Prompt #1 Assumptions

By: Matthew Manross

When people think of a computer science major, they may think of a person you call to fix your computer. And who do you picture as a computer science major? Most likely a nerdy guy that loves video games. The computer science field has very many misconceptions about who the people are and what they do. 

There are two parts to a computer, the hardware and software. The hardware is the physical parts to the computer, including the monitor, motherboard, CPU, and memory. The software is the applications that run the computer including Microsoft Word, Excel, Skype, and any games on your computer. A computer science major deals with only the software part of a computer. Some jobs that computer science majors is shown in the image to the right. A computer science major's job is create and build programs to solve problems. 

The assumption of this field being mainly male dominated is very true. As we advance, you would expect the number of females in this field to grow, right? Wrong. The number of females in this field have actually decreased since the1980s. This could be due to the media's stereotypes put on this major. For example, many shows such as the big bang theory depict these majors with nerdy antisocial people.

Works Cited

• Brown, Chris, et al. "Computer Science Majors: Sex Role Orientation, Academic Achievement, and Social Cognitive Factors." Career Development Quarterly 54.4 (2006): 331-45. Web.

http://qz.com/358555/computer-science-stereotypes-are-getting-worse-not-better/

Image Credit

http://www.rasmussen.edu/degrees/technology/blog/what-can-you-do-with-computer-science-degree/