages are in an upward trend. However, due to the shrinking of the pipeline at the B.A./B.S. level (discussed below), it is unlikely that this upward trend will continue. From Table 1, we conclude that there is some good news at the Ph.D. level.

The number of Ph.D. degrees awarded in CS continues to increase. (See [Camp97] for details on why we feel this is good news.)
The percentage of Ph.D. degrees awarded in CS to women in 1994-95 is at its highest level ever.
The percentage of Ph.D. degrees awarded in CS to women in 1994-95 is more than 75% higher than the percentage of Ph.D. degrees awarded in CS to women a decade ago (10.1% versus 18.2%).

Table 1. Degrees awarded in CS: 1980-81 to 1994-95
Academic Year	B.A./B.S. Degrees	% Women	M.S. Degrees	% Women	Ph.D. Degrees	% Women
1980-81	15,121	32.5	4,218	23.0	252	9.9
1981-82	20,267	34.8	4,935	26.5	251	8.4
1982-83	24,510	36.3	5,321	28.3	262	13.0
1983-84	32,172	37.1	6,190	29.3	251	10.4
1984-85	38,878	36.8	7,101	28.7	248	10.1
1985-86	41,889	35.7	8,070	29.9	344	13.1
1986-87	39,589	34.7	8,481	29.4	374	13.9
1987-88	34,523	32.4	9,197	26.9	428	11.2
1988-89	30,454	30.8	9,414	28.0	551	15.4
1989-90	27,257	29.9	9,677	28.1	627	14.8
1990-91	25,083	29.3	9,324	29.6	676	13.6
1991-92	24,557	28.7	9,530	27.8	772	13.3
1992-93	24,241	28.1	10,163	27.1	805	14.4
1993-94	24,200	28.4	10,416	25.8	810	15.4
1994-95	24,404	28.4	10,326	26.1	884	18.2

There is mixed news at the M.S. level as well. During the last 15 years, the number of M.S. degrees awarded in CS has almost consistently increased, but the percentage of M.S. degrees awarded in CS to women in 1993-94 and 1994-95 is at its lowest level since 1980-1981. Due to the shrinking of the pipeline at the B.A./B.S. level (discussed below), it is likely that the percentage of M.S. degrees awarded in CS to women over the next few years will continue to decline.

At the B.A./B.S. level, there is only bad news

The number of B.A./B.S. degrees awarded in CS from 1985-86 to 1993-94 has steadily decreased. The number of B.A./B.S. degrees awarded in CS in 1994-95 is only a slight increase over the number of degrees awarded in 1993-94.
The decrease has occurred at a faster pace for women than men.

The fact that the number of B.A./B.S. degrees awarded in CS is decreasing at a faster pace for women than men is especially striking when one considers the total population receiving B.A./B.S. degrees, and the percentage of bachelor's degrees awarded to women by disciplines similar to CS.

Table 2. B.A./B.S. degrees awarded in all disciplines: 1980-81 to 1993-94
Academic Year	B.A./B.S. Degrees	% Women
1980-81 1981-82 1982-83 1983-84 1984-85 1985-86 1986-87 1987-88 1988-89 1989-90 1990-91 1991-92 1992-93 1993-94 1994-95	935,140 952,998 969,510 974,309 979,477 987,823 991,264 994,829 1,018,755 1,051,344 1,094,538 1,136,553 1,165,178 1,169,275 1,160,134	49.8 50.3 50.6 50.5 50.7 50.8 51.5 52.0 52.5 53.2 53.9 54.2 54.3 54.5 54.6

Table 2 lists the total number of B.A./B.S. degrees awarded in all disciplines from 1980-81 through 1993-94, and the percentage of the recipients that were women. The number of B.A./B.S. degrees awarded in all disciplines continues to increase, and the increase is at a faster pace for women than for men.

Figures 4 and 5 compare the trend of degrees awarded in CS with the trends of degrees awarded in disciplines similar to CS from 1980-81 through 1993-94. The majors within a discipline are determined by the National Center for Education Statistics:

Bio/Life (Biological/Life Sciences) = biology, biochemistry and biophysics, botany, cell and molecular biology, microbiology/bacteriology, zoology, and other biological sciences.
Eng = chemical, civil, electrical, mechanical, and other engineering-related technologies.
Math = mathematics and statistics.
Phy (Physical Sciences) = astronomy, chemistry, geology, physics, and other physical sciences.

