When I started college at Bowling Green State University in the fall of 1978, I was among a large group of women majoring in computer science. Although today there are far fewer women nationwide who choose that field, at the time, about 40% to 50% of the students in my class were female. The women's movement was alive and well, and the demand for computer programmers was so high that employers didn't care what gender you were. The year I graduated, computer science programs nationwide reported record numbers of female graduates. The climate for women in IT remained strong as I entered the field as a computer programmer in the early 1980s. As I worked my way up the IT chain, however, things began to change. I discovered that I was among only a handful of women in the top ranks, and it wasn't uncommon to be the only woman in a meeting. I be- gan to notice that I didn't have the same type of camaraderie with my male co-workers that I once shared with my female co-workers. I could still share ideas with men, but there were some topics I didn't feel comfortable discussing, such as juggling child care responsibilities or finding time to work out at the gym. I figured this was just one of the prices that had to be paid for success in IT.
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