What keeps people away from computer science? As a computer science major myself, this is a question that I have actually had for a long time, but I have not really taken the time to think it all out. First of all, I think that most men in general have an interest in technology and the latest and greatest in electronics, women on the other hand do not so much have that interest. This I suppose is one reason that women in general are not that interested in computer science. If you don’t have an interest in technology then you are probably not going to want to learn what goes on in the background of a computer program, or why the hardware does what it does. I do feel that a lot of women would enjoy the programming side of computer science quite a bit, as my wife has done some html code on her blog and really likes trying to figure out how she can make things look better on her page, but I don’t think that many women have that desire to get to the point to want to expand past something like that. This still does not cover the men though. Men on the other hand I believe really enjoy playing around with computers and trying to make them do different things. I feel however that society has turned the computer world into a world where only geeks and nerds can dwell. I feel that a lot of people are turned away from computer science and programming as careers because of this. Also, men feel like they have to be providers and make lots of money, thus they choose careers such as doctors and lawyers where they are certain that they will be able to do that. Even though recently computer scientists have started to make a lot of money, there is no certainty that you will do so. Also, programming is hard and time consuming, so it is pretty understandable that someone would steer away from that a little. So the question why people do not choose to take up a career in computer science? This I guess is still mostly a mystery to me, but at least now I have thought it through a little and can see that desire, time, and money can all play a role in deterring men or women from the field.
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I think there is another stronger reason. In most companies, technology is not the force that drives business decisions. People who take those descisions normally come from non-computer science backgrounds or at least their prime expertise is not technology.
As you move up in a company, a person with more general business knowledge becomes more important than a mere 'nerd'.
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