When I found out that one of the topics of this panel would be ways that there can be problems for women in computer science departments that men aren't aware of, it made me think of a story I was told by a woman who led a study of undergraduate computer science programs. Among other methods, at each site, the teachers of the introductory courses were interviewed about whether there were any problems for women in their programs. One teacher was certain there were no problems for women and said so in all the ways that the interviewer asked about it. The interviewer had trouble remaining polite, however, because right behind the teacher was a huge computer printout of a naked woman that framed him during the entire interview.

I'll assume that most of you are more sensitive than that and that I can discuss less blatant issues. Before I go further, let me say that my own experience at MIT has been wonderful and that the stories I've collected are from women from many different schools.

One issue that concerns women more than men is safety going to and from labs. Since it is often difficult to complete lab assignments without working at night, this creates a safety problem. This is less of a problem on campuses that have shuttles or other safety services. Other solutions are to have the lab open early in the morning or to enable work to be done from computers at dorms, although this can have the disadvantage of isolating students.

When women do interact with others in their program, they sometimes receive more romantic attention than they would like, not just from their peers but also from their tutors. One woman told me that she went for help to the physics tutor until he tried to date her. Since this was a difficult class that she was having trouble in, this was a serious problem, and she stopped taking physics. The same tutor asked out several of the female physics students. This isn't just an isolated incident. When the woman's friend was involved with hiring tutors, several said to him, "Being a tutor must be a great way to meet chicks."

In other cases, a woman can't tell whether a man's interest in her is romantic or professional. Women don't know how to react to a teaching assistant's invitation to dinner, for example. Because of this, some men bend over backwards to avoid anything that could alarm a woman or look bad. Unfortunately, this means that women miss out on informal interactions. A professor might have chummy discussions with his door shut with male students but be more serious and leave his door wide open with female students. Unfortunately, no simple fix exists to this dilemma, although sensitivity to the problem can help, as can an excellent reputation.

Women also often miss out on social events that involve sports or drinking. I am not interested in most sports. I took up ice hockey, which is very popular where I work, but when I tried playing ultimate frisbee, I was unwelcome, because I was so much worse at it than the men. While some women are as good as the men and as interested, most aren't. Also, I don't think I'm unique for being uncomfortable with the idea of going drinking with male students and professors. A picnic or dinner would be more inclusive than a softball game or a drinking excursion.

Sometimes, women are told by male peers or even professors that they don't belong in a program but just got in because they're women, even when there is no good reason to think this is the case. I'll quote a few responses that I received on this subject:

The bias of other (male) students was a real hassle for me. During my freshman year, when everyone is "proving" themselves, I had to endure many comments such as "who did you sleep with to get that grade?" and "you're pretty smart for a girl".

From another woman:

When I was accepted to graduate school at a well-known university, two of my (male) classmates were not. In an attempt at making them feel better while "preparing me for the real world", our advisor told me (in their presence) that the only reason I had been accepted and they had not was because I am a woman. At the time, this was quite devastating -- now it just makes me angry to think about it. In fact, I almost refused to accept admission for this reason. Luckily, I was scheduled to talk to a member of the admissions committee, and I asked him point blank if this was a true statement. He explained the admission process and convinced me that my being a woman played a much more minor role than my advisor had led me to believe.

I don't believe my advisor intended any harm. In fact, I think he really thought he was "helping" me.

I'm not sure there's a lot that departments can do to prevent this sort of thing, but it can help to make people aware that women are doing well. For example, I've been publicizing the finding that, contrary to the conventional wisdom, women's grade point averages at MIT are the same as men's and higher in computer science.

I do have some positive stories to tell. As I said, my own experience at MIT was wonderful. There are several little things my advisor has done that meant a lot to me. For example, when he saw me collating thirteen copies of a paper we wrote to send to a conference, he told me I should have asked his secretary to do that. I think many professors wouldn't have seen anything incongruous about a woman's spending her time on that sort of task. At group meetings, it's not uncommon for him to say to someone, "You've been quiet, but I'm sure you have something valuable to say." While I don't have any problem speaking up, women do disproportionately. By what he says, he shows that he's really interested in what the quieter people have to say.

A female graduate student in a top program gave me a heartwarming description of her undergraduate institution, Southern Methodist University:

Students entering the university who are deemed to be "at risk" (regardless of gender, race, etc) are encouraged to take advantage of the free services offered by the campus Learning Enhancement Center. It has a director who was chosen for her experience in educational issues, particulary for non-traditional students and their "learning styles." The center also employs student tutors (who undergo specific training) who work specified "office hours" and participate in staff meetings, thus lending some cohesiveness to the environment, as opposed to a bunch of independent tutors. Besides the obvious support being made available by the university in this manner, there are also some subtle aspects that (I believe) further encourage women -- these include the fact that a substantial number of the tutors are women, that the University Compliance officer who oversees the Learning Enhancement Center is a women who has worked in a role that is often a male's role, and that both the provost and the associate provost are women.

Beyond this campus wide support, there is also support that is centered at the various schools, including the engineering school. The undergraduate dean takes retention of all minorities (including women) very seriously, and has formed an informal council of upperclass women to provide feedback on how well the school responds to the needs of its women students. However, this concern does not go so far as to make it appear that women are not asked to compete head-to-head with their male peers -- so there is never this sense that women are in the classes because of quotas, etc.