Participation of Women in Information Technology

Author(s):  
Tiffany Barnes ◽  
Sarah Berenson ◽  
Mladen Vouk

Our nation’s continued global competitiveness is widely believed to depend upon the United States maintaining its leadership in the development and management of new information technologies (Freeman & Aspray, 1999; Malcom, Babco, Teich, Jesse, Campbell, & Bell, 2005; Sargent, 2004). Rapidly changing technologies have pervaded every sector of American society, infusing nearly everyone’s work and personal lives. Over the long term, we may face a shortage of highly educated IT workers who are needed to maintain and increase the economic productivity of the United States. Interestingly, according to Freeman and Aspray, if women were represented in the IT workforce in equal proportion to men (assuming the percentage of men in IT vis-à-vis other professions remained constant), this impending shortage and its potentially economically devastating consequences could be prevented. We identify the pipeline of potential female IT workers as beginning in the middle grades, with the girls who take college-prep algebra by the eighth grade and elect college-bound courses in math, science, and computer science through high school. These girls are then prepared to complete a bachelor of science degree in computer science, computer engineering, or electrical engineering and become creative future IT workers. In this article, we examine some of the factors that, as suggested by the literature, influence the low participation of women in IT. We also discuss the open research issues in understanding and modeling the (educational) persistence of young women in IT-related disciplines, and we outline some results from Girls on Track, an intervention program for middle-school girls. We end with some suggestions for making IT more appealing to this currently underrepresented population.

Author(s):  
I. Turchyk ◽  
R. Chopyk ◽  
N. Kizlo

The study and generalization of foreign experience is a value for Ukraine, which has set itself the task of integration into the world community and can be an important source of thorough thinking and creative use of positive ideas in domestic theory and practice of physical education and sports. This article analyzes the content and features of the organization of intramural (in-school) sports in the United States. The study found that intramural sports in the United States are an integral part of the overall education program, which provides an opportunity to involve children with different levels of development of motor skills and qualities in motor activities outside of physical education lessons. Participation in intramural sports programs is voluntary. It is determined that the intramural sports program in the United States is characterized by certain features that must be taken into account for its successful implementation. It was found that, first of all, American specialists determine the direction (nature) of the sports program and possible types of physical activity, taking into account the wishes of students; it is important to properly plan and compile a quality schedule for classes in compliance with the capacity of existing sports facilities; it is obligatory to observe the rules of admission of students to classes and competitions, as well as their annual medical examination; implementation of the sports program is carried out with the use of modern information technologies; the accounting and evaluation of the program is constantly carried out; proper administration and quality arbitration are of great importance; special attention is paid to the competition procedure itself and the determination of winners; a special place is given to the financing of programs and their support and promotion.


2000 ◽  
Vol 16 (01) ◽  
pp. 1-11
Author(s):  
Richard W. Bolton ◽  
Paul Horstmann ◽  
Darcy Peruzzotti ◽  
Tom Rando

Shipbuilding in the United States is characterized by large teams of suppliers and subcontractors who collaborate and support shipbuilders. It is important that these shipbuilding teams function as a single integrated organization: A Virtual Enterprise. The inefficiencies and impediments caused by each team member using their own choice of information technologies, software, data management and processes must be addressed to increase overall US shipbuilding efficiency and cost effectiveness. The NIIIP SPARS project is developing the information infrastructure and protocols to enable shipbuilding Virtual Enterprises that will improve collaboration and information exchange within the US shipbuilding community.


2019 ◽  
pp. 199-223
Author(s):  
William Brooks

Symbols like the service flag furthered community morale in the United States during World War I and evolved to engender memorial organizations like Gold Star Mothers. Music supported both, with three components of the industry—Tin Pan Alley, Kitchen Table publishing, and Song Sharks—differing in key respects: the participation of women composers and lyricists, the focus on mothers and loss, and the mix of ballads, waltz songs, and marches. As the war evolved, so did the responses, with the closing months and aftermath focusing increasingly on soldiers’ fatalities and the expression of grief and mourning. Postwar changes in style and dissemination marked the end of such collective expressions.


2008 ◽  
pp. 1-20 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kenneth Kraemer ◽  
John Leslie King

This article examines the theoretical ideal of information technology as an instrument of administrative reform and examines the extent to which that ideal has been achieved in the United States. It takes a look at the findings from research about the use and impacts of information technology from the time of the mainframe computer through the PC revolution to the current era of the Internet and e-government. It then concludes that information technology has never been an instrument of administrative reform; rather, it has been used to reinforce existing administrative and political arrangements. It assesses why this is the case and draws conclusions about what should be expected with future applications of information technologies—in the time after e-government. It concludes with a discussion of the early evidence about newer applications for automated service delivery, 24/7 e-government, and e-democracy.


