Incredible Shrinking Pipeline and the Decreasing Percentages of Women in the Computer Science Field: Perception, Schemas, & Nature vs. Nurture

    
     When you think of the computer science field, the first image to pop inside your mind may not be a woman. Professor Meraz focuses her lecture on discrimination of women in the computer science field. She argues that society views the computer as a “boy toy”. In reference to the Incredible Shrinking Pipeline, the percentages of women in the field are decreasing. As I relate to class discussion, perception is a three step process: selection, organization, and interpretation. Let’s go through each step in relation to women in the computer science field. Selection- our individual subconscious decisions of importance. Are woman subconsciously deciding to avoid this specific field? Organization- mind categories, language as a tool, detail signals importance. Were women told to avoid this field? Interpretation- attaining meaning, cultural difference – are women in different cultures viewed differently? Do gender roles vary across cultures? I would argue so. In many cultures, women are viewed to multitask, not to partake in true leisure activities- rather clean, prepare food, and help raise a family. Meraz comes from a culture in which she learned that women can be successful in whichever field they partake in, which is also why she studies computer science. So I believe that it is obvious that the culture a woman is grown into has an impact on her decision to partake in the computer science industry.
      In addition, is it society’s schemas that mold women to avoid the computer science industry? Schemas guide behavior which predicts the habits of others. Is it possible that what society believes inside their mind regarding females working inside technology set a schema? How do these schemas exist? I argue that this problem could be due to the nurture of society. Nurture allows human beings to acquire their behavioral traits through learning. It is very possible that many women were taught that computer science is typically a male dominated field.
     Automatic activation is unintentional associations developed over time. It is very likely that our perceptions of women in the computer science field are an example of automatic activation in which we believe that girls cannot work in stem fields: mathematics, biology, engineering, etc. Although, as Meraz stated in her lecture, today, women are successful in the blogging world because of sexual appeal. Yet, according to men’s opinion’s, a woman’s word is less respected. It is possible that these men fall under stereotype prejudice, in which they behold a set schema of women's expectanies in computer science. I won't say that all men believe women can't work in a computer science field, because that would mean I am sterotyping right back! However, it is apparent that women are percieved differently to men in the computer science industry.
     I believe my first computer class was as early as elementary school. Personally, I never recieved any predjudice from my teachers. As long as we were capable of completing our tasks, we were viewed as good students, regardless if we were male or female. However, I admit that today I am not the most "tech savvy" individual regarding computers, blogs, gadgets, etc. Sometimes I recieve jokes that I don't know how to work a computer because I'm a woman amongst my male friends, yet it's all in good humor.