Figure 4 illustrates that, while the number of B.A./B.S. degrees awarded in other science and engineering disciplines decreased from 1985-86 to 1993-94, the decrease in CS was the most extreme. From 1985-86 to 1993-94, Eng decreased 18.2% (95,660 to 78,225), Math decreased 16.0% (17,147 to 14,396), and Phy decreased 15.3% (21,717 to 18,400), but CS decreased 42.2% (41,889 to 24,200). Bio/Life increased 33.4% (38,524 to 51,383) during the same period. Figure 5 illustrates that the percentages of B.A./B.S. degrees awarded to women by science and engineering disciplines (except CS) increased almost every of the last 13 years. CS is the only science and engineering discipline where the percentage of bachelor's degrees awarded to women decreased. From 1980-81 to 1993-94, Bio/Life increased 16.3% (44.1% to 51.3%), Eng increased 44.7% (10.3% to 14.9%), Math increased 10.0% (42.1% to 46.3%), and Phy increased 36.6% (24.6% to 33.6%), but CS decreased 12.6% (32.5% to 28.4%). From 1983-84 to 1993-94, CS decreased 23.5%.

In summary, even though more women are awarded B.A./B.S. degrees, and even though the percentages of B.A./B.S. degrees awarded to women in disciplines similar to CS increased, the percentage of B.A./B.S. degrees awarded in CS to women decreased.

Questions

In [Camp97], we asked a number of questions concerning the facts presented in the previous section. Why has the number of B.A./B.S. degrees awarded in CS decreased since 1985? Why is the decrease occurring at a faster pace for women than men? While the number of B.A./B.S. degrees awarded in CS in 1994-95 is almost equivalent to the number of B.A./B.S. degrees awarded in CS in 1982-83 (24,404 versus 24,510), why is the percentage of degrees awarded to women dramatically smaller today (28.4% versus 36.3%)? The percentage of B.A./B.S. degrees awarded to women in all disciplines increased from 1980-81 to 1993-94; the percentages of B.A./B.S. degrees awarded to women in disciplines similar to CS increased over the same time period. Why has the percentage of B.A./B.S. degrees awarded to women in CS decreased? Will the percentage of degrees awarded in CS to women continue to lag behind in the next decade? And, most importantly, what can we, as a community, do to improve the situation?

To answer some of these questions, we requested that the CS community respond to an interactive survey . At this time, 111 unique responses to the survey have been tabulated. In the following section, we give the results obtained from compiling these 111 responses. If you have not yet completed the survey, we request that you do so. We plan to present the results, including strategies proposed for attracting and retaining women in CS, in a future CACM issue.

Survey Responses

As previously mentioned, we obtained 111 unique responses to the survey: 88% (98/111) are female and 64% (71/111) are members of ACM. The following table illustrates the current professional status of the respondents:

Professional Status
Status	Raw Number	Percentage
Employee	36	32.4
Faculty	24	21.6
Student	19	17.1
Research	15	13.5
Consultant	7	6.3
Manager	6	5.4
Other	4	3.6

A high percentage of the respondents are well educated:

Highest Degree Earned
Degree Earned	Raw Number	Percentage
Ph.D. Degree	42	37.8
M.S. Degree	31	27.9
B.A./B.S. Degree	27	24.3
Associate Degree	3	2.7
High School Diploma	8	7.2

The main field that the respondents are educated is, not surprisingly, computer science:

Field of Education
Field	Raw Number	Percentage
Computer Science	84	75.6
Computer Engineering	5	4.5
Information Sciences	5	4.5
Mathematics	5	4.5
Other Science Field	6	5.4
Other Engineering Field	2	1.8
Other	4	3.6

The following table illustrates approximately when each respondent decided to enter the computing field. As shown, a large percentage (51.8%) decided to enter the computing field while in college. Only 18.5% decided to enter the computing field while in high school.

When decide to enter CS
When	Raw Number	Percentage
prior to the 9th grade	2	1.8
in the 9th or 10th grade	6	5.5
in the 11th or 12th grade	14	13.0
as a college freshman	15	13.8
as a college sophomore	12	11.1
as a college junior	16	14.8
as a college senior	13	12.0
during graduate school	9	8.3
after receiving final degree (not formally educated in CS)	5	4.6
when a job was offered (not formally educated in CS)	6	5.6
other	10	9.3

In the previous table, four of the 10 respondents that marked "other" stated that they decided to enter the computing field after college, but before graduate school.

The following table illustrates what most influenced each respondent to enter the computing field. We asked the respondent to mark only the top two or three influences. The percentages illustrate the number of respondents that marked each choice. Since the respondents marked, on average, 2.4 influences, the total of the percentages is greater than 100%.

