Diversity

I think the general lack of diversity in the computer science industry is an issue that needs to be addressed. What's the best way to address it? Hell if I know. But it's a thing, and I don't think should be.

Focusing on gender, some articles have addressed the idea that on average males are better suited to the more engineering-y fields for various reasons. I think this carries some weight, but I think it only explains a small part of the gap. (Also, on-average is key here. As Hari Seldon would say, statistics and Psychohistory cannot predict the thoughts or actions of individuals. -Asimov's Foundation reference.)

I think the larger factor here, however, is unintentional discrimination. Some evidence for this: the number of women in computer science has been declining. That suggests non-evolutionary reasons (unless we're devolving really, really fast...somehow).

I think this discrimination explains a large part of the diversity gap, too. We've read before about how the computer science giants "hire only the most perfect-est hire imaginable. Ditch 100 perfect ones for the one that is even better." But that tends to maximize for unintentional bias. You want to hire the guy you really connect with, which basically means you're much more likely to hire someone very similar to your culture. So if you're a white male you wind up hiring other white males because of People Like Us syndrome.

Another factor might be access to computers. Colleges assume you know your way around a computer already. Can you imagine asking basic Windows questions in a fundamentals of computing course? "What's a file? What do you mean by 'double click'? Control-what-delete?" I'm sure there are lots of other skills about using a computer that I just take for granted, since I've had one all my life. Typing takes time to learn. Is moving the mouse intuitive, or does it take a while to master? I honestly don't remember. But those are the basics. There have to be thousands of things you can only learn through practice and familiarity.

Lower income students are less likely to have had time to get familiar with computers, so they're already at a disadvantage in the field. According to the "When Women Stopped Coding" article, girls get less access to computers than boys do, even if they display interest. Also, it seems like companies expect you to have been coding since you were a child. That's really difficult if you're sharing a single computer among a family.

So the culture of the people making hiring decisions and economic status have an over-sized effect on diversity in the computer science industry. The first because "only hiring the best" accidentally creates a focus on hidden biases, and the second because access to your own computer could be critical for developing your skills early on.

So what should be done about the situation? I don't know. Blind interviews have been suggested to try to eliminate some forms of bias. I think it goes without saying that Breitbart's idea of a cap was terrible. Harvey Mudd seems to be doing a good job encouraging women to pick up the field by making it more interesting and accessible to them, especially if they aren't as familiar with computers.

This isn't the just state of affairs; change is required to even the playing field.