The Unexpected Entry and Exodus of Women in Computing and HCI in India

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class="basic-hero--publication__authors__spacer"></div> <div class="basic-hero--publication__authors__item"> Pratap Kalenahalli Sudarshan </div> <div class="basic-hero--publication__authors__spacer"></div> <div class="basic-hero--publication__authors__item"> Kentaro Toyama </div> <div class="basic-hero--publication__authors__spacer"></div> <div class="basic-hero--publication__authors__item"> SIGCHI, ACM (2018) </div> </div> <div class="basic-hero--publication__buttons"> <a class="glue-button glue-button--high-emphasis glue-button--reversed glue-button--icon" href="https://storage.googleapis.com/gweb-research2023-media/pubtools/4377.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"> <svg role="presentation" aria-hidden="true" class="glue-icon "> <use href="/gr/static/assets/icons/glue-icons.svg#file-download"></use> </svg> <span class="js-gt-item-id">Download</span> </a> <a class="glue-button glue-button--medium-emphasis glue-button--reversed" href="https://scholar.google.com/scholar?lr&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=The Unexpected Entry and Exodus of Women in Computing and HCI in India Divy Thakkar* Nithya Sambasivan* Purva Yardi Pratap Kalenahalli Sudarshan Kentaro Toyama" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"> <span class="js-gt-item-id">Google Scholar</span> </a> <div class="glue-copy" glue-copy-success="copied!" glue-copy-fail="Press Ctrl+C or ⌘+C to copy"> <input class="glue-copy-value" type="text" value="@inproceedings{46533, title = {The Unexpected Entry and Exodus of Women in Computing and HCI in India}, author = {Divy Thakkar* and Nithya Sambasivan* and Purva Yardi and Pratap Kalenahalli Sudarshan and Kentaro Toyama}, year = {2018}, URL = {http://delivery.acm.org/10.1145/3180000/3173926/paper352.pdf?ip=73.170.238.228&id=3173926&acc=OA&key=4D4702B0C3E38B35%2E4D4702B0C3E38B35%2E198CDBC69304B5EA%2E5945DC2EABF3343C&__acm__=1547103984_cb4468b3396e935a337177dbd00135cf} } " aria-label="URL" readonly> <button class="glue-button glue-button--medium-emphasis glue-button--reversed glue-copy-button" aria-live='polite'> <span class="js-gt-item-id">Copy Bibtex</span> </button> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </section> <section class="offset-two-up --theme-light"> <div class="glue-page glue-grid"> <div class="offset-two-up__left-col glue-grid__col glue-grid__col--span-4-sm glue-grid__col--span-12-md glue-grid__col--span-3-lg"> <h3 class="offset-two-up__headline headline-3">Abstract</h3> </div> <div class="glue-grid__col glue-grid__col--span-4-sm glue-grid__col--span-12-md glue-grid__col--span-9-lg"> In India, women represent 45% of total computer science enrollment in universities, almost three times the rate in the United States, where it is 17%. At the same time, women make up an estimated 25-30% of the HCI community in India, almost half the rate in the U.S. We investigate the complexities of these surprising phenomena through qualitative research of Indian computer science and human-computer interaction researchers and professionals at various life stages, from undergraduates to senior scientists. We find that cultural norms exert a powerful force on the representation of women in the tech sector, which is expressed in India as a societal whiplash in which women are encouraged to go into computing as students, but then expected to exit soon after they enter the tech workforce. Specifically, we find among other things that Indian familial norms play a significant role in pressuring young women into computing as a field; that familial pressures and workplace discrimination then cause a precipitous exit of women from computing at the onset of marriage; and that HCI occupies an interstitial space between art and technology that affects women's careers. Our findings underscore the societal influence on women's representation in the tech sector and invite further participation by the HCI community in related questions. </div> </div> </section> <section class="offset-two-up --theme-light"> <div class="glue-page glue-grid"> <div class="offset-two-up__left-col glue-grid__col glue-grid__col--span-4-sm glue-grid__col--span-12-md glue-grid__col--span-3-lg"> <h3 class="offset-two-up__headline headline-3">Research Areas</h3> </div> <div class="glue-grid__col glue-grid__col--span-4-sm glue-grid__col--span-12-md glue-grid__col--span-9-lg"> <ul class="card-stack--small nested-glue-grid-override" data-gt-id="research_areas_small_card_stack" data-gt-component-name="Resarch Areas - Small Card Stack"> <li class="glue-grid__col glue-grid__col--span-6-md glue-grid__col--span-4-sm"> <a class="glue-card not-glue glue-card--small" href="http://research.google/research-areas/human-computer-interaction-and-visualization/"> <div class="glue-card__inner"> 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The Unexpected Entry and Exodus of Women in Computing and HCI in India