What influenced you to enter CS
Influence	Raw Number	Percentage

you found the field interesting/fascinating	73	67.6
you realized you were good at CS	55	50.9
numerous job opportunities	41	38.0
you enjoyed your computer course(s)	35	32.4
encouragement from college teacher(s)	18	16.7
encouragement from parent(s)	14	13.0
encouragement from mentor(s)	8	7.4
encouragement from high school teacher(s)	4	3.7
other reason(s)	13	12.0

In the previous table, nine of the 13 respondents that marked "other" stated that they received encouragement from a friend/brother/boyfriend/spouse. Three of the respondents stated that they were discouraged by adults that were important in their lives. For example, one respondent wrote: "My parents discouraged me (I kept my grad studies a secret until near completion of my phd.)"

For each of the following questions from the survey, we gave a list of possible answers. For each answer, we asked the respondent to mark whether he/she:

strongly agrees	respondent is convinced this answer had an impact on the question;
agrees	respondent believes this answer had an impact on the question;
is uncertain	respondent is unsure whether this answer had an impact on the question;
disagrees	respondent does not believe this answer had an impact on the question;
strongly disagrees	respondent is convinced this answer had no impact on the question.

In the survey, we stated that the following answers may or may not be true. In other words, the answers should NOT be interpreted as a fact, but as a possible opinion.

In each of the survey questions, we tried to include multiple answers that are similar (stated in different ways) in order to minimize possible errors in the answers. Questions 3 and 4 in the survey asked similar questions:

Survey Question: 3. While the total number of B.A./B.S. degrees awarded in CS in 1993-94 is almost equivalent to the total number of B.A./B.S. degrees awarded in CS in 1982-83 (24,200 to 24,510), why is the percentage of degrees awarded to women dramatically smaller in 1992-93 (28.4% vs. 36.3%)?
In other words, what is different in the computing environment today compared to 1982 that had a detrimental effect on the percentage of degrees awarded in CS to women?

Survey Question: 4. The percentages of B.A./B.S. degrees awarded to women in other scientific and engineering disciplines increased from 1980-81 to 1993-94: Biological/ Life Sciences increased from 44.1% to 51.3%, Engineering increased from 10.3% to 14.9%, Mathematics and Statistics increased from 42.1% to 46.3%, and Physical Sciences increased from 24.6% to 33.6%.
Why has the percentage of B.A./B.S. degrees awarded to women in CS decreased from 32.5% to 28.4% over the same period (or from 37.1% to 28.4% over the period of 1983-94 to 1993-94)?
In other words, what is different in the CS area compared to other science and engineering (S/E) fields that had a detrimental effect on the percentage of degrees awarded in CS to women?

The following chart gives the results of the survey for the above two questions. We collate the answers into categories for ease of comparison. The average is calculated by giving +2 for a Strongly Agree response, +1 for an Agree response, 0 for an Uncertain response, -1 for a Disagree response, and -2 for a Strongly Disagree response.
Why has CS percentages decreased?
Item Average Strongly
Agree Agree Uncertain Disagree Strongly
Disagree

CHANGE IN PERCEIVED CS IMAGE

perception of CS became hacker/nerd/anti-social in the early 80's 0.814 25 54 16 10 3

perception that those in CS work long hours and can't balance work and family 0.527 32 30 14 27 5

public perception change of what computer scientists are like 0.448 13 40 38 14 2

change in public perception of CS, but no change in other S/E fields 0.429 10 47 30 19 1

CS became perceived as a field for males only 0.425 15 44 24 22 3

women realized they do not like computers -1.110 1 7 13 46 42

CHANGE IN PERCEIVED CS FOCUS

CS became increasingly engineering oriented, thus percentages in CS have started to look more like percentages in engineering 0.242 9 36 38 20 4

CS became increasingly engineering oriented in the 80's 0.074 7 32 36 26 6

CS became perceived as a science -0.407 5 13 35 43 12

CS became increasingly math oriented in the 80's -0.472 3 13 30 54 8

PC REVOLUTION EFFECT

PC games in the 80's were mainly developed by and for males, thus males received more computer experience than females 1.027 37 52 8 7 4

violent computer games affected CS, but not other S/E fields 0.452 14 47 22 19 4

more PCs bought for boys affected CS, but not other S/E fields 0.509 15 48 25 17 3

the PC revolution pushed women away -0.018 9 31 25 33 9

CS became more hands-on in the early 80's -0.361 3 13 41 44 7

rapid change in CS technology, compared to other S/E fields -0.120 7 28 24 43 6

women began to fear the rapid technology changes -0.509 6 15 22 48 17

A GLASS CEILING?

too few women in computing in the 70's became professors 0.638 18 50 23 17 0

too few women from the 70's reached top ranks 0.275 12 38 31 24 4

women realized they could be more successful elsewhere 0.037 10 30 29 30 8

women realized the opportunities for advancement in CS were minimal -0.462 7 15 20 53 13

