Despite growing sentiment of females becoming increasingly represented in the technology industry, I’ve come to realize that few are engineers themselves. In contrast, Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, Larry Page, Jeff Bezos, and just about every other male tech leader started by writing code.

Singapore loves technology. We have the world’s highest smartphone penetration rate, and rank among the highest for internet usage. Of the top 20 companies on jobseekers’ wishlist, half belong in the technology industry. In terms of gender, reports show women love their gadgets and use technology as much (or more if we’re talking social media) as men.

So why is the take-up rate for women so low and what makes computer science the least appealing choice – after math, science, and economics? With my personal experiences and struggle as a female “techie”, I try and explain why.

Disclaimer: This article is wholly based on my personal experiences and understanding. It may or may not be generalized to the population at large. Local secondary data are limited, thus taken from international sources and assumed to be true.

1. Social Expectations
Because an interest in IT/CS is abnormal for a girl to have, therefore a girl who has an interest in IT/CS is abnormal.

This propositional fallacy is akin to saying: Agnes is tall, therefore all tall girls are Agnes. Because our brains are hard wired to process information quickly, it is susceptible to cognitive biases like these. Paired with “groupthink”, the bandwagon effect causes wide belief that this illogical deduction is true. What’s more insidious – it creates a “natural selection” where only girls of certain traits (you’ll see why) would be more likely to risk pursuing their technical interests.

There are unfortunate implications to this gender stereotyping. Myself, I’ve undergone my fair bit of prejudice. Ironically, mostly from females. (Guys don’t tease. They just treat you as a buddy whom they can tell distasteful jokes and play Counter Strike with after class.) I have been, on multiple occasions, referred to as “the geeky one”, “the only one who will ever get Star Wars”, and even Amy Fowler from The Big Bang Theory – who mind you, does not even code.

The decision to enter a technical stream was tough, characterized by many discouraging and questioning voices. All around, people were saying to go for law, finance, or accountancy where I could meet the most eligible guys and enter the most promising jobs. Even now, there are those who tease that all my friends must be dorks, and acquaintances who question my course of study. “WHAT? You are very different from other CS students!” Uhhh…how many do you know?

Studies have shown there exists certain marginalization as well. Women engineers have the highest attrition rates, with many testifying to a glass ceiling where their contributions are overlooked in a historically male-dominated industry. It’s a Catch-22 situation. Until more women break into these roles, few will succeed.

2. The Self-Fulfilling Prophecy
I am not good enough to compete on the same level as those men who not only have MORE experience, are NATURALLY good in math and programming logic, but also DOMINATE the industry.

I was recently introduced to an article on how female programmers victimize themselves to the impostor syndrome. It called for a quick self-evaluation. I’ve built a couple of functional websites, games, apps, programs, learnt several languages, completed an advanced algorithm course (though barely), survived 3.5 years of computer science school with decent grades, yet consistently deny I know code.

The lack of confidence has been self-defeating. In the last year, I excused myself from programming classes in favor of more theoretical modules and successfully tricked myself into believing I would never be good enough.

Social conditioning plays some part in this – being told that men are better in math and science, then taking that to be the scientific truth. “Guys are just…born better at this.” Contrary to popular belief, research has shown that men and women are equal in aptitude but just very different in intent.

In Sans Francisco, a mum of two taught herself to code. In barely a year, she founded her own company developing award-winning mobile games complete with design, graphics, and UI. Perhaps, then, if I had spent just 2 hours of my Saturday prime time writing code, I would be a lot more proficient by now.

3. Lack of Companionship & Mentors
Where can I go from here? How do I get there? Don’t be silly. Don’t take the risk.

Of the 35-40 students in my cohort, only three of us are local females of whom only one had pre-University experience with computer science. Though we are only three, our classes aren’t always identical, so a lot of time I spent alone.

The guys I know aren’t dorks. They are fluent, speak experienced code, and are generally very helpful and kind to us. However, because their pre-University experiences has given them a lot of acceleration, they often times team together for projects and revision. This makes catching-up to them extremely difficult, since there is ample focus on independent learning but very little empowerment in doing so. Trying to learn various languages in a limited time with few resources and many other irrelevant projects frequently mean taking shortcuts, borrowing from StackOverflow or Github, and ending up with a weak foundation. Also, because we don’t share code or receive any feedback (only a nominal grade) on our assignments, I don’t learn to write cleaner and more efficient code.

Moreover, there is little motivation to excel beyond the nominal grade once one decides against the technical career path. Why risk it when I can pursue more assuring opportunities in sales, marketing, comms, and finance? The tech profession was shrouded in ambiguity and had too much job insecurity for me to consider it more attractive than other options.

Having a mentor or role model would had been helpful in making a more informed decision. Connecting with female technical professionals can clarify anxieties and provide visibility to an otherwise uncertain career roadmap and sustainability. Having their sponsorship would be invaluable to realizing long-term potential, navigating internal networks, and opening new opportunities – all of which would make the technical path more viable to me.

Fortunately, women in the local scene are becoming increasingly vocal in their empowerment. Communities such as SG Geek Girls and Girls in Tech provide girls with the mentors and resources to pursue their interests with more certainty.

It’s never too late to rekindle your love for technology. Learn to code with Microsoft’s Week of Code and join the International Women’s Hackathon or Imagine Cup if you’re feeling up for a challenge.

Who is Agnes?
Agnes is a final year undergraduate in Business and Computer Science. She has wasted time in learnt from self-doubting, entertained the impostor syndrome, and been in and out of love with coding. Today she is still navigating choppy waters to find her place in the industry, but is optimistic to succeed and encourage others someday. She also hopes to ship code again.

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