Social Studies: Why Are There So Few Women in Computer Science?
![A black-and-white picture of Mary Jackson in front of a computer.](https://wpsu.psu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/aJlWN3x-asset-mezzanine-16x9-uoz8tWh.jpeg)
Today, we think of computer science as a field dominated by men, but women have a long and important history in the field. Ada Lovelace is considered the first computer programmer, Katherine Johnson, Dorothy Vaughn, and Mary Jackson played a hugely important part in the development of computing during the space race, and Elsie Schutt ran one of the first computer software companies. So what changed?