| Since the 1980's the percentage of women graduating college with computer science degrees has been steadily declining (Chen, 2014). Despite endorsing love for programming, the rate of attrition for female programmers in computer careers is more than double that of men (Hewlett et al., 2008). Research has shown that women face multiple barriers in studying and working in computer science, including sexism, stereotype threat, and signals of non-belonging (Cheryan et al., 2009). This current qualitative study used Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis (Smith & Osborn, 2004), to explore the journey of eight female computer programmers working full time in the San Francisco Bay Area.;Sixteen themes falling into three domains emerged from this data: early experiences, feeling like the "other," and the impact of these messages. In the first domain, themes included participants' enjoyment of the work of programming in spite of having negative and discouraging experiences in school; most tended to have a family role model as a guide. In the second domain, women encountered messages of non-belonging, inadequacy, and feeling devalued, as well as experiences of sexism and having difficulty seeing a path forward in their careers. In the last domain, these messages created emotional distress, leading participants to feel unsafe in the larger computer science community, and to question whether they wanted to leave the field. On a positive note, most found important support in having a shared-identity group and desired to mentor other women. The results also suggest that gender identity intersected with racial and LGB identities to differentially impact their experiences.;These themes suggest that female programmers' clinical distress be treated in a culturally informed way. Clinicians should consider taking a systems approach to working with female programmers given the institutional stressors they are faced with. Psycho-education on the impact and ways to counteract experiences of sexism and stereotype threat might be incorporated into individual counseling to further buttress women programmers' self esteem and efficacy. Mentoring programs starting as early as high school and support networks that promote advocacy for women within the field are also important supports that could improve female participation and counteract attrition in programming. Future research might include research on the impact of intersectional identities and developing culturally informed therapy interventions for this population. |
