University of Washington Making Strides Reducing the Gender Gap in Information Technology

The University of Washington has reported success in reducing the gender gap in information technology majors. The university states that of the 210 students enrolled in its undergraduate informatics program, 40 percent are women. Nationwide, women earn less than 20 percent of all bachelor’s degrees in the field.

Scott Barker, a lecturer and program chair, notes that the university’s success in narrowing the gender gap was achieved by actively recruiting women and hiring more women faculty in the program. He notes that “we do not give preference based on gender in admissions. In fact, there is no gender column in the spreadsheet that the committee uses when reviewing applicants. However we had more women apply this year, and more that were evaluated highly by the committee based on their grades and essays.”

The Information School has stated that it was a goal to raise women’s participation in the informatics program to 51 percent, which would mirror the percentage of women enrollments at the university as whole.