The Forgotten Women Pioneers Who Shaped the IT World

On April 4th, we celebrate International Internet Day, humorously dubbed “Saint Error’s Day” due to the date’s resemblance to the common 404 Not Found error. While the IT world is often attributed to men, programming was once a predominantly female profession. Let’s delve into the stories of the women who significantly influenced the IT sphere and explore why programming eventually became a male-dominated field.

Ada Lovelace: The First Algorithm

Ada Lovelace, daughter of the renowned poet George Byron, is widely regarded as the first coder. Despite her parents’ separation shortly after her birth, Ada’s mother ensured she received a strong education in mathematics to prevent her from following in her father’s poetic footsteps. Ada, however, had a natural inclination towards mathematics and mechanics.

At the age of 17, Ada met Charles Babbage, the inventor of the first digital computational machine, a precursor to modern computers. They began collaborating, and Ada wrote the first computational program for Babbage’s machine—an algorithm to calculate Bernoulli numbers. Although Babbage’s computer was never built, Ada’s work laid the foundation for modern programming concepts like “working cell” and “cycle.” She passed away at 37, but her legacy lives on in the Ada programming language, named in her honor.

The ENIAC Six: The Inventors of Programming

During World War II, a group of six women—Marilyn Meltzer, Ruth Lichterman, Kathleen Rita McNulty, Frances Bilas, Betty Jean Jennings, and Frances Elizabeth Holberton—wrote the instructions for the ENIAC, the first programmable electronic computer. Despite the challenges of working on a secret project with no manuals or programming languages, they developed subroutines and other programming techniques, essentially inventing the discipline of programming.

Grace Hopper: The Grandmother of COBOL

Grace Hopper, a pioneer in computer science, joined the U.S. Navy during World War II. She created the first subprogram for a computer in 1944 and developed the first compiler in 1951, which translated pseudocode into machine commands. Hopper coined the term “debugging” after a moth caused a computer malfunction. She also contributed to the development of the COBOL language, earning her the nickname “Grandmother of COBOL.” Microsoft now offers scholarships in her name to talented female programmers.

Arlene Gwendolyn Lee: Breaking Barriers

Arlene Gwendolyn Lee, an African American woman, became one of Canada’s first female programmers. Despite facing racial and gender barriers, she scored 99% on a programming test and led significant computerization projects in the insurance sector in Toronto.

The Shift: Why Women Left Programming

In the 1950s and 1960s, programming was a female-dominated profession. However, the introduction of personal computers in the 1980s changed this dynamic. Men often entered university with prior programming experience, while women, facing constant pressure, often dropped out. By 2010, only 17.6% of computer science graduates were women.

Ellen Hancock: The Return of Steve Jobs

Ellen Hancock, a senior vice president at IBM, played a crucial role in the development of computerization. She joined Apple and was instrumental in bringing Steve Jobs back to the company. Her focus on user-friendly operating systems led to unprecedented success.

Marissa Mayer: From Google to Yahoo

Marissa Mayer, the former CEO of Yahoo, started her career at Google, where she initiated a training program for new managers. She later became the CEO of Yahoo and remains one of the most influential women in the tech industry.

Caterina Fake: The Cloud Disk Pioneer

Caterina Fake, the co-founder of Flickr, revolutionized photo sharing by creating a cloud-based storage service. Her innovation addressed the challenges of sending photos via email and remains popular among bloggers and photographers.

For further reading, consider exploring the stories of women who changed the oil business.