Geek Mythology describes the stereotypes surrounding those who study computer science and how that perception may steer women away from the field. I chose this reading because many are aware of the “lowly geek” label that computer scientists have and believe the labels to be true (Margolis). It is important to look further into the topic to better understand it and it’s falsity. When considering the field of computer science, it is important to think about gender because it helps us notice the gender issues and can then lead to fixing the extremely prominent gender gap. If women aren’t able to have a voice in this community, it leads to problems like bias in computing systems. Even when people are creating systems that are supposed to be unbiased, they tend to lean to favor men (Friedman). In this reading, they described how society views computer scientists as “geeky” and because of this, women either don’t want to go into the field, or don’t think they could fit in (Margolis). With this, society is a problem in two ways. It not only gives the notion that all computer scientists are antisocial and stay on their computer all day, but it also pressures women to be feminine, dainty and leave the technical jobs to the men. So, both these stereotypes constructed by society guide women away from computer science.
I thought that this reading was interesting and some of the points that it made are thoughts I can relate to. For example, Robert, a first year student at Carnegie Mellon at the time, describes computer scientists, stating that “Every single time [he passes] by their room, they’re always on the computer typing away” (Margolis). My current roommate is a direct admit into the Computer Science major and Robert’s statement is something I can attest to. She is always on her computer and falls within the computer scientist stereotype. Though, I think my problem, and many other people’s problem, is that we assume what they are doing with that free time. I am also always on the computer, doing things like watching Youtube or going on Tumblr. These computer scientists may very likely be doing those same things, but the stereotypes influence us to think that they are just constantly coding or doing other programming tasks.
Another part of the reading that I found interesting was when they mention the cartoon of Internet Barbie. Barbie was drawn in front of a computer, wearing sweatpants and drinking coffee. This is interesting because it follows the computer scientist stereotype rather than the Barbie stereotype of having everything be feminine, beautiful, or even sexualized. For those that viewed the cartoon, it may have furthered their own perspectives of computer scientists being sloppy nerds. Even Barbie, who can be a glamorous astronaut or police officer, still represents the computer scientist stereotype. This contrasts greatly from the Interactions IX front cover that we viewed in class. It featured a stylish looking woman sporting a tech-y looking prosthetic leg. While it may be considered a better representation of women and technology, I still don’t believe that it is where we should be going with our perspective of women’s interactions with the field. It over sexualizes the woman in the photo and continues to put women in a place where all they appear to offer are their aesthetics.
These stereotypes are ones that computer scientists aren’t identifying with, like Jennifer in the reading who has many other interests (Margolis). Even though people from the inside are claiming that they aren’t true, they are still keeping girls away. Also, this isn’t just a problem in computer science, but in most STEM related fields. Women make up only about 25% of the STEM jobs and stereotypes constructed by society attributes to some women not pursuing the field (U.S. Department of Commerce). Abolishing the geek image that computer scientists are recognized for will be a big step in the inclusion of more women.
Works Cited:
Friedman, Batya, and Helen Nissenbaum. "Bias in Computer Systems." ACM Transactions on
Information Systems 14.3 (1996): 330-47. Web.
Margolis, Jane, and Allan Fisher. Unlocking the Clubhouse: Women in Computing.
Cambridge, MA: MIT, 2002. Print.
Women in STEM: A Gender Gap to Innovation (n.d.): n. pag.
U.S. Department of Commerce, Aug. 2011. Web.