This book contains the majority of the papers presented at the 1990 Women into Computing Conference, together with selected papers from the 1989 and 1988 Conferences. In 1988, the main theme running through the Conference was that of dismay at the low number of women taking computing courses or following computing careers. The 1989 Conference was concerned solely with workshops for schoolgirls and the 1990 Conference concentrated on strategies rather than an assessment of the situation. As editors, we set as our task to make a selection of papers presenting the overall picture in 1990. We found that many of the issues discussed in 1988 are still a cause for concern in 1990, but that strategies to improve the situation are many and varied. Section I contains speeches from the invited speakers and needs little introduction. Section II contains papers covering so me attitudes and issues of concern, ranging from the specific (Gill Russell on child care and Laurie Keller on hacker mentality) through to broader aspects of gender inequality (the papers of Flis Henwood, Margaret Bruce and Alison Adam, and Lyn Bryant). Susan Jones takes a look at the reasons why we should want to see more women in computing, whilst Gillian Lovegrove and Wendy Hall present a more general paper on school and higher education.

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Section 1: Invited Speakers.- 1. Women into Computing: The Need for Positive Action Now.- 2. Beyond the Great Divide.- 3. Computing in Schools: the Same Old Story.- 4. Getting Women into Computing.- 5. Attracting Women Returners in Computing.- 6. Employer - Education Cooperation.- Section II: Attitudes and Issues.- 7. Where Are the Girls Now?.- 8. Young Women and the Culture of Software Engineering.- 9. Expert Systems - A Women's Perspective.- 10. Removed From Power.- 11. Why Do We Want To See More Women in Computing?.- 12. Machismo and the Hacker Mentality.- 13. Child Care Provision in Higher Education: A Case Study.- Section III: Young Women and Education.- 14. Opting Out Of Technology: A Study of Girls' GCSE Choices.- 15. Action Research: Primary Schoolgirls and New Technology.- 16. IT Teaching in Schools - Gender Bias in the Secondary School.- 17. Girls and Computing - A Case Study.- 18. Observations of Attitudes to IT in Database Use in Schools.- 19. A Study of Computing Experiences of Female A-Level Maths Students.- 20. Profile of Glasgow "WiC" Girls.- 21. The Gender Gap in Secondary School Computer Use.- 22. School and Industry Links - An Example of Co-operation.- Section IV: Higher and Further Education.- 23. Choice and Image: Gender and Computer Studies in Higher Education.- 24. Computer Attitudes, Interface Preference And Simple Task Performance.- 25. An Analysis of Attempts to Remember that Some Students are Female.- 26. Home-based Computing for Women Students.- 27. Making a Place for Women in Computing.- 28. Initiatives for Recruitment of Female Undergraduates.- 29. Industrial Placements: Women's Experience.- 30. Does a Masculine Management Style Deter Women Applicants?.- 31. IT: Issues including Role Models and Routes to Promotion.- 32. Information Technology - Art or Science?.- 33. Women: The Hidden Users of Computers.- Section V: Women Returners.- 34. Encouraging Women Returners into Computing Courses in Higher Education.- 35. Women Returners and Higher Education - Initiatives at Sunderland Polytechnic.- 36. Women Returners: New Initiatives and Experiences.- 37. SWIM: Scottish Women Returners Study Information Technology Management.- 38. WISE UP: A New Course for Women Returners Run at Reading.- 39. Women Returners: Finding the Gaps.- 40. 'Managing With Computers' at the Women and Work Programme.- 41. Why do Women Normally Re-enter the Work Force?.- 42. The Women into Information Technology (WIT) Campaign.- Section VI: Careers.- 43. Networking and the UK Federation of Business and Professional Women.- 44. Women's Career Paths in Artificial Intelligence.- 45. Management: Practical Experiences in the UK and Canada.- Section VII: WiC Activities.- 46. Grassroot Groups - Experiences in Horticultural Cultivation.- 47. Experiences of One Day Workshops for Schoolgirls.- 48. Getting Women into Computing: Strategies for Overcoming Prejudice.- 49. Girls into IT at Stockton Sixth Form College, Cleveland.- 50. Insight into Attitudes to Computing.- 51. Action Stations: Let's Organise a Workshop for Schoolgirls!.- 52. No Previous Experience Necessary.- 53. Southampton WiC Workshops.- 54. The Edinburgh Women in Computing Workshops.- Section VIII: International and Cultural.- 55. Scenes from Europe.- 56. Women in Technology in the European Community.- 57 Gender Bias: The East-West Paradox.- 58. Paradox and Practice: Gender in Computing and Engineering in Eastern Europe.- 59. Women into Computing: Some Experience from New Zealand.- Appendix A: Bibliography.- Appendix B: Useful Addresses.- Author Index.