‘First of all, I'm not good at maths at all’, says Shuang Sun, a PhD student at the Leiden Institute of Advanced Computer Science (LIACS). This might seem like a surprising statement coming from a computer programmer, but for her colleague Lu Cao, Assistant Professor at LIACS, it simply highlights the fact that ‘different backgrounds, different interests, different people are all welcome in computer science.’
As it turns out, computer science has a long history of key contributions made by women. The groundwork for WiFi, bluetooth, and GPS was laid by actress and inventor Hedy Lamarr in 1941. The Internet, used by 5.45 billion people worldwide, wouldn't exist without contributions by Elizabeth Feinler and Radia Perlman. Even the first computer programmer, Ada Lovelace, was a woman. She predicted that computers could one day be used to translate music, images, and even sound into a digital format when she wrote the first computer program in 1843.
Today, many of Lovelace’s predictions have come true. Smartphones can be used to take photos, listen to music, and talk to people on the other side of the world. In the Netherlands, the Internet is nearly ubiquitous. 98% of Dutch households had Internet access in 2018, but according to the Dutch Bureau of Statistics, only 12% of computer science students in the Netherlands were women in 2022. In a country where instantaneous global connection is a part of daily life, bringing women in computer science together remains important.
Where are all the women?
For a field that brings the world to the fingertips, why do so few women end up in computer science? It partially has to do with the stereotype that boys are better at programming than girls, an idea that can take hold as early as primary school. Sun also believes there’s another factor involved. ‘We need more practical female role models’, she says. ‘The stories to tell other girls.’
To help increase women’s visibility, Cao, Sun, and two other computer scientists at Leiden University are organizing the fifth iteration of the Alice & Eve workshop on October 25. The workshop will bring together computer scientists from all over the Netherlands to celebrate women’s achievements in the field. For Cao, it’s an opportunity to show women at all levels, from student to professor, that ‘they have the same talent for solving problems in computer science as men.’
Eleftheria Makri, another one of the workshop organizers and Assistant Professor at LIACS, believes the coaching spirit at Alice & Eve is especially important. A typical academic conference focuses on new discoveries. ‘Alice & Eve is not only a content meeting’, Makri says. ‘It also gives a lot of information on people's paths and careers, and it gives the opportunity to network and get advice or coaching. It is very important to show to young people that we all have struggled, and that life and career paths are not linear. I think it gives them strength to continue and pursue their dreams.’
Underrepresented
Now that she’s an Assistant Professor, Cao wants to ‘make good use of what I have achieved and also encourage other people to follow the same track.’ Both Cao and Sun agree that supervisors are key in shaping a person’s academic career. In the Netherlands, a PhD contract lasts four years, during which students must publish research independently. According to Cao, ‘with a wrong supervisor, the chance of finishing the study is really low.’ Hence the need for positive role models, particularly in a field where women are underrepresented.
While the Alice & Eve workshop focuses on women in computer science, the organizers make it clear that it’s not just for women. They want everyone who is interested to feel welcome. ‘No matter your age, your background, your social status, your gender, or who you are, you can always pursue your goals and career’, says Makri.
Will these efforts make a difference for women in computer science? Cao is hopeful. ‘As a female Assistant Professor, I’m still the minority. But throughout these five years of effort, I can really see changes’, she says. ‘Maybe in another ten years there will be more female Professors.’
For people in computer science, Alice and Eve are names with a special meaning. When talking about cryptography, computer scientists use names to describe how messages move around in a computer system. Think of it as two people – usually referred to as Alice and Bob – who are sending secret messages to one another. As with any good spy story, there’s someone trying to intercept and read the secret message. In cryptography, this person goes by the name of Eve, short for ‘eavesdropper’.