GENDER DISCRIMINATION

women in CS faced gender discrimination 0.669 29 38 24 13 5

mentors began encouraging boys to major in CS more than girls 0.666 24 37 35 11 1

CS proved to be inhospitable to women 0.559 24 41 21 18 5

women in CS faced sexual harassment 0.275 14 29 43 19 4

backlash against feminist movement pushed women out of CS -0.268 4 22 34 37 11

Why has CS percentages decreased?
Item	Average	Strongly Agree	Agree	Uncertain	Disagree	Strongly Disagree

CHANGE IN PERCEIVED CS IMAGE
perception of CS became hacker/nerd/anti-social in the early 80's	0.814	25	54	16	10	3
perception that those in CS work long hours and can't balance work and family	0.527	32	30	14	27	5
public perception change of what computer scientists are like	0.448	13	40	38	14	2
change in public perception of CS, but no change in other S/E fields	0.429	10	47	30	19	1
CS became perceived as a field for males only	0.425	15	44	24	22	3
women realized they do not like computers	-1.110	1	7	13	46	42
CHANGE IN PERCEIVED CS FOCUS
CS became increasingly engineering oriented, thus percentages in CS have started to look more like percentages in engineering	0.242	9	36	38	20	4
CS became increasingly engineering oriented in the 80's	0.074	7	32	36	26	6
CS became perceived as a science	-0.407	5	13	35	43	12
CS became increasingly math oriented in the 80's	-0.472	3	13	30	54	8
PC REVOLUTION EFFECT
PC games in the 80's were mainly developed by and for males, thus males received more computer experience than females	1.027	37	52	8	7	4
violent computer games affected CS, but not other S/E fields	0.452	14	47	22	19	4
more PCs bought for boys affected CS, but not other S/E fields	0.509	15	48	25	17	3
the PC revolution pushed women away	-0.018	9	31	25	33	9
CS became more hands-on in the early 80's	-0.361	3	13	41	44	7
rapid change in CS technology, compared to other S/E fields	-0.120	7	28	24	43	6
women began to fear the rapid technology changes	-0.509	6	15	22	48	17
A GLASS CEILING?
too few women in computing in the 70's became professors	0.638	18	50	23	17	0
too few women from the 70's reached top ranks	0.275	12	38	31	24	4
women realized they could be more successful elsewhere	0.037	10	30	29	30	8
women realized the opportunities for advancement in CS were minimal	-0.462	7	15	20	53	13
GENDER DISCRIMINATION
women in CS faced gender discrimination	0.669	29	38	24	13	5
mentors began encouraging boys to major in CS more than girls	0.666	24	37	35	11	1
CS proved to be inhospitable to women	0.559	24	41	21	18	5
women in CS faced sexual harassment	0.275	14	29	43	19	4
backlash against feminist movement pushed women out of CS	-0.268	4	22	34	37	11

Interesting comments from questions three and four of the survey:

The rapid change itself doesn't discourage women, BUT it does affect us when we take leaves of absence (typically, maternity leaves).
I'm wondering what the numbers look like if you control for the sharp increase in international students over the same time period.
To really know, you need to ask the women who are NOT in CS, not the ones who are!
There's a perception that you have to completely give up your personal life in order to have a career in CS. (Remember the "90 Hours a Week and Loving It" t-shirts?)
The questions might be phrased as to why CS had more women than other engineering fields for so long.
I don't think the it is merely a perception that the CS workers "can't balance work and family". It is the truth and this affect Mothers far more Fathers.
I would not recommend computer science to my daughter because of the long hours that it requires.
I think it's not so much that there was a rapid change in CS technology as the nature of that change -- it became very hacker/tool oriented, rather than focusing on the elegance of problem-solving methods and algorithms (which was what drew me to CS in the first place). In all honesty, I don't know if I'd go into CS now.
If there was a computer in the family, more often than not it was the son who took it apart and wrote programs to run on it; not the daughter.

Question 5 (parts I and II) concerns the relationship between the percentage of degrees awarded to women by a CS department, and the college the CS department is within. In our research, we have found that CS departments in engineering colleges graduate, on average, proportionately fewer women than CS departments in non-engineering colleges. (We refer the interested reader to [Camp97] and [Camp98] for statistics illustrating the College of Engineering Effect.)

Survey Question: 5. The percentage of degrees awarded to women by CS departments in engineering colleges is smaller than the corresponding percentages in non-engineering colleges, as shown in the following chart:

Degree	Engineering College	Non-Engineering College
B.A./B.S.	22.5%	28.3%
M.S.	23.6%	29.2%
Ph.D	11.7%	12.5%

I) Why is there a "College of Engineering effect" (term defined in the CACM paper) for the percentage of degrees awarded in CS to women?

