Why Are Fewer Females Obtainin g Bachelor's Degrees in Computer Science ? Clark Thomborso n Computer Science Department University of Minnesot a Duluth, MN 5581 2 cthombor@ua .d .umn .ed u The percentage of females in undergraduate Computer Science has been dropping steadil y since 1984, according to the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) of the US Dep t of Education . The NCES data, presented graphically in Figures 1 and 2 below, report al l Bachelor's degree conferrals from institutions of higher education in the U .S . for the perio d 1979-1990 . There was a steady upward climb in the ratio of female-to-total bachelor's degre e recipients, from 28% in 1979 to 37% in 1984 . Then there was a steady downward drop t o 30% in 1990 . The female/male ratio of our degree recipients will continue this downward trend for a t least the next few years, if my anecdotal evidence of declining gender ratios in introductor y computer science courses is reflected nationally . I therefore seek help in starting a project to collect national statistics on the compositio n of introductory computer science courses, to confirm (or deny) the likely
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