First Computer Programmers Inspire Documentary

The challenge is how to recruit women, according to Shirley Malcom, director of education for American Association for the Advancement of Science.

"I want people who are smart and solve problems," she said. "You have to be able to nurture talent and be eager to point to opportunities."

"It's not all about the machine," Malcom tells young women, encouraging them to learn technology to address issues like global warming, voting and monitoring nuclear arsenals. "Women are drawn to social issues and impact rather than being interested in the machine as a puzzle."

Unlike men, women pay attention to detail and tend to get the job done, she said. "They are more willing to do whatever it takes," said Malcom. "Men want to delegate the nasty part of the job, like handing off the baby when it's number two."

'Do What You Love'

Those qualities were a key to ENIAC's success, according to Bartik. "We were given responsibility because we were good finishers. We looked at the whole job."

Today, Bartik lives in New Jersey and, after the incident with her grandson Alex's teacher, she visits schools to tell her story. Keeping up with technology, she plays bridge online and chats with other women in computing on listserves like Systers, which is run by the renowned Anita Borg Institute.

Bartik also stays involved her alma mater, now Northwest Missouri University, which named its computer museum in her honor.

"Do what you love, because it's not really work," Bartik advises girls intimidated by computing. "There are no stupid questions. Act as if you have permission to do things and don't let anyone intimidate you."

"What I did seemed like play because it was fun," she tells them. "Even though we were pushing back frontiers."

For more information on the documentary, visit Invisible Computers: The Untold Story of the ENIAC Programmers.