II) Why is the "College of Engineering effect" more pronounced at the B.A./ B.S. and M.S. levels and less pronounced at the Ph.D level?

The following chart gives the results of the survey for the above two questions. We collate the answers into categories for ease of comparison.
College of Engineering Effect
Item Average Strongly
Agree Agree Uncertain Disagree Strongly
Disagree

CoE PERCEPTION

perception of engineering turns women away 0.740 19 57 20 9 3

more emphasis on hardware in a CS-CoE degree program deters women 0.440 9 50 32 16 2

perception that one needs mechanical talent in CoE 0.379 11 47 25 22 3

perception that engineering is hard 0.240 17 39 14 29 9

CS-CoE perceived as more prestigious than CS-A&S, which deters women -0.467 6 13 29 43 16

CoE INFLEXIBLE

restrictive course selection in CS-CoE versus CS-A&S 0.648 17 47 35 7 2

lack of flexibility in CoE degree programs deter women 0.564 16 41 40 10 1

Ph.D degree programs are more flexible than B.A./B.S. and M.S. degree programs 0.214 9 37 33 24 4

A GLASS CEILING?

more female role models in CS-A&S versus CS-CoE 0.962 29 49 25 4 0

GENDER DISCRIMINATION

boys encouraged to enroll in CoE; girls encouraged to enroll in A&S 1.018 32 51 16 7 0

engineering colleges are more sexist than other colleges 0.574 21 40 31 12 4

advisors discourage girls from entering engineering college 0.495 15 40 39 14 1

MISCELLANEOUS

women who survive to the Ph.D levels are "tougher" than others 0.747 31 42 13 18 3

college of CS department not important to women applying for Ph.D programs 0.401 17 28 45 15 2

the effect has not yet reached the Ph.D level, but it will -0.196 4 14 53 29 7

College of Engineering Effect
Item	Average	Strongly Agree	Agree	Uncertain	Disagree	Strongly Disagree

CoE PERCEPTION
perception of engineering turns women away	0.740	19	57	20	9	3
more emphasis on hardware in a CS-CoE degree program deters women	0.440	9	50	32	16	2
perception that one needs mechanical talent in CoE	0.379	11	47	25	22	3
perception that engineering is hard	0.240	17	39	14	29	9
CS-CoE perceived as more prestigious than CS-A&S, which deters women	-0.467	6	13	29	43	16
CoE INFLEXIBLE
restrictive course selection in CS-CoE versus CS-A&S	0.648	17	47	35	7	2
lack of flexibility in CoE degree programs deter women	0.564	16	41	40	10	1
Ph.D degree programs are more flexible than B.A./B.S. and M.S. degree programs	0.214	9	37	33	24	4
A GLASS CEILING?
more female role models in CS-A&S versus CS-CoE	0.962	29	49	25	4	0
GENDER DISCRIMINATION
boys encouraged to enroll in CoE; girls encouraged to enroll in A&S	1.018	32	51	16	7	0
engineering colleges are more sexist than other colleges	0.574	21	40	31	12	4
advisors discourage girls from entering engineering college	0.495	15	40	39	14	1
MISCELLANEOUS
women who survive to the Ph.D levels are "tougher" than others	0.747	31	42	13	18	3
college of CS department not important to women applying for Ph.D programs	0.401	17	28	45	15	2
the effect has not yet reached the Ph.D level, but it will	-0.196	4	14	53	29	7

In Question 7 of the survey, we consider what the community should be doing (if anything) to try and increase the percentage of women earning B.A./B.S. degrees. In the table that illustrates the results to the survey question, we collate the answers into categories for ease of comparison.

Survey Question: 7. What can we, as a community, do to improve the situation for women in computing?

How to improve situation?
Item Average Strongly
Agree Agree Uncertain Disagree Strongly
Disagree

K-12 CLASSROOM IMPROVEMENTS

ensure equal access to computers for girls in K-12 schools, public and private 1.550 75 27 2 2 3

train teachers to have classrooms that are friendly to both males and females 1.550 68 35 4 2 0

train teachers to adopt cooperative learning practices in the classroom 0.981 37 41 22 7 1

request industry to donate more computers for K-12 schools 0.842 34 40 10 3 1

request the government to purchase more computers for K-12 schools 0.542 22 38 27 16 4

K-12/UNIVERSITY PROGRAMS

establish more CS outreach programs to K-12 schools 1.233 44 49 10 3 1

bring K-12 school girls to university campuses for a day 0.796 27 50 19 6 6

bring K-12 school students (boys and girls) to university campuses for a day 0.613 19 45 28 10 4

