Project 2

Link to artifact:
https://lucasunruh.wordpress.com/2016/09/30/women-in-stem-profile/

Women and minorities face large obstacles entering in to every STEM field. Computer Science, though, as the newest of the STEM fields, receives the most attention from the media for its inability to draw these groups in to their ranks. Despite the tech-field's self-proclaimed "meritocracy," women and minorities are not given an equal chance at high-paying tech jobs. This isn't necessarily the fault in every case of the companies that are hiring, however. In many instances, societal norms play a large role in pushing people away from Tech. People think that they are not welcome because the Tech industry is portrayed in a very negative light (at least towards women and minorities) in society. This, I think, becomes a self-fueling cycle. The media portrays the Tech industry as unwelcoming to women and minorities, fewer apply to these jobs or study the field in college, so fewer are accepted into the industry. This, however, is not the only obstacle that women and minorities face getting into the STEM. The fields are white-male dominated (some STEM fields more than others). Because the demographics have been this way for so long, it has made some of the members of the field feel entitled to their positions and comfortable with the status-quo. They feel threatened by changes and push back against anything that would upset their comfortable bubbles.

Role models play an important role, to many people, inspiring people to reach for long-term goals. Although I, myself, have never had a STEM role-model, I know many women who look up to the many women luminaries in the field today and use their examples to guide them going forward. After reading about Anita Borg, I have a new-found respect for her work in the field of computer science. She was inspiring not so much because she was a brilliant programmer, but because of her non-stop work promoting the field to other women. I want to become someone like her. Someone that, when they see a problem, they immediately can throw themselves at it in an attempt to fix it - no matter if there will be blow-back or if society does not necessarily recognize the issue.