What is this survey for? Why is this important?

Women account for only 24% of workforce in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields¹ and since 1985 the number of women in computer science classes has sharply declined from approximately 35% to less than 20%.² Study after study shows that women are underrepresented in the STEM fields and an outcropping of groups have formed to specifically encourage and support women to develop skills in coding. While women do take digital activism roles online through social media, does the fact that women are rarely the developers of these platforms reduce or limit their role as activists, or does it have no influence at all?

While there is much research and commentary on women in STEM and computer sciences, there is minimal research done on the influence this has had on women in advocacy and activism. This survey of current women in online activism will help paint a greater picture of the role coding does or does not play in women's roles as online advocates. This survey also hopes to attract current coding training groups (particularly ones that focus on women) and try to find the approximate number of women that use these coding trainings for advocacy.

The results of the survey will be incorporated into a research paper for a Columbia University School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA) course on Digital Activism (deadline: December 15, 2014). The results will then be integrated into an online article (to be published in the winter/spring 2015). In the long-term, the results will be made public and will adjust as people continue to take the survey.

The intended audience for the research will be those focused on gender studies and feminism, STEM field reporters and advocates, millennials, and, most importantly, women in activism. The goal is to inform the above audience of the role coding does or does not play in activism and if the low number of women in coding has a negative or no impact on their role in these movements.

 1 Source: http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/microsites/ostp/stem_factsheet_2013_07232013.pdf

2

Source: http://www.npr.org/blogs/money/2014/10/21/357629765/when-women-stopped-coding