Summer Universities for Women in Computer Science

A cross-university approach will be discussed that reflects moneducation, networking, and gender oriented organizational reforms in university programs. The concept was developed in Germany in 1997 as a national approach. Each year “Informatica Feminale” (www. Informatica-feminale.de) attracts more than 70 female lectures from universities, research, or industry to give courses on all topics of computer science oriented to the existing university curricula. Participants are female students as well as women interested in further education. The approach has won an European award for best practice. Since 2003 Austria provides a similar project called the “ditact-women’s IT summer studies” (www.ditact.ac.at). Another project will be located in New Zealand in 2005 as the “Computing Women Conference” (www/ cwc.org.nz)

Women in Computer Science

For this week’s unit, Gender at work, I chose to focus my investigation on gender in the computing industry. More specifically, the goal of my research was to uncover some of the reasons behind the lack of female representation in the computer science world. As a minority in computer science, this investigation has been very personal to me because it has allowed me to learn more about some of the institutional oppressors that have been adopted over time to further marginalize minority populations and allow a certain demographic to flourish. As you may have learned from our previous discussions and explorations in Sociology, that demographic is the average white, able-bodied, Christian male. I have reviewed a plethora of scholarly articles and have made note of some of the frequent themes that have led to the lack of female representation in computer science, and have compiled all these claims and conversations into this presentation. My findings have been astonishing, to say the least, and I am happy to share this information with you in the slides to come.https://digitalcommons.tacoma.uw.edu/gender_studies/1064/thumbnail.jp

Retention of Women in Computer Science: Why Women Persist in Their Computer Science Majors

Retention of women through graduation in Computer Science (CS) majors is one of the biggest challenges for CS education. Most research in this area focuses on factors influencing attrition rather than why and how women remain committed. The goal of this research study is to understand retention from the perspective of women who persisted in their CS major. Using the theoretical lens of legitimate peripheral participation in communities of practice, I designed and conducted a study that involved focus groups, interviews, journey maps, and experience sampling methods. I found that retention of women in this study was influenced by four different types of interactions and eight different practices inside the CS major. I also found that learning was a matter of multimembership at the intersection of several different communities which supported both these women’s learning and retention. Finally, this dissertation provides a cross-case study narrative that highlights commonalities and differences of different pathways of ongoing participation investigated in this study. Such narrative is illustrated by five individual case studies of five women persisting in their CS major

Summer learning experience for girls in grades 7–9 boosts confidence and interest in computing careers

Academic exposure to computer science, encouragement to study computer science, and connecting personal interests to computing areas influence women to pursue degrees in computer science. Guided by these recommendations, we designed and offered a summer learning experience for girls in grades 7--9 in summer 2016. The goal of the program was to improve girls\u27 perceptions of learning computer science through academic exposure in the informal setting of a girls-only summer camp. In this paper we present a study of the girls\u27 perceptions of CS learning. Four constructs were used to develop pre- and post-survey items: computing confidence, intent to persist, social supports, and computing outcomes expectations. The camp appeared to have positively influenced the girls on two of the four constructs, by improving computing confidence and positive perceptions of computing careers

Do Gender Differences in Perceived Prototypical Computer Scientists and Engineers Contribute to Gender Gaps in Computer Science and Engineering?

Women are vastly underrepresented in the fields of computer science and engineering (CS&E). We examined whether women might view the intellectual characteristics of prototypical individuals in CS&E in more stereotype-consistent ways than men might and, consequently, show less interest in CS&E. We asked 269 U.S. college students (187, 69.5% women) to describe the prototypical computer scientist (Study 1) or engineer (Study 2) through open-ended descriptions as well as through a set of trait ratings. Participants also rated themselves on the same set of traits and rated their similarity to the prototype. Finally, participants in both studies were asked to describe their likelihood of pursuing future college courses and careers in computer science (Study 1) or engineering (Study 2). Across both studies, we found that women offered more stereotype-consistent ratings than did men of the intellectual characteristics of prototypes in CS (Study 1) and engineering (Study 2). Women also perceived themselves as less similar to the prototype than men did. Further, the observed gender differences in prototype perceptions mediated the tendency for women to report lower interest in CS&E fields relative to men. Our work highlights the importance of prototype perceptions for understanding the gender gap in CS&E and suggests avenues for interventions that may increase women’s representation in these vital fields

