Women, mathematics and computer science
Peter B. Henderson, Paul De Palma, Vicki L. Almstrum, Orit Hazzan, Kim Potter Kihlstrom · 2002
"… women embrace the "precision" of mathematics." a quote from panelist Paul De Palma's viewpoint article "Why Women Avoid Computer Science" in the June 2001 CACM. Panelist Kim Kihlstrom notes "… I got into electrical engineering and then computer science exactly because I love math." Henderson's evidence indicates that women performed better than men in a mathematically oriented first course in computer science, and women felt the course was more beneficial than a traditional programming oriented first course. Regarding a mathematically oriented functional programming course for high schools Kathi Fisler says "Our high school teachers have noticed females preferring this to a conventional curriculum by as much as 5 to 1!"Coincidence, or is there a common thread here? Please join us for the discussion and share your own viewpoints.