Kaelbling is the only female professor in the department and estimates that between 10 and 20 percent of the undergraduates are female. Danah Beard '00 stressed that the department as a whole is not intentionally hostile to women, but some professors and students do not realize their words and actions are unintentionally biased. But, she said, things are improving. One female CS concentrator said she does not feel a gender bias in her classes, but she does from some of her classmates in the CS community. It's good to have other women to talk to.
People say whatever they want and postings are occasionally very offensive.
There are a few people who fit the CS stereotype and don't know how to deal with women. She emphasized that overall the faculty is supportive and described the problem as a few immature students in the department. Another misperception that CS students are upset about is the alleged difficulty of the department's classes, especially CS 15. Nate Stahl estimated that CS 15 takes about 15 hours a week. In CS 15, the most famous project is programming the much-maligned Tetris.