Computer Science Programs
Career opportunities for computer scientists are continuing to thrive. In fact, it’s predicted that employment will grow by 11% by 2024. Surprisingly, this is faster than the average job growth across all industries. But despite this surge in opportunities, women are still highly underrepresented in the computer science industry. In this article, we’ll investigate this trend and uncover top computer science programs for women.
The context and data
According to a report from Fortune, the number of female computing professionals has fallen by 35% since 1990. In fact, in 2013, women represented only 26% of all computer science professionals. Today, in an effort to turn this male-dominated field into a more gender-balanced industry, many changes are beginning.
To start, there’s been a push from organizations such as Girls Who Code and Girls, Inc. to encourage female students to become interested and involved in technology at an earlier age. Not only that, but at the college level, universities have begun to tailor their computer science programs to be more inclusive.
Is it working?
Already, these efforts seem to be making a difference! Evidence indicates that the percentage of female students completing a computer science degree increased by 76% over the past five years.
StudySoup, a site that helps students succeed in school, took a look at the top-ranked U.S. universities for computer science. However, these colleges are unique in also offering an inclusive environment for female students looking to enter into the industry.
The report used data points such as acceptance rate, tuition, popularity rank of the computer science program, the percentage of female students within the computer science program, graduation rate, and average starting salary.
Here are the top 20 computer science programs for women:
- Harvey Mudd College
- Dartmouth College
- Harvard University
- Rice University
- Pennsylvania State University
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology
- College of William and Mary
- University of Southern California
- Emory University
- Princeton University
- Georgetown University
- Columbia University
- North Carolina State University
- University of Notre Dame
- Carnegie Mellon University
- Cornell University
- University of North Carolina – Charlotte
- Cal (University of California – Berkeley)
- University of Pennsylvania
- California Institute of Technology
Are you interested in learning more? If so, you can see the full report here. Then, let us know what you think!
In summary, there are options out there for women in computer science. Furthermore, Empowerly has helped many girls interested in STEM get accepted to top engineering colleges. In fact, some of our favorites include Stanford, UC Berkeley, MIT… just to name a few! Learn more about Empowerly’s expert college counseling program today.
Madeleine Karydes
