Why are women encouraged to go into UX?

Men dominate the tech sector–so why is it that UX has an abundance of women?

Image of the “human computers” that helped NASA achieve spaceflight. Image from The History Channel — https://www.history.com/news/human-computers-women-at-nasa

Happy Women’s History Month! Unhappily, the history of women in tech is a story of stolen valor. Before technology gained the prestige the industry enjoys today, the OG computers were women who were incredibly talented with numbers. Ada Lovelace is often credited with the title of the “world’s first computer programmer” in the 1840’s and was visionary enough to predict the wide range of functions modern computers are capable of. This was in a time when rudimentary computers were just used for computing and women like her could not vote.

Today, we have the vote. Today, computers are a ubiquitous part of both men and women’s lives. But something has shifted significantly when it comes to who is associated with the great triumphs of modern technology.

Crunching numbers used to be women’s work, but in the 21st century, the stereotypical image of a computer programmer is a geeky man, living either in an overpriced San Francisco studio or his mother’s basement. (We are evolving past this image as well, but still.) So how did tech become the space of guys like Steve Jobs rather than ladies like Katherine Johnson?

Why tech is “masculine”

Rear Admiral Grace Hopper, who piloted the method for the way we “talk” to computers, is credited as one of the world’s earliest computer programmers. Photo from — https://computerhistory.org/blog/women-and-the-public-face-of-computing/

First of all, the reason why the burgeoning tech field was considered “feminine” back when NASA was called NACA is because there was no prestige associated with processing data. It was dull, repetitive work that wasn’t thought to be “skilled” despite the fact that the calculations in question required some seriously advanced mathematics. Computing was advertised as a “career for girls” before they got married. Women represented the first coders of military-funded digital computers, but because their work was perceived as “easy enough that a woman could do it” they received none of the glory.

Tech was marketed to men