Female software engineers start getting with the program

Minority

Hong said the trend of women being a minority in the industry probably started in the days when today's female software engineers were college students.

When she was studying computational mathematics and applied software at college more than two decades ago, the ratio of female to male students in her class was about 1-to-5.

"Traditionally, and even now, fewer women than men study science majors－such as physics, math and computer science－at college. Women, who are generally believed to be more sensitive and emotional, tend to study liberal arts subjects. On that basis, they will find few female peers when they enter the job market," she said.

"What's more, the workload is heavy for software engineers, who have to work overtime from time to time. Some women might leave the industry because they want to spend more time with their families, leading to an even smaller number in the job."

Pu Lei, who runs an IT company in Chengdu, said the number of women employed in the industry is not small, but most are working as user interface designers, software testing engineers and new media operators.

"Very few are working as programmers," he said.

In his opinion, men are usually more interested in computers and programming than women. That's why the industry attracts more males.

"Also, men are better at thinking logically, which many industry insiders believe to be a very important attribute for a good programmer," he said.

Hong sees things differently. "For people who enter the industry, male or female, their abilities－logical analysis or programming techniques－are equally good," she said. "Women being a minority among programmers is about tradition or stereotypes; it's not about a lack of ability."

Wang Yongfu, a computer science lecturer at Wenzhou Kean University in Zhejiang province, said that as the computer, internet and IT industries have developed quickly and become increasingly popular, more people, especially women, have started to show an interest. They are flocking into related majors and seeking employment as programmers when they graduate.

"When I was a computer science student at Wenzhou Kean University about eight years ago, there were at most one or two females among the 20 or so students each year. Now, there is an average of three a year," he said, adding that although the growth in numbers is not yet obvious, the upward trend is definitely there.