Female Under-Representation in Computing Education and Industry - A Survey of Issues and Interventions

This survey paper examines the issue of female under-representation in computing education and industry, which has been shown from empirical studies to be a problem for over two decades. While various measures and intervention strategies have been implemented to increase the interest of girls in computing education and industry, the level of success has been discouraging. The primary contribution of this paper is to provide an analysis of the extensive research work in this area. It outlines the progressive decline in female representation in computing education. It also presents the key arguments that attempt to explain the decline and intervention strategies. We conclude that there is a need to further explore strategies that will encourage young female learners to interact more with computer educational games

Bridging the gender gap in computing: An integrative approach to content design for girls

Although some observed differences in males\u27 and females\u27 attitudes toward and uses of computers appear to be narrowing, the gender gap remains widest in relation to programming and software design, which are still male preserves. In response, software and Web site designers have applied feminist theories to develop three distinct approaches to creating content for girls that might increase their interest in computers. These approaches involve appealing to girls\u27 traditional “feminine” interests, nontraditional “masculine” interests, and gender-neutral interests. This study proposes that to bridge today\u27s gender gap, prior approaches need to integrate appeals to girls\u27 traditional and nontraditional interests, and focus content more clearly on learning about computer design itself. An experimental test of this integrative strategy, used to develop a prototype World Wide Web site tested on girls in their homes (n = 125), obtained significant increases in the treatment group\u27s interest in, sense of relevancy of, and motivation to use computers, compared to a control group

Improving girls’ perception of computer science as a viable career option through game playing and design: Lessons from a systematic literature review

The objective of exposing girls to Computer Science as a career option has led to research directed towards gaming activities for girls. These activities include both game play and game design. Research about gaming activities for increasing girls’ interest in computer science has gained much attention over the past few years and has resulted in a number of contributions. We follow up with an overview of the status of research through a Systematic Literature Review. We investigate the relation between the various game playing or designing activities and their impact on girls’ perception of Computer Science as a career choice. We further present the design consideration for the games and related activities to potentially improve the perception of girls towards a Computer Science career. The applied method is a Systematic Literature Review through which we investigate which contributions were made, which knowledge areas were most explored, and which research facets have been used. We identify 25 papers to distill a common understanding of the state-of-the-art. Specifically, we investigate the effects that the game play/design activities had on girls’ perception about Computer Science; and what are the key design factors to be kept in mind while designing a serious game to improve girls’ perception about Computer Science. The results of this systematic literature review show that game playing or designing could indeed improve how girls perceive having a career in CS. The key aspects that such activities require are personalizing, opportunity for collaboration and the presence of a female lead characterThis work has been done during the tenure of an ERCIM Alain Bensoussan fellowshi

Mission (im-)possible? Increasing the participation of female students in university computing courses

In 1990 the Australian Federal government set a target for a 40% enrolment rate of females in all non-traditional areas of study including computer science. In view of this target, the low enrolment of females in computer science at Victoria University is a persisting concern: enrolment rates have continued to decline from 30% in the early 1990s to less than 20% in recent years, despite significant attempts to arrest the decline by introducing annual student recruitment events such as school visits, career nights, and University Open Days. This suggested that the issue of encouraging females to study computing needed to focus more directly on factors deterring females from pursuing computing courses. Misperceptions about the nature of computing studies have long been regarded as such a factor. Accordingly, last year a different initiative was launched. Focusing on girls from the neighbouring high schools, it aimed to dispel the misperceptions, and encourage girls to pursue computing studies, by demonstrating how interesting, easy, and female-friendly computing is at Victoria University. The girls were invited to spend a day in the shoes of a computing student at the University by participating in specially designed classroom activities, interacting with female university students, and lunching at the student cafeteria. While the event proved a winner on the day, it remains to be seen if it will translate into improved female enrolments in the future. However, the effort involved in organising the event and the difficulties encountered in the process revealed the extent and complexity of the struggle for increased participation of females in computing studies. The following questions arose: Who is interested in pursuing the cause? Who is prepared to support it? What would it take to make a change? This paper reflects on these issues

Technical boys and creative girls: the career aspirations of digitally-skilled youths

Digital technology is increasingly central to our lives, particularly among young people. However, there remains a concern from government and businesses of a digital skills gap because many youths, especially girls, tend to be consumers rather than creators of technology. Drawing on 32 semi-structured interviews with digitally-skilled teenagers (aged 13-19), we investigate their digital career aspirations and examine how identities and discourses of gender can interact with the type of digital careers that are of interest to these youths. While we found digitally-skilled young people still articulate traditional gendered discourses of digital competence, especially around technical abilities, we highlight the growing importance of creativity as a career pathway into digital technology. Implications of the findings are discussed in relation to the new computing curriculum in England, which prioritises technical computing skills, and the discontinuation of Information and Communications Technology (ICT), which facilitates a broader usage of software and digital productivity

