『女性從事科技業人才缺乏』來自第一位女性圖寧獎得主的警告

記者/Marianne Kolbasuk McGee
資訊周刊, Feb 24, 2007


Frances Allen 是第一位贏得圖寧獎(科技業最富盛名的獎項)的女性,但是她不希望你以為她的獲獎是代表從事科技業的女性已經佔有一席之地了。
事實上,74歲的 Allen 認為以前女性科技人員比例比現在還來得多。例如,1959年當她開始在科技業展露頭角時,她在IBM的四位同輩份的經理人有三位是女性。「女性科技人員越來越少!」她說。

Allen 是IBM的榮譽研究員,她因為編譯器設計 (Compiler design) 和 程式最佳化的貢獻而獲得圖寧獎。這些貢獻促進了平行高速運算,可以應用在氣象預報、全球暖化、DNA配對等需要大量運算的工作上。Allen 說,如今具有數學和科學才能的女性傾向於選擇生物和醫學,因為這些科目似乎能對社會作出較大的貢獻。她希望隨著醫學研究對於高效率的計算越來越偏重,能夠讓更多的女性決心投入科技業。

人們可以看看她的研究並且發現科技對社會的貢獻。Allen對於她的研究被應用在核子試爆的模擬特別感到欣慰,因為這些模擬讓實際的試爆次數減少了。

Allen 將把她獲得的十萬美金獎金(由Intel 提供) 成立一個基金會,來協助教育資源不足地區的女孩。



這篇文章應該是公佈Allen得到圖寧獎後記者對她所做的專訪。她觀察到的現像的確是有經過社會科學家研究證實的,女生在選擇未來職業的時候,會比男生更加考慮是否可能對社會有貢獻。



原文連結

There's Still A Shortage Of Women In Tech, First Female Turing Award Winner Warns

Women skilled in math and science lean to biology and medicine, she says.


Frances Allen has become the first woman to win the ACM A.M. Turing Award, the tech industry's most prestigious honor. But she doesn't want you to consider her stature a sign that the profession has its fair share of women.

 Frances Allen, winner of the 2006 A.M. Turing Award

Frances Allen
winner of the 2006 A.M. Turing Award

In fact, Allen, 74, thinks women were more prevalent when she started her career--in 1959, three of her four IBM co-managers were women--than they are today. The shortage of women in IT "is getting worse," she says.

IBM Fellow Emerita Allen was honored for contributions in compiler design and program optimization. They led to advances in parallel, high-speed computing, now used for weather forecasting, global warming research, and DNA matching. Allen says women with strong math and science skills today are more drawn to biology and medicine because they're seen as providing "more social good." She hopes high-performance computing's role in medical research will bring more women into the tech profession.

People can look at her work to find computing's social good. Allen is "particularly delighted" that her work led to simulated testing of nuclear bombs, allowing for fewer test explosions of the real thing.

Allen will use the $100,000 prize, funded by Intel, to start a fund to teach girls in areas of the world where educational opportunities are slim.

arrow
arrow
    全站熱搜

    ironsnow 發表在 痞客邦 留言(1) 人氣()