African-American women in computer science were among early pioneers in computing in the United States, and there are notable African-American women working in computer science.

History

Melba Roy - Female Computer - GPN-2000-001647

African-American women were hired as mathematicians to do technical computing needed to support aeronautical and other research. They included such women as Katherine G. Johnson and Dorothy Vaughan, who had careers of decades at

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil List of government space agencies, space program ...

. Among Johnson's projects was calculating the flight path for the United States' first mission into space in 1961. She is credited as co-author of 26 scientific papers. The practice in 1960 was to list only the head of the division as author. The crediting of Johnson as an author in a peer-reviewed NASA report is significant. Black women were also among the

ENIAC ENIAC (; Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer) was the first programmable, electronic, general-purpose digital computer, completed in 1945. There were other computers that had these features, but the ENIAC had all of them in one pac ...

programmers, who programmed the first digital computer for the US Army. Their stories have not been documented. Given the dearth of information regarding the contributions of women in early computer science, it is likely that other Black women have made significant contributions to computer science and society. The Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) was founded in 1947, but computer science developed later as an academic field. In 1969, Clarence "Skip" Ellis became the first Black man to earn a doctorate degree in computer science. In 1981,

Deborah Washington Brown Deborah Washington Brown (June 3, 1952 - June 5, 2020) was an American computer scientist and speech recognition researcher who worked at AT&T Bell Labs, and other companies for many years doing speech recognition research. She was the first bla ...

became the first Black woman to earn a doctorate degree in computer science (then part of the applied mathematics program) from Harvard University. A year later, in 1982 Marsha R. Williams further integrated the field when she earned her doctorate degree in computer science. In the mid-1980s, the representation of women in computer science peaked at approximately 40%. The decline in the representation of women has been attributed by some analysts to the increased marketing of personal computers and video games to boys. There has been a decline in women of all races in computing in the United States; the representation of Black women in the field has continued to be lower than that of white female peers. For example, in 1985 when the number of women in computing was at a high, 77% of the related degrees were earned by White women, while fewer than 8% were earned by Black women. In 2002, 1.3% of the computer science doctorate degrees earned were awarded to Black women. In 2017, two female computer scientists

Timnit Gebru Timnit Gebru ( am, ትምኒት ገብሩ; born 1983/1984) is an American computer scientist who works on algorithmic bias and data mining. She is an advocate for diversity in technology and co-founder of Black in AI, a community of Black resea ...

and

Rediet Abebe Rediet Abebe (Amharic: ረድኤት አበበ; born 1991) is an Ethiopian computer scientist working in algorithms and artificial intelligence. She is an Assistant Professor of Computer Science at the University of California, Berkeley. Previousl ...

founded the workshop ''

Black in AI Black in AI, formally called the Black in AI Workshop, is a technology research organization and affinity group, founded by Computer science, computer scientists Timnit Gebru and Rediet Abebe in 2017. It started as a conference workshop, later p ...

,'' in order to help increases the presence and inclusion of Black people in the field of

artificial intelligence Artificial intelligence (AI) is intelligence—perceiving, synthesizing, and inferring information—demonstrated by machines, as opposed to intelligence displayed by animals and humans. Example tasks in which this is done include speech r ...

(AI).

Statistics

The representation of black women in computer science has been historically low. The

Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System The Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) is a system of interrelated surveys conducted annually by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), a part of the Institute for Education Sciences within the United States Dep ...

(IPEDS) reports the following data: Between 1977 and 2013 (the years in which data has been recorded by the NCES), the greatest number of Black women to earn a doctorate degree in computer science in one year was 10 (2008). In 2012, the

Computing Research Association The Computing Research Association (CRA) is a 501(c)3 non-profit association of North American academic departments of computer science, computer engineering, and related fields; laboratories and centers in industry, government, and academia enga ...

(CRA) Taulbee Survey reported there were "merely 56 Black/African American computer science tenure-track faculty members at PhD-granting institutions, which includes 12 (or 0.6%), 21 (or 1.4%), and 23 (or 3.0%) Full, Associate, and Assistant Professors, respectively."

Notable persons

The following is a list of notable Black women in computer science, in alphabetical order by last name:

Representation in other media

Margot Lee Shetterly Margot Lee Shetterly (born June 30, 1969) is an American nonfiction writer who has also worked in investment banking and media startups. Her first book, '' Hidden Figures: The American Dream and the Untold Story of the Black Women Who Helped Win ...

