Australian interventions for women in computing : are we evaluating?

There are many reasons why the gender imbalance in computing should be of concern to the profession. Over the last 20 years there have been many intervention programs which attempt to redress this situation and encourage more women into computing. To determine whether an intervention program has made a difference requires evaluation. Program evaluation is the careful collecting of information about a program so that those responsible can make informed decisions regarding the programs. This multi-case study investigation into 14 major programs conducted in Australia shows that many projects are not evaluated due to a lack of time, expertise and money. Without dissemination of detailed evaluations it is not possible to work out which intervention programs should be replicated and which should be modified or abandoned

Girls and computing-still a way to go

Years after the introduction of computing in Australian schools, computer classrooms are still heavily dominated by male students studying subjects which have little appeal to female students, explains the author. This article looks at why girls are less likely to choose computing as a subject to study or to consider computing for a future career.<br /

Intervention programmes to recruit female computing students : why do the programme champions do it?

This paper looks at intervention programmes to improve the representation of female students in computing education and the computer industry, A multiple case study methodology was used to look at major intervention programmes conducted in Australia. One aspect of the research focused on the programme champions; those women from the computing industry, those working within government organisations and those in academia who instigated the programmes. The success of these intervention programmes appears to have been highly dependent upon not only the design of the programme but on the involvement of these strong individuals who were passionate and worked tirelessly to ensure the programme\u27s success. This paper provides an opportunity for the voices of these women to be heard. It describes the champions\u27 own initial involvement with computing which frequently motivated and inspired them to conduct such programmes. The research found that when these types of intervention programmes were conducted by academic staff the work was undervalued compared to when the activities were conducted by staff in industry or in government. The academic environment was often not supportive of academics who conducted intervention programmes for female students.<br /

Behavioral adaptation within cross-cultural virtual teams

With today\u27s business environments no longer confined to national borders, much work is undertaken in global virtual teams. Such teams consist of members located in different countries that communicate via technology media to complete a project task. Much of the research in this area has been focused on the technological aspects of such environments; there is, however, a lack of research into the behavioral aspects and the issue of cultural differences in particular. It has been acknowledged that when cultural diversity is neither recognized nor acted upon, significant challenges can arise for the team. Current advice in the literature suggests that team members should adapt their normal working behavior in consideration of cultural differences. However, there is little indication of how team members should do so. This study investigated if and/or how team members adapt their behavior in cross-cultural virtual teams. The results of this study indicate that team members can adapt their behavior in both spoken and written communication as well as allowing for religious beliefs and time zone differences. This paper discusses specifically how behavior can be adapted, including a discussion of behaviors that caused concern. Finally, a framework of behavioral adaptations is presented for ways to improve cross-cultural virtual team interactions.<br /

Developing business community portals for SMEs-Issues of design, development and sustainability

Governments worldwide are using funding initiatives to encourage small businesses to adopt e-commerce technology. In Australia both State and Federal Governments have encouraged e-commerce uptake through the funding of Internet portal developments that have a specific community or business focus. The success of such portals, as with many Web developments, has been mixed and there is little evidence of any evaluation of the effectiveness of such investments. This paper reports on research into an Australian B2B business community portal from launch to closure. A survey and in-depth interviews with portal participants were undertaken. The research sought to understand how the portal had been developed, and what factors may have contributed to its demise. The findings identified a number of factors, not discussed in the literature, that are important in portal development. These include: how the development process is undertaken; technological readiness of the small business owners; meeting business expectations; and understanding the business community stakeholders. The results from this study suggest that portal projects such as this are problematic and funding bodies such as governments need to understand the factors that contribute to success before funds are committed.<br /

From websites to portals: success factors For business community portals

Many Governments are using funding initiatives to encourage businesses, particularly small businesses to adopt e-commerce technology. One currently popular approach in Australia, has been to fund internet portal developments with a specific community or business focus. The success of such portals however, as with many Web developments has been mixed. This paper reports on the establishment of a B2B portal in Australia. The paper explores issues and expectations from the perspective of the business people involved. A survey was conducted amongst the participants of the portal shortly after it was launched. Then follow-up interviews were conducted with business owners 2 years later just before the portal closed. The researchers sought to understand what the business community expected from the portal and to identify what factors contribute to success. The research found that in addition to the factors identified through the literature that, technological readiness of business owners, understanding the business community, realizing business value and managing participant&rsquo;s expectations are also factors impacting on success. A model is proposed to describe the success factors.<br /

Issues To ConsiderWhen End-Users Develop Their Own Applications

The purpose of the research discussed in this paper is to identify the issues that need to be considered when endusers develop their own applications. A case study was conducted with a semi government department, which explored the reasons why end-users developed their own applications, the advantages this development brought to the organisation and the problems that could result. Some of these problems include support, maintenance, design difficulties, management and the lack of control and documentation. Possible solutions for these issues are also briefly discussed

Moving from a web presence to e-commerce : the importance of a business-web strategy for small-business owners

More than half of small businesses in Australia (57%) use a website to promote their business. Having an effective website is an important step for small business owners moving towards e-commerce. The research suggests that once a business has a clear online strategy through a website they are more likely to move to e-commerce. While many small business owners have a business strategy, it is often the case that this strategy does not include their Web presence. This paper describes the results of interviews with small business owners and assessment of their websites. We identify elements that are important for small business owners developing a business-Web strategy. The research indicates that many owners see their websites as little more than an advertising medium and few are ready for the move to e-commerce. Identifying the level of maturity of a small business owner\u27s business-Web strategy however can help us understand how prepared a small business owner is to move to e-commerce.<br /

Evaluating small business web sites-understanding users

The cost of developing a website can be considerable and there is ample literature describing how to build effective websites. However, despite this many small businesses embark on the development of a website without any real understanding of what they are trying to achieve, who their audience is and the impact poor design will have on usability and user satisfaction. This paper discusses the results of a study that examined user reactions to a number of small business web sites. In particular it explored the interaction of different design factors on users. The study found that in many cases the websites are not meeting the needs of their audience. Specifically users become frustrated when attention is not paid to the design and quality of the information, the quality of the interface impacts on task completion and sites users find uninteresting are usually those they also had difficulty navigating and interacting with. Whilst none of this should be surprising, what is surprising is the continuing lack of attention paid to website usability.<br /

Student perceptions of ICT : a gendered analysis

This paper investigates the attitudes and perceptions of secondary school students to ICT. During the last decade there have been decreasing numbers of students completing ICT subjects at secondary school in their senior years. The data was collected from university students enrolled in a range of first year units. Although the survey was undertaken by university students, the data collected related to their opinions whilst still at secondary school. This study explored two areas: firstly, the reasons why students had elected not to study ICT in their senior years at secondary school; and secondly, it describes a gender analysis of the attitudes and perceptions of students who had elected to study ICT. The analysis found that many students were not interested in studying senior ICT subjects, and for those that were, there were only a few differences between the gendered opinions to ICT