Inspiring, recruiting, and retaining women for a career in computing remains a challenge.
“WOMEN IN COMPUTING: Where Are We Now?”—an article by Maria Klawe and Nancy Leveson in the January 1995 issue of Communications— addressed women’s representation at the time, as undergraduate and graduate students and in the work force, in computing fields. That article, part of the issue’s special section on Women and Computing, described successful activities and offered recommendations for future programs.
In this article, 14 years later, we assess the changes that have since occurred, including both positive and negative trends; we present strategies shown to be successful for the recruitment, retention, and advancement of women in computing; and we explore promising new initiatives for further increasing women’s participation. While the 1995 article focused on the U.S. and Canada, as does the present one, we now also include data from other parts of the world.
