Women in Computing

Famous Women

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(1815–1852)

Ada Lovelace

An analyst of Charles Babbage's analytical engine and is often described as the "first computer programmer."

(1906–1992)

Grace Hopper

A United States Navy officer and the first programmer of the Harvard Mark I, known as the "Mother of COBOL". She developed the first ever compiler for an electronic computer, known as A-0.

(1932–)

Frances Allen

The first female IBM Fellow in 1989. In 2006 she became the first female recipient of the ACM's Turing Award.

(1939–)

Barbara Liskov

Developed the Liskov substitution principle. Liskov was also the winner of the Turing Prize in 2008.

(1949–2003)

Anita Borg

The founding director of the Institute for Women and Technology (IWT)

(1951–)

Maria Klawe

The first woman to become President of Harvey Mudd College since its founding in 1955 and was ACM president from 2002 until 2004.

Organizations

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These are some awesome organizations that help women in computing. This is a brief list and there are many more out there.

Fun Facts

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  • Every year the Anita Borg Institute holds the Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing conference to bring the research and career interests of women in computing to the forefront
  • 25% of the computing workforce were women in 2011 reference
  • The DevChix google group has over 1000 members.
  • Girl Develop It has chapters in eleven cities.
  • Women eared 18% of the Computer and Information Sciences undergraduate degrees in 2010. reference
  • The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics projects that by 2018, there will be a total of nearly 1.4 million computing-related jobs added in the U.S., an increase of 22% from 2008. reference
  • The median age of women in computing and mathematical occupations is 42. reference
  • Of the 20 occupations with the highest median earnings for women, 5 are computing occupations: computer software engineers, computer and information systems managers, computer programmers, computer scientists and systems analysts, and network systems and data communications analysts. reference