How is CS being represented in this case? A 1960s CS syllabus would, at best, have amounted to typing classes, punch cards, FORTRAN, ALGOL, COBOL, and a bit of EE (a male-dominated major) on the side. All of this would have been learned largely for secretarial work in offices or academia. Nothing to do with kernels, operating systems, computer architectures, building killer apps or web-based services as it would today. Sixty years ago, computer science was just white-collar labor.
There are three reasons computers became popular in the first place: proliferation of open hardware standards with the S-100 bus, cheap computer kits, and software portability that came with Unix and CP/M clones. So anyone who knew how to build/buy hardware could program what they want on it. No need for a time-sharing system or a college degree. At that point the only limitation was time, money, and inclination.
I disagree with your final statement. It wasn't external forces artificially depressing a demographic so much as it was natural interest becoming a more prominent limiting factor.
There are three reasons computers became popular in the first place: proliferation of open hardware standards with the S-100 bus, cheap computer kits, and software portability that came with Unix and CP/M clones. So anyone who knew how to build/buy hardware could program what they want on it. No need for a time-sharing system or a college degree. At that point the only limitation was time, money, and inclination.
I disagree with your final statement. It wasn't external forces artificially depressing a demographic so much as it was natural interest becoming a more prominent limiting factor.