Reading notes for Code Fellows!
The following notes were derived from the article “Silicon Valley’s gender gap is the result of computer-game marketing 20 years ago”.
There is a significant gap in the fields of technology. By the year 2014, over two thirds of the employees in the top technology companies in Silicon Valley were male. The subset of employees within that group that served technical roles was an even higher percentage. One of the company’s technical workforce was 90% male.
40 to 50 years ago, the percentage of female students enrolled in computer science rose steadily from less than 15% of the population to over 30%. However, in the mid-eighties, that rise peaked and the percentage has steadily fallen since then to well under 20% in the mid-teens.
Programming has fast become one of the most lucrative skills a person can possess in the modern world. Currently, almost half of the best-paying jobs on the market are based in technology and carry with them an average earning potential of over $100,000 annually. Employment in this industry is also expected to maintain higher-than-average growth until at least the mid-twenties.
However, on average, women will not have the same level of access to these employment opportunities as men.
There are a plethora of factors which may have had varying levels of contribution to this phenomena. Many studies have been conducted and generated the following observations:
In the 1980s, a lot of early computers were geared towards game playing and precipitated a perceived relationship between computing and gaming. And, since the games tended to target male customers, it was easier for them to get involved with computers earlier.
The results of a study conducted in 1985 showed that, on average, 73% of men used a computer on a weekly basis as compared to 43% of women, at that time.
Computer and console marketing at the time, again, targeted specifically males (some even going as far as to belttle the computer skills of girls). It is believed that this practice led to a male computing culture.
Following a catashrophic recession in the video game market in the early 1980s, marketers attempting to salvage and rebuild the industry targetted the largest element of the shrinking customer base left to them, which according to their research was mostly boys
This produced a *“vicious cycle” in which boys bought games and marketers sold to them.
It is believed that this practice led to what Jane Margolis called the “experience gap”. A high percentage of men entering computer-science programs in college were passing advanced placement exams where a low percentage of women were able to duplicate the feat. Many of these women subsequently dropped out of the computer-related courses early.
A correlation between early exposure to computing and engineering, predisposes one toward interest in such subjects as they mature. This was likely a contributing factor to the fact that by five years ago, when they reached the collegiate level, 20% of men planned a career in engineering or computing whereas only 5.8% of women planned the same.
Women enrolled in male-dominated computer-science programs have reported being ‘ostracized’ and ‘isolated’. These experiences often led them choosing different career paths.
Women who persevere and make there way into this field typically do not have a comparable longevity. Research has shown that in the United States, women are 45% more likely to leave careers in technology than men.
Reportedly, a third of women in the industry say they want to quit within their first year. Mainly because they feel like outsiders at work or are isolated.
Advertising and marketing needs to change to be more inclusive with regard to wmoen and technology, to cease conveying a message that technology is not a female’s domain. Otherwise, it will only continue to widen the gender gap.