Women Total 48.5% of Carnegie Mellon’s 2016 Computer Science Class

Today, GoodCall examines progress – or the lack thereof – made by women in the college classroom and in the workplace. Writer Terri Williams found one respected computer science program that has made great strides in recruiting women. Earlier, Terri examined a new report on the state of young women in the workplace. In both cases, a major key to success is having strong women mentors and role models.
Take a peek into a typical computer science program classroom around the country: 5 of every 6 students will be male. But Carnegie-Mellon’s never been typical – particularly when it comes to its highly rated computer science curriculum. The latest stride: Women make up 48.5% of the enrollment in the class this year.
Here’s why it’s a good thing, especially for women. A recent survey revealed computer science is one of the best majors for jobs of the future, and another survey found half of high-paying jobs required coding skills.
Other recent research, however, revealed that some female students might avoid STEM and business majors because of a perceived marriage market penalty. That’s not happening at Carnegie Mellon, where the enrollment increase comes on the heels of a 38% increase in the number of women who applied to the program.  In addition, 43.3% of students in CMU’s 2016 College of Engineering are women.
The increases in the enrollment of women in both departments during the past four years have been impressive. 

Read more here: ​ www.goodcall.com/news/women-make-computer-science-gains-09126