MENTORING/ROLE MODELS

make the female role models that exist more visible 1.528 62 39 4 1 0

improve CS mentoring of college females 1.462 68 27 6 2 3

improve CS mentoring of K-12 school females 1.289 57 34 9 4 3

encourage all universities/organizations to organize support groups for women in computing 0.885 34 40 21 5 5

improve CS mentoring of K-12 school students (males and females) 0.657 19 47 25 12 2

improve CS mentoring of college students (males and females) 0.626 20 44 28 13 2

SELF ESTEEM EDUCATION/PROGRAMS

educate K-12 school teachers about the self esteem issues females face 1.185 50 38 13 4 3

educate parents about the self esteem issues females face 1.101 45 39 17 4 3

educate college teachers about the self esteem issues females face 1.064 48 31 20 6 3

develop programs that build the self esteem of females 0.990 39 40 16 6 4

FEMALE ONLY CLASSES

offer girls-only math/science courses in K-12 schools 0.226 23 23 31 13 16

offer women-only math/science courses in college -0.323 15 11 24 35 20

BRIDGE/REENTRY PROGRAMS

establish reentry programs that enable women to retrain in CS 1.203 40 55 8 5 0

develop bridge programs (i.e., programs to resolve gaps in previous education) for students (males and females) entering college as CS freshmen 0.759 22 51 24 9 2

develop bridge programs for females entering college as CS freshmen 0.635 25 44 21 8 9

TWO BODY/TENURE/DAY CARE

encourage universities to adopt flexible tenure timeclocks for female faculty members with children 1.120 47 38 15 5 3

encourage universities to provide affordable/quality child care 1.110 43 45 14 4 3

encourage universities to adopt flexible tenure timeclocks for male faculty members with children 0.915 33 44 21 6 3

encourage universities to adopt solutions to the two body problem (i.e., woman and spouse) 0.692 24 30 46 2 2

HARDWARE/SOFTWARE IMPROVEMENTS

encourage the development of gender neutral computer games 1.111 45 39 18 3 3

encourage the development of gender neutral software 1.100 47 35 21 3 3

encourage the development of software appealing to females 0.820 29 42 26 5 4

encourage the development of more computer games for females 0.710 28 37 28 11 3

change computer technology in order to appeal to girls and boys equally 0.264 17 25 42 13 9

MISCELLANEOUS

increase participation of qualified women in influential positions (e.g. editorial boards) 1.247 51 36 12 5 1

provide successful professional experiences for women in computing 1.226 47 41 14 3 1

encourage females students to join women in computing networks such as Systers 1.093 39 43 23 0 2

modify curricula to emphasize people skills as well as computer skills 0.842 32 42 21 11 2

encourage gender free language (e.g. chair versus chairman) 0.579 29 34 23 12 9

How to improve situation?
Item	Average	Strongly Agree	Agree	Uncertain	Disagree	Strongly Disagree

K-12 CLASSROOM IMPROVEMENTS
ensure equal access to computers for girls in K-12 schools, public and private	1.550	75	27	2	2	3
train teachers to have classrooms that are friendly to both males and females	1.550	68	35	4	2	0
train teachers to adopt cooperative learning practices in the classroom	0.981	37	41	22	7	1
request industry to donate more computers for K-12 schools	0.842	34	40	10	3	1
request the government to purchase more computers for K-12 schools	0.542	22	38	27	16	4
K-12/UNIVERSITY PROGRAMS
establish more CS outreach programs to K-12 schools	1.233	44	49	10	3	1
bring K-12 school girls to university campuses for a day	0.796	27	50	19	6	6
bring K-12 school students (boys and girls) to university campuses for a day	0.613	19	45	28	10	4
MENTORING/ROLE MODELS
make the female role models that exist more visible	1.528	62	39	4	1	0
improve CS mentoring of college females	1.462	68	27	6	2	3
improve CS mentoring of K-12 school females	1.289	57	34	9	4	3
encourage all universities/organizations to organize support groups for women in computing	0.885	34	40	21	5	5
improve CS mentoring of K-12 school students (males and females)	0.657	19	47	25	12	2
improve CS mentoring of college students (males and females)	0.626	20	44	28	13	2
SELF ESTEEM EDUCATION/PROGRAMS
educate K-12 school teachers about the self esteem issues females face	1.185	50	38	13	4	3
educate parents about the self esteem issues females face	1.101	45	39	17	4	3
educate college teachers about the self esteem issues females face	1.064	48	31	20	6	3
develop programs that build the self esteem of females	0.990	39	40	16	6	4
FEMALE ONLY CLASSES
offer girls-only math/science courses in K-12 schools	0.226	23	23	31	13	16
offer women-only math/science courses in college	-0.323	15	11	24	35	20
BRIDGE/REENTRY PROGRAMS
establish reentry programs that enable women to retrain in CS	1.203	40	55	8	5	0
develop bridge programs (i.e., programs to resolve gaps in previous education) for students (males and females) entering college as CS freshmen	0.759	22	51	24	9	2
develop bridge programs for females entering college as CS freshmen	0.635	25	44	21	8	9
TWO BODY/TENURE/DAY CARE
encourage universities to adopt flexible tenure timeclocks for female faculty members with children	1.120	47	38	15	5	3
encourage universities to provide affordable/quality child care	1.110	43	45	14	4	3
encourage universities to adopt flexible tenure timeclocks for male faculty members with children	0.915	33	44	21	6	3
encourage universities to adopt solutions to the two body problem (i.e., woman and spouse)	0.692	24	30	46	2	2
HARDWARE/SOFTWARE IMPROVEMENTS
encourage the development of gender neutral computer games	1.111	45	39	18	3	3
encourage the development of gender neutral software	1.100	47	35	21	3	3
encourage the development of software appealing to females	0.820	29	42	26	5	4
encourage the development of more computer games for females	0.710	28	37	28	11	3
change computer technology in order to appeal to girls and boys equally	0.264	17	25	42	13	9


