Women at the Faculty

Current Situation

Despite the enormous increase in relevance of computer science for the whole of modern society, only a small minority of the students of this faculty at the TUM, as well as of the academic staff, are female. Since computer science was established, the percentage of women in the undergraduate intake has never exceeded 25 %, and in recent years has dropped to 10 %.

Although this situation is typical for German universities in general, numbers from other European countries - in Italy, for instance, half of the students are female - indicate that this is not necessarily inherent to computer science but rather has to do with public opinion of the subject.

The Women's Representative

Thus, it is of particular importance not only to fight this public image but also to provide an atmosphere of equality for the few women who have chosen to engage in a career as computer scientist.

In 1995, an anti-discrimination act was passed for the TUM, which was followed by a specific version for this faculty in 1996 .

The women's representative is there to see that equality of opportunity is maintained, hints at points where there is still discrimination and brings together and articulates the interests of the women at the faculty.

Networks

For successful studies and a fruitful scientific career, one should not underestimate the social climate and the feeling of being accepted as equal by a mainly male dominated environment. In order to counteract isolation, we organize frequent meetings at which women are provided with a forum to discuss and coordinate their activities.

We ensure that no female student is assigned to a otherwise completely male tutorial class.

Women who are new at the faculty are provided with information about the various activities and about how to stay informed (e.\kern.12em\penalty10000g. women-specific literature at the library and bulletin boards).

Furthermore, this network enables us to take up all sorts of suggestions. This led, among other things, to the establishment of introductory computer courses for first-year students, male and female.

Women in Computer Science

As surveys have shown, most people tend to identify computer science with the image of the lone hacker, ingenious in technical affairs but incapable of contact with other people. This is in sharp contrast to the actual variety and interweaving with society of the field.

Of course, any student of computer science has to learn about the technical aspects of computers. However, abstract thinking and the ability to structure and organize are at least as important. For the development of complex software systems, moreover, the ability and will to communicate and understand the clients' wishes is crucial to success.

Aspects of the Future

The number of female students of computer science is small and even decreasing. However, the few women who engage in such a programme graduate as successfully as their male peers.

For a fruitful career, aspects traditionally deemed female, such as "social competence" seem to become more and more important. This will hopefully lead to a new public estimation of computer science, and, maybe in a few years, the percentage of women at our faculty will at last increase.

Further Information

Email: frauenbeauftragte@informatik.tu-muenchen.de WWW: http://www.informatik.tu-muenchen.de/fak_info/frauenbeauftragte/

Christine Röckl Angela Bücherl Barbara König

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