New research
suggests that a stereotypical programmer's workspace—Star Trek
posters, empty Mountain Dew/beer cans and all, according to the
article—may be a significant reason why
more women are not entering into computer science disciplines and
fields.
While my formal training is as a chemical engineer, I have been programming
since my parents enrolled me in computer camp when I was eight and
didn't have many friends at home. In the intervening 23 years, I can
probably count on one hand the number of times my computer workspace has
been clean as opposed to looking like a bomb went off, but it has never
looked like a sophomore male's dorm room... except my second year of
college when I took all those computer science classes.
Where other STEM fields (Science, Technology, Engineering, and
Mathematics) are seeing the percentage of women enrolled increase,
computer science is going through a decline. The study, published in
Journal of Personality and
Social Psychology, finds that the feeling of
ambient belonging—a sense
of how well one feels they fit into a field—is not there for women in
computer science. "When people think of computer science the
image that immediately pops
into many of their minds is of the computer geek surrounded by such
things as computer games, science fiction memorabilia and junk food,"
said Sapna Cheryan, a University of Washington assistant professor of
psychology.
See original: 
"Typical" computer science workspaces off-putting to women
