The percentage of female computer science (CS) majors at Harvey Mudd College in Southern California has more than tripled to 42 percent. Nationally, women account for 14 percent of college graduates in the field, according to the Computing Research Assn.
If you're feeling incapable as a woman in the workplace these days, you're not alone. A poll by Roper Public Affairs shows that three out of five women working in the high-tech industry want to leave because of a perceived glass ceiling - a perception that they are less knowledgeable and qualified than men.
Mudd's President Maria Klawe's transformation of this small liberal arts college 35 miles east of Los Angeles has sent ripples from Seattle to Silicon Valley, where startups and technology giants are desperate to find talented developers. In the U.S., women hold less than 25% of jobs in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) fields, according to the Commerce Dept.
Klawe has "actually moved the numbers," says Sheryl Sandberg, COO of Facebook. "In the midst of what is a very serious employment issue in the country, there's a field here that's dying for more very well qualified people." This year enrollment in what Klawe calls the "most hard-core CS class"--Data Structures and Program Development--is at an all-time high of 57 students, 40 percent of them female.
Silicon Valley has noticed. Broadcom, the mobile-phone chip company, asked Klawe to join its board in May. Microsoft named her to its board in 2009. She became both companies' second female board member. "We need to keep more women interested longer in their lives in STEM subjects." says Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer.
Klawe has spoken to women engineers at companies, including a recent talk at Facebook, and earlier this year formed a group of prominent women in technology that includes Sandberg, Google VP Marissa Mayer, and Cisco Systems SVP Kathy Hill.
Source: Bloomberg BusinessWeek, September 26, 2011
the federal gremonvent is supposed to pay for all the stuff you are whining about the GOP cutting. They are doing the job WE voted them into office to do. We don't have any money!! We have to cut back. This country can't just continue to borrow and borrow to fund everything for everybody. You do not speak for most women. You do not speak for me, I believe in paying my bills, not borrowing more and more money. You just don't get it. WE DON'T HAVE THE MONEY TO CONTINUE THIS CRAZY SPENDING!!!!!
Posted by: Nuri | 07/18/2012 at 05:18 AM