Every so often, my wife visits me on campus. She usually tracks me down in a lab and proceeds to tell me about some weirdo she saw on her way in. In each class I have taken, there has never been less than a five-to-one ratio of guys to girls. As I've thought about causes, my explanations are either the girls just don’t like being around such weird guys; or, the guys are weird because there’s such little feminine presence. After more study, I was introduced to some more practical, better thought out ideas. So I conclude that there is a stigma of ‘nerdiness’ attached to the Computer Science major. After telling people my major, girls will sometimes politely attempt to explain their mental image that may look something like this. Granted, it's largely speculation, but I believe that current culture plays a huge part in why girls will more often choose nursing, biology, or even math, rather than Computer Science, and it will take even more time (and a few more issues of GQ) before society welcomes Computer Science as a smart major, socially .
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