Just Ask! Why surveyed women did not pursue IT courses or careers

Randomly selected samples of students were asked the reasons for their college major and career choices. Specifically, they were surveyed and asked about reasons for avoiding IT majors and careers. Survey questions were designed to reveal the extent to which students respond to pressures, and also to determine how they perceive economic tradeoffs between time, money, and other valued assets as they make their college and major career choices. Equal proportions of men and women feared that choosing IT major would lead to social ostracism. Very few were concerned that IT college majors would not prepare them to do socially useful work. Few of the women ruled out IT careers because they felt it would be difficult to combine these careers with raising a family.