Lenore Blum is Distinguished Career Professor of Computer Science at Carnegie Mellon University. Her research interests are many and varied, ranging from model theory and differential fields to a theory of computation and complexity for real numbers. She received her Ph.D. from M.I.T. in 1968, and has been at Carnegie Mellon for four years. |
Chapter 9, selection: Women in Computer Science:
The Carnegie Mellon Experience In 1995, the Computer Science Department at Carnegie
Mellon began an effort to bring more women into its undergraduate computer
science program. At that time, just 7% of the close to 100 entering freshman
computer science majors were women. Five years later, the percentage of
women in the entering class had increased fivefold. In 1999, women were
38% of the incoming first-year computer science class; in the fall of
2000, approximately 40% of the entering class was composed of women. How did this remarkable change come about and what does
the explanation tell us abut Carnegie Mellon as an innovative university?
Rather than an endpoint, the increasing number of women in the program
signifies the beginning of a crucial period of transition for women in
computer science at the University. We are now faced with the challenge
of ensuring that womenas well as menin the program thrive.
We are committed to this process. We anticipate that the impact of our
efforts will be truly transformativenot only by bringing more women
into the computer science program, but by enhancing our position as a
leader in the field, strengthened by the interests and concerns of a diverse
student body. Before outlining the factors that have been crucial to
the success of our efforts thus far, it is worth noting that such dramatic
increases in the number of women in computer science do not appear to
be widespread. In fact, the widely cited statistics from articles like
"The Incredible Shrinking Pipeline" and "The Incredible
Shrinking Pipeline Unlikely to Reverse," indicate that the percentage
of women entering computer science programs and careers in the US has
declined precipitously during the past decade and suggest that this is
unlikely to change. Whether or not this conclusion is valid, it is the
view of many observers in the field, and indeed was noted by Rita Colwell,
Director of the National Science Foundation, in her keynote address at
the Y2K Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing. Carnegie Mellon's
experience challenges a perceived trend, and may offer inspiration, ideas,
and concrete suggestions to others who wish to follow in our path. |
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Last updated 01 November 2004.