MISCELLANEOUS
increase participation of qualified women in influential positions (e.g. editorial boards)	1.247	51	36	12	5	1
provide successful professional experiences for women in computing	1.226	47	41	14	3	1
encourage females students to join women in computing networks such as Systers	1.093	39	43	23	0	2
modify curricula to emphasize people skills as well as computer skills	0.842	32	42	21	11	2
encourage gender free language (e.g. chair versus chairman)	0.579	29	34	23	12	9

Interesting comments from question seven of the survey:

Publicize more widely what careers in computing are really like.
Your questions could apply to the problem of too few male nurses.
I've seen bridge programs be very successful in the Army.
Anything you do for girls and not for boys only sets the girls apart.
Computer scientist Barbie.
Bringing busloads of girls to universities to see men doing CS may not be too productive!
It would be interesting to track the interest in CS among girls after a female character who was a CS professional was introduced on a show with a young demographic, like "Friends" or "Living Single".
Equal pay and equal opportunity in professional life is KEY
It is difficult to reconcile the fact that during my children's preschool and elementary school years (their most formative and time consuming), I have to work my butt off for my degree and then for tenure...
The various forms of gender neutral software -- as a mother of sons, I know that positive experiences using software was the biggest reason that my son is a CS major today.
Part-time work environments W/O LOSS OF CAREER GROWTH POTENTIAL.

Survey Question:
8. From the above list, cite the top five items which you believe we, as a community, should concentrate our immediate efforts in order to improve the situation for women in computing.

The following table gives the top choices that 85 respondents cited. (Many respondents stated, "all are important". Since these respondents did not list top priority items, we do not include them in the results below.) On average, each of the 85 respondent listed 4.5 items that they felt are top priority. In the following table, we list the items that at least 10 of the 85 respondents marked as being top priority. The percentage column is the percentage of the respondents that believe this item is of top priority (i.e., divided by 85).

Priority Items
Item	Raw Score	Percentage

make more visible the female role models that exist	31	36.5
improve CS mentoring of K-12 school females	28	32.9
ensure equal access to computers for girls in K-12 schools, public and private	27	31.8
improve CS mentoring of college females	27	31.8

train teachers to have classrooms that are friendly to both males and females	21	24.7

educate K-12 school teachers about the self esteem issues females face	15	17.6
establish more CS outreach programs to K-12 schools	15	17.6
modify curricula to emphasize people skills as well as computer skills	14	16.5
establish reentry programs that enable women to retrain in CS	13	15.3
provide successful professional experiences for women in computing	13	15.3
increase participation of qualified women in influential positions (e.g. editorial boards)	13	15.3
encourage universities to adopt flexible tenure timeclocks for female faculty members with children	12	14.1
educate college teachers about the self esteem issues females face	11	12.9
encourage universities to provide affordable/quality child care	11	12.9
encourage the development of gender neutral software	11	12.9
offer girls-only math/science courses in K-12 schools	10	11.8

The important of role models is illustrated in the following quote: "During my senior year in high school (1976), we had a career day presentation from a woman who was a system programmer for the Bank of America. In her presentation she told us that programming was a woman friendly technical occupation. The reason for this was that, unlike most other technical occupations, there was never a point in the short history of professional programmers where women were excluded or not represented. After her talk a friend and I decided that we would go to UC Berkeley and major in Computer Science ..."

