Abstract:
This paper examines long term changes in the participation of women in professionally
accredited computing degree programs. It reports on the results of three intensive
Australia-wide studies of the situation in the mid 1980s, in 1992 and in the late 1990s.
The early study painted a detailed and rather depressing picture of women's
representation in IT education. It also identified barriers to improvement in the discipline
itself, the teaching institutions, and for individuals. The intervening years have seen many
attempts to address these barriers in respect of both the attraction to and retention of
women in IT courses. The current paper summarises the Australia wide studies and then
draws upon recent localised data in contrasting environments and larger scale literature to
explore how little things have changed as a result of these intervention programs.
