Skip to content

Instantly share code, notes, and snippets.

@mvidner

mvidner/unlocking-the-clubhouse.md

Last active January 13, 2020 08:30
Show Gist options
  • Star 0 You must be signed in to star a gist
  • Fork 0 You must be signed in to fork a gist
  • Save mvidner/f8fc0f6aa607ea5d8cd86619adfde206 to your computer and use it in GitHub Desktop.
Save mvidner/f8fc0f6aa607ea5d8cd86619adfde206 to your computer and use it in GitHub Desktop.
Download ZIP
Unlocking the Clubhouse: Women in Computing
Raw
unlocking-the-clubhouse.md

Unlocking the Clubhouse: Women in Computing

Margolis, Jane and Fisher, Allan (2002). Unlocking the Clubhouse: Women in Computing. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. https://mitpress.mit.edu/books/unlocking-clubhouse

This is an expanded table of contents.

Introduction: Women out of the loop

  • The Evidence
  • Outline of the Book
  • The Site of Our Investigation
  • Students' Accounts at the Heart of Our Investigation
  • Gender Generalizations
  • Our "Insider-Outsider" Collaboration
  • Boys Invent Things, and Girls Use Things Boys Invent

1 The Magnetic Attraction

  • Boys and Computers: The Magnetic Attraction
  • Girls and Computers: "He Was the One Who Was Really into It"
  • Staying on the Outside
  • Computing Begins at Home
  • Children Are Keen Observers
  • The Computer in the Boy's Bedroom
  • Father-Son Internships
  • Play and Gender: Who Chooses the Toys?
  • Gender and Kindergarten: "It's for Boys" or "It's for Girls"
  • Risk Taking, Gender, and Computing
  • How a Girl is Supposed to Be
  • The Lucky Exceptions
  • Summary

2 Middle and High School: A Room of His Own

  • "It's the Same Boys All the Time"
  • High School Computing Lab: A Room of His Own
  • High School Computer Science as an All-Boy Club
  • The Legacy of Math and Science
  • "Who Am I?" and "What Am I Good At?"
  • Adolescent Girls, Confidence Loss, and Computer Science
  • The Experience Gap
  • The Hold of the Computer Game
  • Seeking Adventure
  • Creating Media That Appeal to Both Boys and Girls
  • The Game Girl
  • Unequal School Resources Compound Home Inequities
  • On Her Own
  • Unlocking the Clubhouse: High School Is Important

3 Computing with a Purpose

  • The Decision to Major: The Passionate and the Rational
  • Versatility of the Field
  • Computing with a Purpose
  • Women's Counternarratives
  • Which Orientation Does the Curriculum Support
  • A Broader View of Programming
  • Summary

4 Geek Mythology

  • The Place: The Carnegie Mellon School of Computer Science
  • "You're the Top"
  • Initiation Rites
  • A Good Fit
  • The Glamorous Geek
  • Geek Mythology
  • Geek Myth More Damaging to Women
  • Can a Computer Science Major Find Balance?
  • Women in Computing: Guests in a Male-Hosted World
  • Overcoming Geek Mythology
  • A Matter of Expectations

5 Living among the Programming Gods: The Nexus of Confidence and Interest

  • "Everyone Knows So Much More"
  • The Erosion of Confidence
  • Small Injuries Hurt Women More
  • "You Are Here Only Because You Are a Girl"
  • "A Threat in the Air"
  • A Vicious Circle
  • What About the Inexperienced Men?
  • The Need for Respect and Support
  • The Decision to Leave
  • Conclusion: The Responsibility to Change

6 Persistence and Resistance: Staying in Computer Science

  • The Persistence Roller Coaster
  • The Expected: "I Have Always Been Around Computers"
  • The Counterintuitive Persisters
  • Little Experience and "No Choice"
  • "You Have This Bridge You Have to Walk Over, and You Just Don't Look Down"
  • Degrees of Freedom
  • Attributional Beliefs about Intelligence and Talent
  • Culturally Inscribed Attributions of Success
  • Hard Work Versus the "Computer Gene" Theory
  • Gender and the Entity View of Intelligence (referring to Carol Dweck)
  • Cultural Resistance
  • Breaking the Isolation and Building Support
  • Supportive Learning Communities
  • Computer Science as an Acquired Taste
  • Conclusion

7 A Tale of 240 Teachers

  • A Singular Opportunity
  • Laying Out the Problem
  • Why Girls Enroll and Why They Don't
  • What Teachers Can Do
  • Recruiting Girls
  • Having Girls Recruit Girls
  • Educating Counselors, Teachers, and Parents
  • Getting Girls Interested Young and Early
  • "All-Girl" Computing Events
  • Spreading the Word
  • Expecting Opposition
  • Reshaping the Teaching of Computer Science
  • The Experience Gap
  • Protecting the Climate of the Classroom
  • Classroom Conduct
  • Action Plans
  • Conclusions

8 Changing the University

  • The Experience Gap
  • Admissions
  • More Attention to Good Teaching
  • Contextualizing Computer Science
  • Culture
  • Outreach to High Schools
  • Apparently Unsuccessful Interventions
  • Recent Developments and Current Activities
  • Enrollment Results
  • The Challenge for the Future
  • Implications for Other Institutions
  • Implementation Requirements

Epilogue: Changing the Conversation in Computer Science

Appendix: Research Methodology

Sign up for free to join this conversation on GitHub. Already have an account? Sign in to comment