Current:Home > reviewsWhen women stopped coding (Classic) -CapitalEdge
When women stopped coding (Classic)
View
Date:2025-04-20 20:07:52
Note: This episode originally aired in October, 2014.
Mark Zuckerberg. Bill Gates. Steve Jobs. Most of the big names in technology are men.
But a lot of computing pioneers, the ones who programmed the first digital computers, were women. And for decades, the number of women in computer science was growing.
But in 1984, something changed. The number of women in computer science flattened, and then plunged.
Today on the show, what was going on in 1984 that made so many women give up on computer science? We unravel a modern mystery in the U.S. labor force.
Music: "The Midas Network," "Brain Matter," and "80s Light Show."
Help support Planet Money and get bonus episodes by subscribing to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney.
Always free at these links: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, NPR One or anywhere you get podcasts
Find more Planet Money: Twitter / Facebook / Instagram / TikTok our weekly Newsletter.
veryGood! (1931)
Related
- Where will Elmo go? HBO moves away from 'Sesame Street'
- ‘Last Gasp for Coal’ Saw Illinois Plants Crank up Emission-Spewing Production Last Year
- Inside Malia Obama's Super-Private World After Growing Up in the White House
- A brief biography of 'X,' the letter that Elon Musk has plastered everywhere
- From family road trips to travel woes: Americans are navigating skyrocketing holiday costs
- Biden wants airlines to pay passengers whose flights are hit by preventable delays
- Congress could do more to fight inflation
- Inside Clean Energy: In the Year of the Electric Truck, Some Real Talk from Texas Auto Dealers
- New Mexico governor seeks funding to recycle fracking water, expand preschool, treat mental health
- Financier buys Jeffrey Epstein's private islands, with plans to create a resort
Ranking
- Jamie Foxx reps say actor was hit in face by a glass at birthday dinner, needed stitches
- What's the Commonwealth good for?
- 2 states launch an investigation of the NFL over gender discrimination and harassment
- Unsold Yeezys collect dust as Adidas lags on a plan to repurpose them
- As Trump Enters Office, a Ripe Oil and Gas Target Appears: An Alabama National Forest
- In An Unusual Step, a Top Medical Journal Weighs in on Climate Change
- This Foot Mask with 50,000+ 5 Star Reviews on Amazon Will Knock the Dead Skin Right Off Your Feet
- See How Jennifer Lopez, Khloe Kardashian and More Stars Are Celebrating 4th of July
Recommendation
Jamie Foxx gets stitches after a glass is thrown at him during dinner in Beverly Hills
These Clergy Are Bridging the Gap Between Religion and Climate
An Energy Transition Needs Lots of Power Lines. This 1970s Minnesota Farmers’ Uprising Tried to Block One. What Can it Teach Us?
In an Attempt to Wrestle Away Land for Game Hunters, Tanzanian Government Fires on Maasai Farmers, Killing Two
'No Good Deed': Who's the killer in the Netflix comedy? And will there be a Season 2?
Warming Trends: A Possible Link Between Miscarriages and Heat, Trash-Eating Polar Bears and a More Hopeful Work of Speculative Climate Fiction
Get Your Skincare Routine Ready for Summer With This $12 Ice Roller That Shoppers Say Feels Amazing
Eastwind Books, an anchor for the SF Bay Area's Asian community, shuts its doors