Author(s):  
David Pearson

While punk in the United States is often associated with white, male, suburban youth, the 1990s witnessed a dramatic increase in the vocal participation of women and Latinos in US punk bands. The all-Latino, Spanish-language band Los Crudos built a punk scene in the Chicago majority-Mexican neighborhood of Pilsen and went on to captivate the punk scene in the United States and internationally with their ferocious hardcore punk music and unapologetic assertion of Latino identity. The all-women band Spitboy as well as bands with women vocalists such as Anti-Product challenged patriarchy inside and outside the punk scene and fused the anger and energy of punk music with their own experiences of oppression and empowerment. The increasing and assertive participation of Latinos, women, and LGBTQ people in US punk generated responses ranging from supportive to hostile and sparked debate over the ideals and realties of punk values of unity and equality.


2022 ◽  
pp. 193-203

The purpose of this chapter is to analyze and review trends in digital terminology. The chapter begins by examining the origins of computerization in the United States during the 19th and 20th centuries. Next, the chapter examines the key concepts punch cards and computer science. The chapter then discusses how the term computer science is misleading. This is followed by a discussion of how information technology became the most popular term in the US. The chapter then switches focus to Europe and discusses France's promotion of informatique as well as Europe's switch from informatics to ICT. Next, the chapter considers how the internet has given rise to terms like e-commerce. The chapter concludes by considering the transition from ICT to digital informing and informing technology.


2015 ◽  
pp. 918-933
Author(s):  
Eric P. Jiang

With the rapid growth of the Internet and telecommunication networks, computer technology has been a driving force in global economic development and in advancing many areas in science, engineering, health care, business, and finance that carry significant impacts on people and society. As a primary source for producing the workforce of software engineers, computer scientists and information technology specialists, computer science education plays a particularly important role in modern economic growth and it has been invested heavily in many countries around the world. This chapter provides a comparative study of undergraduate computer science programs between China and the United States. The study focuses on the current curricula of computer science programs. It in part is based on the author's direct observation from his recent visits to several universities in China and the conversations he had with administrators and faculty of computer science programs at the universities. It is also based on the author's over two decades experience as a computer science educator at several public and private American institutions of higher educations. The education systems in China and the United States have different features and each of the systems has its strengths and weaknesses. This is likely also true for education systems in other countries. It would be an interesting and important task for us to explore an innovative computer science education program, which perhaps blends the best features of different systems and helps better prepare graduates for the challenges working in an increasingly globalized world. We hope the study presented in this chapter provides some useful insights in this direction.


Author(s):  
Joshua L. Rosenbloom ◽  
Ronald A. Ash ◽  
LeAnne Coder ◽  
Brandon Dupont

Women are under represented in the information technology (IT) workforce. In the United States, although women make up about 45% of the overall labor force they make up only about 35% of the IT workforce. (Information Technology Association of America, 2003, p. 11). Within IT, women’s representation declines as one moves up to higher-level occupations. While women are relatively more numerous among data entry keyers and computer operators, they are relatively less likely to be found in high-level occupations like systems analysts and computer programmers. The relatively low representation of women in IT fields parallels a broader pattern of gender differentials in other scientific and technical fields. In all science, technology, engineering, and mathematics fields combined, women held 25.9% of jobs in 2003. Women’s representation varies widely by sub-fields, however; 65.8% of psychologists and 54.6% of social scientists are women, but only 10.4% of engineers, and 37.4% of natural scientists (Commission on Professionals in Science and Technology, 2004, p. 2). Over the course of the past 100 years, there has been a dramatic change in women’s economic role. In 1900, only one in five adult women worked outside the home, and most of these were young and unmarried (Goldin, 1990). Since then, male and female labor force participation rates have tended to converge. Between 1900 and 1950 there was a gradual expansion of women’s labor force participation. After World War II the pace of change accelerated sharply as more married women entered the labor force. During the 1960s and early 1970s a series of legal changes significantly broadened protection of women’s rights ending essentially all forms of overt discrimination (Fuchs, 1988; Long, 2001, p. 9-10). The removal of these barriers in combination with the availability of cheap and reliable birth control technology greatly facilitated the entry of women into higher education, and technical and professional positions (Goldin & Katz, 2002). Nevertheless, as the figures cited at the outset reveal, women’s participation in IT and other technical fields has not increased as rapidly as it has in less technical fields. And in striking contrast to the general trend toward increasing female participation in most areas of the workforce, women’s share of the IT workforce in the United States has actually declined over the past two decades. Any effort to explain gender differences in IT must begin with an understanding of how the number, characteristics, and pay of women in IT have evolved over time, and across different sub-fields within IT. This chapter provides a foundation for this analysis by documenting recent changes in the number of women employed in IT, their demographic characteristics, and relative pay.


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