Chapter 3

Paradox of Empowerment and Marginalization

Women in Computer Science in India

RoliVarma

Despite various initiatives by the National Science Foundation, information tech­nology (11) companies like Google and Microsoft, and nonprofit organizations such as the National Center of Women in Information Technology to achieve gender equality in computer science (CS); the proportion of women studying CS remains low in the USA. Since 2000, the share of CS bachelor's degrees awarded to women has declined by 10 %. In 2013, women earned only 18 % of bachelor's degrees in CS (National Science Board 2016). The same is the case in Europe where women rep­resent around 17% of total graduates in CS (Ansip 2014).

The dearth of women in CS in the USA and Europe, however, can be contrasted with the situation in non-Western coun1l'ies. Studies conducted in Iran (Shashaani and Khalili 2001), Hong Kong (Lee 2003), Mauritius (Adams et al. 2003), Taiwan (Fan and Li 2005), and Malaysia (Lagesen 2008) show that CS is a popular major among women. Despite no special initiatives undertaken by the Indian government, IT companies, or nonprofit organizations to encourage women's enrollment in CS, there are a large numbers of women studying CS in India (Varma 2009, 2010, 2011). Since India's independence in 1947, women's participation in higher education has been growing. In 1950, women accounted for just about 10 % of all students in higher education, yet, by the year 2011, women accounted for 44% of students enrolled in higher education (Frehill and Cohoon 2015). Enrollment data shows that women constituted 42 % of students in CS and computer engineering at undergradu­ate level, 67 % at master level, and 53 % at doctoral level (Government of India 2012/2013).

Does this imply that CS is a "women-friendly" field in India? Based on in-depth interviews with female CS students in India, this paper illustrates the prevalence of gender issues in CS, despite the high presence of women. It reveals a paradox and

R. Varma (GJ)School of Public Administration, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM, USAe-mail: varma@unm.edu

© Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2017 H. Peterson (ed.), Gender in Trans11atio11al Knowledge Work, Crossroads ofKnowledge, DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-43307-3_3

31

34 R. Varma

national technical institute, and the other is a well-known regional technical insti­tute. To ensure that minorities in India were included, one university was histori­cally Muslim, and the other was predominantly Sikh. Random sampling was used to select 15 subjects who were in their second and later years of studies at each institution. Once approached, all students participated in the study. The interviews were structured in the sense that only certain issues were covered, and they were also unstructured in the sense that they resembled private conversations with the subjects. Such a combination allowed subjects to express themselves in depth, while the author could maintain control over the topics and explore interesting leads. Each interview lasted anywhere from less than an hour to an hour and a half.

Interviews were recorded, transcribed, and inserted in the NVivo program for data analysis. Two independent coders coded the same data to ensure reliability. Typically, students gave multiple answers; thus, two tables were created- primary/ first response and how often a response occun·ed. Once all interviews were coded, the author analyzed the data for possible relationships between concepts and varia­tions in the patterns observed. Attention was paid to the number and types of proper­ties, noting not only how many subjects exhibited a concept but also how that concept exhibited itself. The Institutional Review Board at the author's institution, which granted the permission to collect primary data, requires that the names of sites and subjects are not disclosed.

The interview guide comprised questions dealing with demographic infonna­tion, early schooling, IT resources in schools/at homes, family support for educa­tion, precollege career aspirations, the CS program at their institution, and CS gender-specific issues. The following five (and demographic questions) questions posed to female students formed the basis for this paper:

• Are careers with a CS degree attractive to women? If yes, how? If no, why not?• Why do you think there are so few women that study CS in your program?• What attracts men to study CS in your program?• Do women encounter obstacles that men do not in your CS program? If yes, can

you give some examples?• Do any incidents come to mind that are related to being a woman in your CS

program? If yes, could you elaborate?

3.3 Findings

Since this is a qualitative study, findings are reported with interview excerpts to highlight the complexity of concepts and by frequency to show their strength.