6. Do you think the percentage of degrees awarded in CS to women will increase decrease, or remain the same in the next decade?

Future Predictions
Change	Raw Score	Percentage

Increase	40	36.4
Decrease	41	37.3
No Change	15	13.6
Unsure	14	12.7

Interesting comments from question six of the survey:

It is pitifully low now, and I am hopeful we've reached the bottom.
With the web surge, the CS field is becoming more "touchy/feely" which seems more appealing to women.
Advent of the web will further deter women due to hacker perception.
I think that the percentage of degrees awarded in CS to women will become more similar to the numbers for engineering.
Statistics don't lie. It's sad, but true.
I am an optimist and believe that all the mentoring and consciousness raising that we are doing will have a positive effect.
As a mother of three boys and a frequent computer volunteer at their grammar school, the boys can't wait to be at the computer and will ensure that they have as much time as they can. The girls will typically let the boys take over and will often choose another activity (such as coloring or reading).
Lack of prestige and role models. Where's the "Dr. Quinn" of CS?
I had no idea that the percentage was decreasing before I came across the article.
I often debate whether I can in good conscience advise a young woman to enter this field given the tough road I see ahead for her.
The past is the best predictor of the future...
There is not the critical mass of women in CS to encourage women to enter and stay in the field.

Conclusions

The computer industry is growing rapidly and there is a critical shortage of computer scientists in today's job market (see [Arnheim 1997] for statistics on the shortage today and [Keaton and Hamilton 1996] for statistics on what the future holds). Thus, it is critical that the number of B.A./B.S. degrees awarded in CS over the next decade increases, instead of continuing on its current decreasing trend.

Fortunately, we should see a dramatic increase, not a further decrease, in the number of B.A./B.S. degrees awarded in CS in the near future. According to the 1996 CRA Taulbee Survey, the number of B.A./B.S. degrees awarded in CS should increase in the near future, as the number of new bachelor students enrolled in computer science Ph.D.-granting departments increased 40% in fall 1996 and an additional 40% in fall 1997 [Andrews 1994-98]. In [Camp97], we speculate on how this increase in the number of degrees awarded will affect the percentage of women recipients. In short, we believe that the proportion of women earning B.A./B.S. degrees in CS will increase slightly in the next decade, but will continue to lag far behind their male colleagues.

In this article, we summarize the facts presented in [Camp97], and we outline the results obtained from compiling the community's response to the incredible shrinking pipeline. At this time, 111 unique responses to the survey have been tabulated.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This work was supported in part by NSF Grant NCR-9702449.

REFERENCES

ANDREWS, G. 1994-97. CRA Taulbee surveys. Computing Research News 6-9, 2 (March).
ARNHEIM, L. 1997. IT companies heavily courting CS grads. Computing Research News 9, 3 (May), 1-7.
CAMP, T. 1997.   The incredible shrinking pipeline. Communications of the ACM, vol. 40, no. 10, pp. 103-110, Oct, 1997.
CAMP, T. 1998.   CS programs in engineering colleges = fewer females. Journal of Women and Minorities in Science and Engineering. vol. 4, no. 1, pp. 15-25, January 1998.
KEATON, J. AND HAMILTON, S. 1996.   Employment 2005: Boom or bust for computer professionals? IEEE Computer 29, 5, 87-98.
NCES. 1996.   Digest of Education Statistics. National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education, Washington, D.C.
PEARL, A., POLLACK, M., RISKIN, E., THOMAS, B., WOLF, E., AND Wu, A. 1990. Becoming a computer scientist. Communications of the ACM 33, II (November), 47-57.
WALKER, E. AND RODGER, S. 1996. PipeLINK: Connecting women and girls in the computer science pipeline. In Proceedings of the National Education Computing Conference (1996), pp. 378-384.

¹Tracy Camp is a member of the ACM Committee on Women in Computing (ACM-W). The mission of ACM-W is to engage in activities that aim to improve computing environments in order to gain equity for women in computing.

²The number of degrees awarded for the academic years 1994-95 have recently been made available from the National Center for Education Statistics at the U.S. Department of Education; these numbers have been incorporated into the tables, but not the figures, in this article.

Tracy Camp received her Ph.D. from the College of William and Mary and is currently an associate professor at The Colorado School of Mines. Her principal research interests are mobile computing and networking.
Address: Department of Mathematical and Computer Sciences, The Colorado School of Mines, Golden, CO 80401, email: tcamp AT mines DOT edu