Women in technology ... this week's musings

I did not get to read this

I did not get to read this until today. In any case I am happy to have seen this. This is encouraging to all women and girls who are interested in pursuing careers in computer science. There are still stereotypes of women and what careers we could have. This is simply awesome when women are recognized as well. Sometimes people think that computers are only for men but that is not the case.

My condolences. I agree that

My condolences.

I agree that more needs to be done to recognize the contributions of the ENIAC women and many others.

Just last week, one of the

Just last week, one of the ENIAC programmers passed away. Kathleen McNulty Mauchly Antonelli, one of the six original programmers of the first electronic general pupose computer, died April 20. There hasn't been much about it in the news, besides the Phila. Inquirer obit. The contributions of the ENIAC women have been ignored or discounted to this point. I was pleased to see your piece taking note of their work when ENIAC's 60th birthday came around in February.

C.J., Thanks for your

C.J.,

Thanks for your response. I'm not sure that ignoring what others say is always the way to go, however. If those who would respond to Annalee by wondering about her looks rather than her ideas are also hiring managers, one wonders whether "feeling" discrimination is the point. Being discriminated against at hiring or promotion-time isn't always obvious.

According to the Syndey Morning Herald, "The Australian Information Industry Association found women who earn more than $100,000 a year represent 0.25 per cent of ICT workers." A quarter of one percent! I don't know whether or not women in Australian IT feel discriminated against or not, but it seems to me that something bad is going on. Something that should be addressed rather than ignored.

Joyce

My mother said to me many

My mother said to me many years ago, "I have never personally felt any discrimination. Maybe because I did whatever I wanted to do and ignored what other people said."

My mother's mother got the vote. My mother got equal employment. I got to do what they worked hard for. I *chose* my career and carried the torch forward.

There are enough of us now, women in technology, who have daughters entering the workforce. The most important work a mother can do is raise intelligent children who value their freedom and understand their responsibilities.

I hope I've taught our six children to ignore the kind of noise that Annalee experienced. I hope they feel empowered to step out into the world knowing who they are, what they can accomplish, and how important they are in shaping the world around them.

I agree that we need a

I agree that we need a Computer Science education day. It also needs to be recognized as an important discipline for all students to learn and not just be treated as a vocational "elevated typewriter" type class.

Computer Science is vital to our future as a nation as one of the leading job creators over the last 10 years. Without IT our economy would have been shrinking over that time period and it is important that we teach students who are intuitive learners who are unafraid of new technology. That is what I work to do in my classroom. There are a growing number of edubloggers who are advocating this as well.

Keep on telling the story!

I really like the idea of a

I really like the idea of a Computer Science Education Day. Grace Hopper's birthday seems like great timing to me as well.