Shelley Suhling, a pre-junior from San Francisco, California, is one of the few female computer science (CS) students at Drexel. I sat down with her to talk about some of the challenges she faces.
Q: What’s it like being a girl in CS?
A: Being a girl in CS is kind of challenging. A lot of pressure is put on you to prove your gender to the rest of the major in a way, so that can be a lot to take on at times. It can be tough to define yourself more as a peer and not just a woman.
You get treated a lot differently than guys in that major do. I think people are more inclined to help me if I ask compared to guys, but I also get hit on sometimes in inappropriate settings, which is discouraging and upsetting. However, being a woman in CS, I’ve learned to be much firmer with how I expect to be treated. I don’t really put up with too much and I stand my ground.
Q: Do you have many girl friends who are pursuing the same career path?
A: Yeah, I have a few. We’ve grown very close over the years because we face the same struggles being women in computer science.
Q: What’s one stereotype you often face?
A: People immediately think I can fix any problem on their computer or phone, which I usually can’t. People also think I’m some sort of genius, which isn’t the case. Anyone could study computer science. It just takes hard work and patience.
Q: What reaction do people give when you tell them your major?
A: People are usually surprised, and it’s a good conversation starter. There’s a lot of media attention about girls in computer science right now so everyone has an opinion on it. The conversations are basically the same, so I have my responses down pat. I get a lot of “Wow, good for you”s and “Are you the only girl in your classes?”.
We at Her Campus love to see women breaking stereotypes, and Shelley is doing just that! Know someone at Drexel who is shattering the glass ceiling? Nominate them to be our next spotlight in the comments!