Over the past twenty years, the student population in Computer Science departments has become increasingly male, and the number of women among faculty members has remained quite small. Thus, many academic Computer Science Departments are almost exclusively male environments.
These notes are meant to be a contribution to dialog on the implications of this fact for premier departments.
Some of the quotations are drawn from documents at ETH and the University of Maryland, because I have first-hand experience at both institutions, but the observations and conclusions are more broadly applicable.
Acknowledgements: Version 1 of this document was written while I was on sabbatical at the Departement Informatik, ETH Zurich, Switzerland, and I am grateful for the hospitality provided by Professor Walter Gander. This document benefitted from helpful advice and references from Nora Sleumer and Timothy O'Leary.
Copyright Dianne P. O'Leary, 1999
Version 1: June 1999