Kathy Sierra's post I am not a "woman blogger" really got me thinking about women in computer science.  Kathy's point is that she's a blogger and she's a woman but she's not a woman blogger as if that's something different than a man blogger.

I'm very interested in "women in computer science" – I think it's an issue.  There are very few of us in the computer science field and I'd like to understand why and make sure that all women who might enjoy a career in computer science see it as an option.

However, understanding what the problem(s) is, how to address it and how I feel about them is much more complicated.

• Do I think that there are very few women in computer science?  Absolutely.
• Do I think that's a problem?  Absolutely, because I think it's because many women don't see the career as a choice.  (Which I have to think is the problem, because it's a great career! If they considered it, many more would pursue it. :)
• Do I think it's because women lack the aptitude?  Absolutely not.
• Do I think it's because of the attitude of those in the field?  Not really.

One of the dilemmas I have with the "women in computer science" issue is that I haven't really had any problems that people seem to think are lurking around.  The field is full of extremely supportive people and I've been surrounded by them since the very beginning.  Not only did my mom and dad teach me that I could be anything I wanted but every time I ran into a computer, somebody was encouraging me to use it, take it apart, play with it, program on it.  In college, my fellow students (almost 100% male) were very friendly and helpful, my professors (100% male) were extremely supportive … even the IT staff and office staff were supportive!  I've never felt like anyone thought I couldn't do it or couldn't make it and I've never lacked for any help or support I needed.

Am I just lucky?  I don't know.  My experience seems to be similar to other women in computer science.

Now I'm not saying that I never had any problems.  I've had my fair share of "you're in computer science???" comments – almost always by non-technical folks.  The most bizarre type of behavior (which I haven't experienced in a long time, thank goodness) was the number of guys in college who somehow thought sending me pornography would encourage me to accept a date with them.  But that was well balanced by my male friends who could commiserate with me, my professors who were outraged (one guy threw a Playboy centerfold on my background while the professor was sitting with me helping me with a problem – it took me quite a while to convince the professor it was a joke and I would handle it), and then there were my male co-students who were always ready with creative solutions to my problems (the Playboy guy ended up with kittens – the cute furry four legged kind – stuck on his screen for at least a month.)

So what's the problem?  I don't know but I think they fall into several categories:

• Girls not entering into computer science.  I still remember helping out with a science day for eight year old girls and they all wanted to be teachers or nurses!  (Not that I'm nixing being a teacher or a nurse.  I think I wanted to be a teacher for the blind and deaf at 8.)   But obviously they weren't considering a technical career or at least one of them might have raised her hand!
• Women leaving computer science in college.  At the chairman's request, I started a Women in Computer Science group in college to find out why women were leaving the computer science major.  I didn't come up with any definite answers.  In large part, the reasons mirrored the reasons guys were leaving – there just seemed to be more of them left in the field in the end.  (I do remember one girl's advice, "date someone who's a computer science major so that the rest will leave you alone."  She's now married to that computer science major and still in computer science, so it worked well for her!)
• Women leaving the computer science fields in industry.  (My personal theory on this is that when companies start treating people poorly, it's the women who feel empowered to leave.  It's more acceptable for them to be unemployed or take lower status or lower paying jobs than it is for the men.)
• Women being promoted.  One of my friends seriously debated turning down a promotion to management, not because she didn't want to be a manager, but because she didn't want to leave the new women in the field with no technical mentors.  We'd all recently been promoted and the lack of women engineers was weighing on us all.
• Being a minority.  Even when it's a minority that's not looked on disfavorably, you still stand out.  I imagine that's more uncomfortable for some than for others but either way, it's always there.  I tend to notice that I'm the only women in the room at a conference even if it doesn't bother me.

In summary, I think we should encourage more women (and girls) to pursue careers in computer science, but we shouldn't necessarily assume that it's because the field doesn't welcome them.  It's much more complicated than that.