Situated Opportunity: Reimaging Women's Career Paths in Computing

Current efforts to recruit more women into computing construct opportunity narrowly, as the acquisition of a technical skill set or the pursuit of a career path that follows masculine norms. Women’s historical experiences reveal that opportunity must be understood more holistically as being situated at the intersection of a woman’s sense of her own abilities, her awareness of how skills and attributes are valued in the marketplace, and her perception of whether potential occupations are compatible with other life commitments. The experiences of female computing pioneers reveals these invisible constraints on women’s opportunities as well as women’s ability to successfully construct unorthodox career paths.

Drawing on extensive oral histories, I describe the dynamics of situated opportunity in women’s experiences as computer professionals in 20th century America. From this analysis I identify three areas in which gender is especially salient in the process of constructing a computer career, which can inform current efforts at gender equity. First, the perception of opportunity requires belief in one’s ability to succeed; but women may lack this confidence, since “feminine” skills have traditionally been devalued and seen as non-technical. Second, since women often miss the first steps on the ‘normal’ (masculine) career path, they may need to find ways to build these credentials later, perhaps in parallel with employment rather than beforehand. Third, the challenge of balancing work and family falls disproportionately on women; successful female computer scientists have demonstrated diverse strategies for rethinking the organization of work to mesh better with family commitments.