Project 1: Female Tech Enthusiast

I'm working on the research portion with Janna and Ray. Last class we found some secondary research, in which we found some articles and blogs in which these main reoccurring topics were discussed.

-Younger women feel that fields in technology are not meant for girls.

-Geek factor plays a role in women picking and deciding wether they should select that particular field.

-Women feel that a job is not about success but being personally happy and rewarded, "Success is not calculated by how many numbers are on your paycheck, but if you are satisfied with your job," said a girl in Chicago.

-They don’t feel that there are many female role models that they are in the field for them to understand the value of.

-Stereotypical women can be turned off by the physical environment “masculine geeky”.

-Lack of visible examples of successful women in the technology field.

-Women still bent on traditional female occupations such as teaching and health services.

-22 percent of computer-science graduates are women, a percentage that has been steadily decreasing, according to 2008 data from the National Science Foundation.

-In 2008, women earned only 18 percent of computer science degrees, compared to 37 percent in 1985.

-People’s perception that people in those careers spend long hours working alone on esoteric ideas in a laboratory or computer room and no, or not enough, time collaborating with others or making positive changes in the world and you can't be social.

We also found that there are support groups that are support groups and they help through to out reach women in middle school or high school.

-Support groups like Girl Geek Dinners : a non-profit organization in which women are brought together by which they have a personal or professional interest.

-Geek Girl Camp in the United States

-Books like: “The Princess at the Keyboard: Why Girls Should Become Computer Scientists.” Are also very influential.

-Through schools like : youth programs, outreach, and engagement at Michigan Technological University, hosted “Get WISE” (Women in Science and Engineering), which brings middle school girls to campus for a hands-on day of learning.