The socialist: “silicon ceiling”: East German women in computer science

Up until the fall of the Wall in 1989, the Communist regime of East Germany promoted policies of gender equality in education and in the work force, but these policies fell far short of creating true equality of opportunity for women in information technology. In terms of sheer numbers, women came much closer to achieving equality in East German universities than was the case in the capitalist West, making up half or more of students in software-related majors. The East German social state was, moreover, set up in such a way that women could readily combine motherhood and a career. None the less, there was pervasive discrimination against women in hiring and promotion. Moreover, gendered thinking molded the day-to-day work experiences and professional lives of women in the information technology workforce in more subtle ways