Technology Majors: Why are Women Absent?

Abstract

IT jobs continue to increase; however, the number of women pursuing a career in technology has declined. We conducted a study of incoming freshmen to examine previous course taking patterns, access to computers, interest in technology majors and reasons students opted in or out of a technology major. Males and females exhibited differences in course taking patterns. We found a significant difference in course taking patterns in physics, but not differences in computer access. We also report on perception of technology majors.