tings. viale students I have,do insane
things that can't possibly work, and I've
rarely seen wouen do those things."

...Typical of iany women's
introduction to conputers--and subsequent
jumps to computer careers--is the
experience of Vana Payne, who was working
for a small credit union when it was
automated. "I thought it was a real big
mistake," Payne says, but she decided that
no machine was goiny to get the best of
her, and she learned to get along well

with the Purroughs 800C. When the
Burroughs representative praised her
ability and told her about opportunities
in the field, Payne revised her resume
"and got three offers." [low working for
ore than a year for a small software
house in flew Jersey, putting together
systems, supervising their installation,
and teaching customers how to use the
machines, she spends her days in offices
like the one she left; her company sells
systems to small] credit unions and savings
and loans.

Payne's story is like that of many
others because so many woinen enter
computer careers after being exposed to
then at other jobs: secretarial,
educational, bookkeeping. Mastering
computer operations usually means a bigger
paycheck and greater opportunity for
advancement, either in their old companies
or in ney jobs. But many of these women
approach their first terminal only after
swallowing very hard. What reads as "I
wouldn't go near that thing" is usually
good ole fear of the unknow--and it isn't
limited to women.

-.. There's a general fear of the
computer that people have before they
start,” says Genevieve Cerf. “They're
afraid of being shown up by the machine;
they're afraid the machine is going to
take them look stupid; they're afraid
they're not going to mathematically
understand what's going on; they're also
afraid they're going to break it." Esther
Uyson's secretary, Joan Ronaldson, felt

 

 

 

DOUGLAS COLLEGE |
ARCHIVES

 

Mad Hatter Page 21

———— “Tt

this fear when she first started learning
Visicalc several months aco: "I was

afraid of breaking it or ~akine wistakes,” |
she says. "It took about four efforts for!
me to get over it.”

A follos-the-leader syndrome often
occurs when en office aets a system: one
secretary or bookkeeper will become
interested in the computer and help break
down anxiety in the others. As more
offices use comouters and employees see
nore of their colleagues using thein, |
vyson suggests, even the initial anxiety
lessens: "You know, ‘if they do, I will.’

seein a tight job market, with
computer-related businesses enjoyine a
boou that is not expected to slacken in
the next 20 years, women know wkat side
their job-skills bread is buttered on.
ioreover, the computer industry is one in
which women are likely to receive salaries
equal to those of men performing
comparable jobs, particularly in
entry-level positions. for example, the
‘ational Science Foundation reports that
women who received bachelor's degrees in
computer science in 197 and 1979 are
today earning almost 100 percent of what
their male counterparts take. Prof.
Jordan points out that women comprise nalf
the students in her business
information-systems program and are
disproportionately represented in computer
science and accounting. “Women are
motivated to acquire skills that qualify
them for good jobs," she says.

 

Even without formal college or
graduate training, clerical workers who
learn computer functions, according to
Lffros, becone “enormously valuable to
their companies." And if what a woman
really wants is to be the best possible
secretary she can be, 2 ‘nowledge of
computer operation can only help,
especially as word processors coupled with
graphics prograris becone standard office
features.

evelf prospects for wouen in the