Women Role Models in Computer Science History

By Denise Gürer

In the past year there has been much concern and debate over the rapidly declining numbers of women in computer science. As reported by Dr. Tracy Camp in a previous issue of this newsletter and in Communications of the ACM, October 1997, the number of BA/BS degrees awarded to women over the last ten years (1983-84 to 1994-95) has decreased by 23.5 percent. In other words, we are losing one of every four potential women graduates with CS degrees. Interestingly, the numbers of women graduating with BA/BS degrees in other science related disciplines have been increasing over the same time frame.

This underrepresentation of women in computing is alarming. It raises the disturbing possibility that the field of CS functions in ways that hinder or discourage women from entering and then staying with it. In addition, the demographic trends in the United States suggest a significant decrease in the number of white males entering college during the next decade, while the number of jobs requiring computer science and technical skills is on the rise. There has been much discussion and concern in the news lately over the great need for and lack of computer scientists in the job market. Thus, it becomes imperative that we encourage and retain more women in computing and tap this underutilized wealth of talent.

One proven method of increasing the numbers of women in computing is through the use of role models. As Mary Frank Fox, Professor of Sociology at the Georgia Institute of Technology, states, "Women role models in science and engineering demonstrate the presence, the participation, and the continuing prospects of women in the science and engineering fields. These role models are important for both women -- and then for the whole scientific community --who need to work together to enhance the quality and effectiveness of science and engineering." Indeed, as Gerhard Sonnert, Professor of Physics at Harvard University, says, "When young women think about science as a career choice, the presence of successful women in science is an encouraging signal. Senior women scientists serve as role models not only in terms of scientific excellence; young women also appreciate models of balancing a science career with family and other aspects of life."

If you explore the history of computing, you can find a wealth of women role models. Even though it is not well documented by the computing community, women made substantial contributions to the field of computer science (see Communications of the ACM, Gürer, January 1995). Often, these pioneers go unrecognized for their achievements. In fact, in the history books, women are not mentioned, with the exception of Ada Lovelace and Grace Hopper. Both of these well-known and remarkable pioneers exhibited an ability to see the future directions of computer science. Lovelace was the first conceptual programmer, while Hopper foresaw the importance of higher-level programming languages in the future of computing. However, there were many other women pioneers in computing who deserve mentioning and who can serve as role models.

We can immediately find six women pioneers and role models with the world's first electronic computing machine, the ENIAC, whose first programmers were six women. In recognition of their work, these pioneers were recently (1997) inducted into the Women in Technology International (WITI) Hall of Fame: Kay Antonelli, Jean Bartik, Betty Holberton, Marlyn Meltzer, Frances Spence, and Ruth Teitelbaum (see http://www.witi.org/Center/Museum). These six remarkable women joined the World War II effort as "computers" for the Army's Ballistics Research Laboratories in a Philadelphia project where they worked on a new, top secret machine. The programmers were handed the schematics of the machine and told to make it perform numerical calculations for the war effort. This is exactly what they did, with no manuals or instruction set or even the concept of how to program such a machine. The programmers had to hardwire their programs using hundreds of cables, dozens of digit trays and 3,000 switches.

In addition to the WITI award, Betty Holberton also recently received two additional and well-deserved awards for her pioneering work: the Lovelace Award and the IEEE Computer Society Pioneering Award. Other computer science pioneers were recently honored at the Grace Hopper Celebration (GHC-1997): Fran Allen, a pioneer in compiler optimization; Jean Bartik, ENIAC programmer; Judy Clapp, a programmer of the world's first real-time control computer, the Whirlwind; Thelma Estrin, a pioneer in bioengineering at UCLA; Milly Koss, a programmer of the first commercial computer, the UNIVAC; Joyce Little, a developer of one of the first curriculums for computer science; and Ethel Marden, a programmer of one of the first stored program computers, the SEAC (see http://www.acm.org/women/speech. html). In addition to the award ceremony, the pioneers participated in a workshop, facilitated by Denise Gürer, and sponsored by the GHC and the ACM Committee on Women in Computing (ACM-W). For an hour and a half the pioneers discussed and shared their experiences with each other and the audience. Many interesting stories came forth through the discussion and interaction from the audience (videotapes of this and other workshops at the GHC are available for purchase, see http://www.sdsc.edu/ Hopper). Needless to say, this was an exciting time. Many of the GHC conference attendees remarked that they were astonished and delighted to learn about the achievements of the pioneers. Honoring and displaying their accomplishments in such a public forum inspired many women computer scientists, both young and old.

These women pioneers serve as wonderful role models for both young and accomplished computer scientists. They have broken their way into a male-dominated field and have been highly successful, and in many cases have been "firsts." Fran Allen is the first woman to become an IBM Fellow at IBM's T.J. Watson Research Laboratory; Ethel Marden is the first woman to be appointed a division chief at the National Bureau of Standards (NBS); Thelma Estrin is the first woman to be elected to the IEEE Board of Directors and the first woman to be a member of the Aerospace Corporation; and Joyce Little was the first chair of the ACM Community Curriculum Committee, which produced the first guidelines for a two-year computer science program.

Breaking the mold and becoming "firsts" is difficult and important. It paves the way for more women to be accepted in the inner circles, which in turn paves the way for more women to enter the field. However, not only do these pioneers serve as role models through their work, they have also been actively involved in improving the computing environment for women. Ethel Marden helped to improve working conditions for women at the NBS by initiating part-time and flex-time for her workers. At that time, the concept of flex-time was unheard of: Marden had to fight hard with upper management for those rights and even threatened to go to The Washington Post. As she said, "They (women) didn't turn off their brains when they left the office. They were thinking about problems from work while they were at home." Another pioneer and role model, Thelma Estrin, is actively pursuing activities to increase awareness of the obstacles facing women in computing and engineering. Grace Murray Hopper did not consider herself a mentor or role model. However, that is exactly what she was. Through her example and management skills she paved the way for many more women to come. Milly Koss worked for Hopper and remembers her energy, enthusiasm, and willingness to serve as a mentor. In addition, Hopper adopted the ideas of part-time and flex-time which enabled women to have children and maintain their careers at the same time.

In the exciting field of computer science, women have been and still are making substantial contributions to computing. Award ceremonies and workshops such as those mentioned above are crucial in bringing to light the role models that are needed in computer science. It is important that we learn of the accomplishments of our pioneers and pass on the information to others. With this in mind, Kathy Kleiman, an attorney who specializes in Internet law and is developing an ACM-W sponsored documentary on the six original ENIAC Pioneers, says it best; "The ENIAC Programmers show us that women in computing is not a recent event, rather, women have been major contributors for decades. Women and girls can take pride in knowing that they follow in a long line of great contributors in computing - they have every right to be involved in computing and become the major innovators and contributors of today."

Denise Gürer is a research computer scientist at SRI International in Menlo Park, California. She is the chair of ACM-W and a Board member of the IEEE Annals of the History of Computing.