Studies have found that while men are more interested in computers as a machine, women are more interested in seeing connections that can be made between computers and society as a whole. How does computing help propel medicine forward, for instance, or support the arts or lead to deeper space exploration? So how are we using this information to encourage the participation of women in computer science?

 

     Taking a look at Stanford University, the computer science department has now created a series of courses that focus on graphics, human-computer interaction and other areas, aimed at creating a clear link between computer science and real-world work. As a result, Stanford has upped its percentage of women computer science graduates from the single digits four years ago to 23.5 percent last year.

 

     Another initiative that Stanford has put in place is female section leaders in the department who meet one-on-one with students. This offers young women in computer science a clear role-model and mentor, something that has been sorely lacking in the field thus far.

 

     Other universities such as Berkeley have also begun to offer courses with a focus on connecting computer science to real-world work. Berkeley's "The Beauty and Joy of Computing" course now boasts over 50% female enrollment.

 

     Simply having a significant female role-model can boost female enrollment. Harvey Mudd College has increased their total female computer science enrollment all the way to 43%. This is in part due to the efforts of Maria Klawe, a female computer scientist and president of the college.