Gender Codes

The computing profession faces a serious gender crisis. Today,
fewer women enter computing than anytime in the past 25 years. This
book provides an unprecedented look at the history of women and men
in computing, detailing how the computing profession emerged and
matured, and how the field became male coded. Women's experiences
working in offices, education, libraries, programming, and
government are examined for clues on how and where women
succeeded--and where they struggled. It also provides a unique
international dimension with studies examining the U.S., Great
Britain, Germany, Norway, and Greece. Scholars in history,
gender/women's studies, and science and technology studies, as well
as department chairs and hiring directors will find this volume
illuminating.

Autorentext
THOMAS J. MISA is at the University of Minnesota, where he directs the Charles Babbage Institute, teaches in the graduate program for the History of Science, Technology, and Medicine, and is a faculty member in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering.

Zusammenfassung
The computing profession faces a serious gender crisis. Today, fewer women enter computing than anytime in the past 25 years. This book provides an unprecedented look at the history of women and men in computing, detailing how the computing profession emerged and matured, and how the field became male coded. Women's experiences working in offices, education, libraries, programming, and government are examined for clues on how and where women succeededand where they struggled. It also provides a unique international dimension with studies examining the U.S., Great Britain, Germany, Norway, and Greece. Scholars in history, gender/women's studies, and science and technology studies, as well as department chairs and hiring directors will find this volume illuminating.

Inhalt

Foreword ix

Preface xiii

Contributors xv

PART I: TOOLS FOR UNDERSTANDING 1

1 Gender Codes 3

Defining the Problem

Thomas J. Misa

2 Computer Science 25

The Incredible Shrinking Woman

Caroline Clarke Hayes

3 Masculinity and the Machine Man 51

Gender in the History of Data Processing

Thomas Haigh

PART II: INSTITUTIONAL LIFE 73

4 A Gendered Job Carousel 75

Employment Effects of Computer Automation

Corinna Schlombs

5 Meritocracy and Feminization in Confl ict 95

Computerization in the British Government

Marie Hicks

6 Making Programming Masculine 115

Nathan Ensmenger

7 Gender and Computing in the Push-Button Library
143

Greg Downey

PART III: MEDIA AND CULTURE 163

8 Cultural Perceptions of Computers in Norway 1980-2007
165

From "Anybody" Via "Male Experts" to "Everybody"

Hilde G. Corneliussen

9 Constructing Gender and Technology in Advertising Images
187

Feminine and Masculine Computer Parts

Aristotle Tympas, Hara Konsta, Theodore Lekkas, and Serkan
Karas

PART IV: WOMEN IN COMPUTING 211

10 The Pleasure Paradox 213

Bridging the Gap Between Popular Images of Computing and
Women's Historical Experiences

Janet Abbate

11 Programming Enterprise 229

Women Entrepreneurs in Software and Computer Services

Jeffrey R. Yost

12 Gender Codes 251

Lessons from History

Thomas J. Misa

13 Gender Codes 265

Prospects for Change

Caroline Clarke Hayes

Bibliography 275

Index 297