Recent studies and research show that though undergraduate enrolment in computer science will increase rapidly around the globe, the proportion of women enrolling is unlikely to rise. Ironically, the percentage of women majoring in other sciences, including engineering, biological sciences, physics and math has constantly risen from the 1980s up until 2005.

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The world of computing has benefited from the contributions of both men and women. With innovators like Ada Lovelace and Grace Hopper, women have long established themselves firmly in this field, occupying top positions in reputed firms like Hewlett Packard and Google. However, to date, the field of computing continues to be dominated by men, with fewer women choosing to pursue a career related to computing.

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It has been established that the participation of women in almost every level in the field of computer science is drastically low in comparison to men. Although there are several factors that contribute to low participation of women in the field of Computer Science, the main reason why women are not actively involved with computers can be traced back to their early years.

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Many students of both genders said that computer science was 'boring'. Secondary school students also thought that what they were taught in primary school was very similar and not much harder than their courses in secondary school. Moreover, fewer girls and boys tend to enjoy IT lessons that much after the age of 14. However, girls seem to lose that interest in computer science much faster and slightly earlier than the boys. This is even more important while examining the girls' choices, since interest in the subject is a major factor, sometimes a sole factor while making a career choice. But, for boys, interest in the subject and the decision of a career are two very different entities.

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Economic development refers to the growth of a country's wealth to be used for the well-being of its inhabitants. Alternatively, economic development can be said to be the efforts of a country to improve the economic well-being and quality of life for its community by creating and retaining jobs and supporting or growing incomes.

How does economic development relate to the topic of women in computing? Well, research conducted into this topic seems to contain certain logic - that education drives economic development and vice versa.

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Sometime back, David Gardner, the COO of Electronic Arts (EA) said 'The computer gaming industry is continuing to fail women by not producing suitable content for them.' As a result, the percentage of women actively involved in gaming (as players or as developers) is very low. Electronic Arts found that 40% of all teenage girls played video games as compared to 90% of teenage boys. Besides, most young girls lost interest in these games in less than a year.

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