's book, ''Hidden Figures: The Story of the African-American Women Who Helped Win the Space Race'' (2016) recounts the achievements of

Katherine Johnson Katherine Johnson (née Coleman; August 26, 1918 – February 24, 2020) was an American mathematician whose calculations of orbital mechanics as a NASA employee were critical to the success of the first and subsequent U.S. crewed spaceflights. ...

and other African-American women at NASA. It was adapted as a feature film, ''

Hidden Figures ''Hidden Figures'' is a 2016 American biographical drama film directed by Theodore Melfi and written by Melfi and Allison Schroeder. It is loosely based on the 2016 non-fiction book of the same name by Margot Lee Shetterly about African Ame ...

,'' released in 2016. It stars Taraji P. Henson as Katherine G. Johnson,

Octavia Spencer Octavia Lenora Spencer (born May 25, 1970) is an American actress. She is the recipient of several accolades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, a Golden Globe Award, two Critics' Choice Awards and three Screen Actors ...

as Dorothy Vaughan, and

Janelle Monáe Janelle Monáe Robinson (; born December 1, 1985) is an American singer, rapper and actress. She is signed to Atlantic Records, as well as to her own imprint, the Wondaland Arts Society. Monáe has received eight Grammy Award nominations. Mon� ...

as Mary Jackson, an engineer.

Kevin Costner Kevin Michael Costner (born January 18, 1955) is an American actor, producer, film director and musician. He has received various accolades, including two Academy Awards, two Golden Globe Awards, a Primetime Emmy Award, and two Screen Actor ...

has a supporting role.

References

* Borum, Viveka, and Erica Walker.
What makes the difference? Black women's undergraduate and graduate experiences in mathematics
" ''Journal of Negro Education'' 81.4 (2012): 366–378. * Charleston, LaVar J., et al.
Navigating underrepresented STEM spaces: Experiences of Black women in US computing science higher education programs who actualize success
" ''Journal of Diversity in Higher Education'' 7#3 (2014): 166–76. * Cheryan, S., Drury, B.J., & Vichayapai, M. "Enduring influence of stereotypical computer science role models on women’s academic aspirations." ''Psychology of Women Quarterly'' (2013) 37:72-79 doi:10.1177/0361684312459328 * Hanson, S. L. "African American women in science: Experiences from high school through the postsecondary years and beyond". ''NWSA Journal'' (2004) 16:96–115. * McCurdy, Eric R.
Discrimination as a Barrier to Diversity: Sexism and Microaggressions against African American Women in Computer Science and Engineering
(PhD. Diss.

University of Akron The University of Akron is a public research university in Akron, Ohio. It is part of the University System of Ohio. As a STEM-focused institution, it focuses on industries such as polymers, advanced materials, and engineering. It is classifie ...

, 2020), bibliography pp 135-145. * McGee, Ebony O., and Lydia Bentley.
The troubled success of Black women in STEM.
''Cognition and Instruction'' 35.4 (2017): 265-289. * Morton, Terrell R., Destiny S. Gee, and Ashley N. Woodson.
Being vs. Becoming: Transcending STEM Identity Development through Afropessimism, Moving toward a Black X Consciousness in STEM.
''Journal of Negro Education'' 88.3 (2020): 327-342. * Sanders, Yolanda. "Voices of African American Women in Computer Science: Implications for K-12 Stem Education and Beyond" (PhD. Diss. Loyola University Chicago, 2020
excerpt
* Solomon, Amber, et al.
Not Just Black and Not Just a Woman: Black Women Belonging in Computing
" ''2018 Research on Equity and Sustained Participation in Engineering, Computing, and Technology (RESPECT)'' (

IEEE The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) is a 501(c)(3) professional association for electronic engineering and electrical engineering (and associated disciplines) with its corporate office in New York City and its operat ...

, 2018). * Yamaguchi, Ryoko, and Jamika D. Burge
"Intersectionality in the narratives of black women in computing through the education and workforce pipeline
" ''Journal for Multicultural Education'' (2019). {{African American topics Lists of computer scientists Lists of women scientists women, computer *women Women in computing . . . African-American women scientists

History

Statistics

Notable persons

Representation in other media

See also

References

Further reading