Tech News - CNET.com | Computer science's gender gap

In a new book entitled "Unlocking the Clubhouse: Women in Computing," social scientist and scholar Jane Margolis and computer scientist and educator Allan Fisher explore why only a small fraction of high school and university computer science students are female, even though women make up a growing portion of computer and Internet users.

As part of their research for the book, Margolis and Fisher followed more than 100 computer science students, both male and female, at Carnegie Mellon University for four years beginning in 1995. The book details the unique experiences and challenges women confront in the field of computing and how it contributes to the thinning ranks of women in such programs.

An interesting article with suggestions how to achive better enrolment stats. Their research has had an impact on the computer science department of Carnegie Mellon, raising women's enrollment in the program from 7 percent in 1995 to 42 percent in 2000.