EUGENE, Ore. -- (Oct. 11, 2010) -- Wanted: Women in computer science.

That will be the message when Maria Klawe, president of Harvey Mudd College delivers her talk "Gender and Computing" at 7:30 p.m., Thursday, Oct. 28, as part of the Distinguished Lecture Series of the University of Oregon's computer and information science department.

The talk, which is open to the public, will be held in Room 110 of the William W. Knight Law Center, 1515 Agate St. Admission is free.

"Females don't think of going into a computing career because they think it's not interesting and they won't be good at it," says Klawe [pronounced CLAW-vay]. "Colleges and universities that make an effort to make their introductory computer science course and later courses interesting to females attract a much higher percentage of female computer-science majors."

Klawe is an internationally recognized computer scientist and first woman to lead Harvey Mudd College in Claremont, Calif. She will discuss research findings on the issue of women vs. men in the technology-heavy field and how educators can increase the confidence of women. More than 40 percent of computer science undergraduate students are now female at her school, she said.

Her college's success is counter to national statistics. A 2003 study, "Gender and Computing: Understanding the Digital Divide," found that only 4 percent of college freshmen intended to major in computer sciences. The Computing Research Association -- where Klawe was the first woman to serve on the board of directors -- reported that in 2006-2007 women accounted for only 12 percent of undergraduate degrees given by doctoral granting institutions in the U.S. and Canada.

From playing computer games to pursuing computing careers, Klawe says, the participation of females tends to be low compared to that of males. In her talk, she will attempt to explain why and provide a roadmap for fixing the gender inequity.

Before joining Harvey Mudd College in 2006, Klawe served as dean of engineering and a professor of computer science at Princeton University. She previously served as dean of science, vice-president of student and academic services and head of computer science at the University of British Columbia. She has also worked at IBM Research in California, the University of Toronto, and Oakland University. She joined the 10-member board of Microsoft Corp. in March 2009.