Mathematics, technology, and gender: Closing gender differences with a high school web site

This project focuses on using technology to help motivate young females to make use of a high school web site to lesson anxieties and increase interest in mathematics and the use of technology. Additionally, it acts as a model to create an educational web site that brings about better communication within a community

Encouraging girls involvement in Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) careers in Uruguay

The gender gap in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) is regrettably universal and generally unacceptably broad. This phenomenon refers to women's underrepresentation in those fields, with the most significant disparities occurring in the critical fields of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (EECS) and Information and Communication Technologies (ICT). The so-called pipeline problem contributes to this persisting gender gap, where women turn away from math and science at a young age due to negative stereotypes that cause them to believe they do not belong in STEM. All over the world, universities and organizations carry on initiatives to close this gap, showing varying degrees of success. Many of these programs focus on K-12 and high school girls, seeking to expose them to STEM-related activities to encourage girls' enrollment in STEM careers. Involving female teachers, and applying the role model approach, these programs offer in campus presentations, talks, or short courses aimed to break down stereotypes. In this article, we describe different sensibilization activities carried out at Facultad de Ingeniería (School of Engineering), Universidad de la República, Uruguay, to promote ICT careers in Uruguay. In particular, we present hands-on workshops for high school girls on robotics, electronic circuits, and geographic information systems on the occasion of the Girls in ICT Day

Multimedia Analysis of Spanish Female Role Models in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics

Horizontal segregation in the higher education framework is a problem that goes up in the work environment. Women are assuming traditional gender roles due to phenomena such as the threat of stereotyping, which prevents them from opting for higher studies in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). This research work arises within the project W-STEM, “Building the Future of Latin America: Involving Women in STEM”. The research aims to investigate women’s academic and professional development in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) through their personal experience in making career-related decisions. The research was developed by applying a qualitative method. During the year 2020, video semi-structured interviews were conducted with twenty-one women professionals in the STEM field. Of the twenty-one participants, six are linked to science, eight to technology, fifteen to engineering and one to mathematics. Due to their research lines, some of them are located in more than one STEM area, for example, in technology and engineering. These women were interviewed about their choice of studies and training, their jobs, professional achievements, family and social environment and their perspective on the gender gap in STEM. They all agree on horizontal segregation and consider it necessary to motivate girls and young women to study what they like. Furthermore, they all show passion for their work

Extracurricular Program for Girls to Improve Competencies and Self-Concept in Science and Technology

The gender gap in STEM areas is still a reality that constitutes a global concern. Many initiatives have sought to strengthen the scientific-technological aspirations of girls, among them extracurricular programs such as the one we present here. Its design is based on the available scientific evidence to promote female interest and self-concept in those areas. In this study, we analyze the impact of the extracurricular activities on the development of competencies and perceptive selfevaluation skills among eight girls aged between 8 and 11 years old regarding science and technology. The results showed the effectiveness of the extracurricular activities both for the development of skills and for the improvement of levels of self-concept, interest, and participation, which leads us to highlight the need to promote initiatives of this sort in order to overcome gender stereotypes and to achieve equality.This research was funded by Spanish Foundation for Science and Technology, grant number FCT-19-15075

The factors that influence women to choose and pursue a career in the IT sector: the case of Estonia

Estonia as well as the rest of the EU is struggling to find enough IT specialists. It is estimated that by 2020, the EU will have 500,000 of vacant IT positions which has a hindering effect on the economy that is moving towards more digitalization. Women are under-represented in IT roles and the inclusion of more female IT specialists could offer a solution that is both contributing to the development of the IT sector and the economy as a whole. A larger participation of women in IT roles could also decrease the pay gap that Estonia has and support gender equality. This focus of this thesis was to find out which factors enable women to choose an IT-career. The research question was the following: what are the main influential factors that have encouraged women to choose a career in IT? In order to identify the enablers, eleven women were asked about their journey to IT including which aspects influenced their career choice and when the choice was made. The analysis of the responses was done by identifying the emerging narratives and themes as well as considering other research on the same subject. Gender and IT does not have a strong theorization as an academic discipline, however, some authors have used social constructivism to provide the frame in which to work in. Social constructivism was also used in this thesis and it was complemented with decision theory as well as gender-focused theories. The results of the analysis suggest that the choice that leads to an IT-career is often made young and that it is influenced by many social and internal factors. Practical tasks and positive feedback was mentioned several times by the interviewees as an enabling factor. Social relations were another influencing aspect in finding the way to IT. Curiosity and grit were also enablers that help women working in IT.https://www.ester.ee/record=b5241627*es