Girls and computers

[alreadypacked]

Nope.

Played Lunar Lander.

Zeity, how many females in your classes?

[alreadypacked]

Wot?

Now?

1.

Still attending (I nearly typed "coming") after a term & 2 weeks.

Obviously a stayer.

How many did you start with this year?

[PRC1964]

How many did you start with this year?

Give him a break, he has to eat a few of them and the smell of Lynx that puts him off the male ones.

[Zippy]

Ok, I'll take this seriously.

I was always good at science and difficult sums so specialised in that for A levels. In one of my classes I was the only girl, in another I was one of three (in both years) so that would have been 90% male. I didn't feel discouraged by the boys or the media.

When I did my CS degree it was about 80% male, ditto for the MSc (roughly).

I can't think why girls are not doing the CS A level - unless it is because they have realised it is a total waste of time. According to one of my Uni lecturers, they had to persuade them to unlearn everything they had been taught.

[alreadypacked]

Ok, I'll take this seriously.

I was always good at science and difficult sums so specialised in that for A levels. In one of my classes I was the only girl, in another I was one of three (in both years) so that would have been 90% male. I didn't feel discouraged by the boys or the media.

When I did my CS degree it was about 80% male, ditto for the MSc (roughly).

I can't think why girls are not doing the CS A level - unless it is because they have realised it is a total waste of time. According to one of my Uni lecturers, they had to persuade them to unlearn everything they had been taught.

I don't agree with that, I feel my CS degree showed me how to think in a computer environment, how to look at problems and find solution, or maybe that was just me.

For example: a common problem was passing exams. So I looked at past papers and realised there were no common questions, but there were common solutions asked in different ways. Problem solved.

[alreadypacked]

It'd be nice if some of them washed (themselves & their clothes) once or twice a term.

Maybe if you had more females in the class, that would not be a problem

[VectraMan]

I can't think why girls are not doing the CS A level - unless it is because they have realised it is a total waste of time. According to one of my Uni lecturers, they had to persuade them to unlearn everything they had been taught.

I don't know how true it is today, but certainly in 1989 the universities weren't the slightest bit interested in students with CS A-Level. You needed to have maths to get onto a CS course, and that was all.

[SueEllen]

I don't know how true it is today, but certainly in 1989 the universities weren't the slightest bit interested in students with CS A-Level. You needed to have maths to get onto a CS course, and that was all.

Today it seems to depend on the Uni.

Looked at 2 - one wants Maths, Physics or Computing. The other one only insists on A level Maths.

BTW if you are 17/18 and don't know what you want to do but very good at Maths and had a choice between a Maths and Computer Science degree you are going to go for the Maths degree. Why? Because there are more potential jobs open to someone with a Maths degree.

[darmstadt]

Left school in 1976, no computers around then. By '87 was doing rather well in IT

Left school in '80, still no computers. By '81 doing rather well in DP, thank you!

[darmstadt]

My mother didn't do IT at school either but she did end up programming LEO though...I think the A level in advanced maths helped there (or the art A level!)