APPROACHING GENDER PARITY: WOMEN IN COMPUTER SCIENCE AT AFGHANISTAN'S KABUL UNIVERSITY

This study explores the representation of women in computer science at the tertiary level through data collected about undergraduate computer science education at Kabul University in Afghanistan. Previous studies have theorized reasons for underrepresentation of women in computer science, and while many of these reasons are indeed present in Afghanistan, they appear to hinder advancement to degree to a lesser extent. Women comprise at least 36% of each graduating class from KU's Computer Science Department; however, in 2007 women were 25% of the university population. In the US, women comprise over 50% of university populations while only graduating on average 25% women in undergraduate computer science programs. Representation of women in computer science in the US is 50% below the university rate, but at KU, it is 50% above the university rate. This mixed methods study of KU was conducted in the following three stages: setting up focus groups with women computer science students, distributing surveys to all students in the CS department, and conducting a series of 22 individual interviews with fourth year CS students. The analysis of the data collected and its comparison to literature on university/department retention in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics gender representation and on women's education in underdeveloped Islamic countries illuminates KU's uncharacteristic representation of women in its Computer Science Department. The retention of women in STEM through the education pipeline has several characteristics in Afghanistan that differ from countries often studied in available literature. Few Afghan students have computers in their home and few have training beyond secretarial applications before considering studying CS at university. University students in Afghanistan are selected based on placement exams and are then assigned to an area of study, and financially supported throughout their academic career, resulting in a low attrition rate from the program. Gender and STEM literature identifies parental encouragement, stereotypes and employment perceptions as influential characteristics. Afghan women in computer science received significant parental encouragement even from parents with no computer background. They do not seem to be influenced by any negative "geek" stereotypes, but they do perceive limitations when considering employment after graduation

Gaming and computer science: Bridging the gender-gap

>Magister Scientiae - MScAccording to the literature, women are still unrepresented in the field of information technology. Although many women study computer science at first year level, the dropout rate for women—before they graduate—is high, and if they graduate many decide neither to continue with their studies nor to work in the field of information technology. Research has shown that women who have been exposed to computing at some point during their school career or early in their lives, tend to be more open to choosing a career in computer science and are in many cases successful at it. The aim of this research is to understand what factors influence women to choose a career within computer science and to consider whether gaming would encourage young women to enter the field. Design Science Research was the methodology employed. It was chosen since an artefact was developed. For each of the five steps of this methodology a different method was chosen to address the research question. Surveys were administered to first year computer science students and both IT high school teachers and computer science honours students were interviewed. Non-computer science students were involved in the participatory design process

Voices of African American Women in Computer Science: Implications for K-12 Stem Education and Beyond

Voices of African American Women in Computer Science is a qualitative dissertation about African American women who have successfully completed a computer science degree. This research explored how computer science education departments in predominantly White institutions (PWIs) contribute to the oppression of African American females. Critical race feminism (CRF) provides the platform that places the voices of women of color who have successfully obtained a computer science degree despite difficulties that have been imposed by the reality of racial biases that are present throughout the American education system and American culture at large. This research was guided by the following primary question: What are the unique experiences that have influenced the success of African American females, who have obtained degrees in computer science from PWIs? in order to establish fulfilling narratives of the participants\u27 experiences the following secondary questions are also relevant: What factors have influenced participants\u27 decision to major in computer science? What were the experiences of the participants during their time in their computer science program? How do these women make meaning of their experiences? Both narrative analysis and analysis of narrative was used to interpret data gathered using detailed interviews. Findings were presented using both methods in an attempt to show a detailed use of data, as well as to also push the boundaries of CRF with the creation of guidelines for CRF methodology. the results show that African American women in computer science have unique but powerful stories. This study highlights both positive, and negative factors that influenced these women during and after their academic experiences and fills gaps left by previous research in this area. Overall, this study holds implications for K-12 and higher education institutions as well as policymakers, and those who would simply pick up the torch of mentorship

Proceedings of the Third Computing Women Congress (CWC 2008): Student papers

The Third Computing Women Congress was held at the University of Waikato, Hamilton, New Zealand from February 11th to 13th, 2008. The Computing Women Congress (CWC) is a Summer University for women in Computer Science. It is a meeting-place for female students, academics and professionals who study or work in Information Technology. CWC provides a forum to learn about and share the latest ideas of computing related topics in a supportive environment. CWC provides an open, explorative learning and teaching environment. Experimentation with new styles of learning is encouraged, with an emphasis on hands-on experience and engaging participatory techniques