Gender influences in studying Computer Science at University of Novi SadA. Šišarica, M. Ivanović

8th Workshop “Software Engineering Education and Reverse Engineering”, Durres, September 2008

Goals of the research

Exploring female undergraduate CS students`:

General success rate Professional confidence, ambitions and

interests Level of satisfaction with the choice of studies Attitudes and beliefs towards the gender

issue

Motivation

Considerable lack of female students at universities worldwide, despite the supporting acts made by academic community

For example: in the period 1995-2004 only 20% of B.A. degrees in CS in the USA were awarded to women

Serbia, and our Department, are facing the same problem

Motivation Often discontinue with the studies

Phenomenon of “the shrinking pipeline”: even though young girls could be attracted by CS, the higher level of education, the smaller is the proportion of female students

Consequence: inadequate involvement of women in IT industry and research

For instance: only 22% of the employees in the science related fields are female

Causes Intimidation with the male dominated nature of a

field

Absence of female role models

Lack of respect towards female professionals in the field

Lack of confidence in the abilities of female professionals

Causes

Social pressure not to study CS

Fear of combination of work and family life in IT sector being problematic

Women are more attracted to applications that benefit society than in programming itself, therefore, tend to lose interest when this aspiration is not satisfied

History

Female researchers and programmers have played a significant role in the founding of CS

40`s: women formed a majority of the first programmers during the WWII

50`s and 60`s: female researchers contributed heavily in, for example, the development of user interfaces

History What have influenced such a serious

deepening of the gender gap over the past few decades?

80`s: computers became a very popular hobby for young boys

Consequence: female students enter introductory CS classes with weaker programming skills and lack of computer related background

What finally brings women to the table?

Continuing presence of computers in a way that women can comprehend the versatility of computer use

Support and encouragement by the female professionals in the field

Help in understanding different career possibilities in IT

Awakening of interest in math and science from the early age

Related work

Gender related study, made recently at our department, compared success rates and enrollment data from the past 3 years of the male and female students

Technically-oriented courses (“Introduction to Programming”, “Software Engineering”): there was no significant difference in success gender wise

Related work Business-oriented courses (“Computer

Ethics”, “Software Project Management”): a slight difference in favor to women has been noted

Enrollment data: 1. “Business Informatics”: constant number2. “Theoretical Informatics”: number decreasing

each year3. “Teacher of Informatics”: not a single one in past

3 years

Motivation, once again

A lot of questions have been opened, this research came as in quest for some answers and solutions for improvement

Providing solid basis for future work

Focus selection

Comfort level

Confidence level

Success level

Collection of data June 2008, 60 undergraduate female students of

all CS directions present at our Department

In a form of questionnaire, which consisted of 20 questions; combined examination techniques:1. Descriptive answers

2. Circling the preferred answer

3. Responses given on a Likert scale of 1 (Strongly Disagree) to 5 (Strongly Agree)

Statistics calculation: Origin 7.0

Questionnaire: general success evaluation Year of studies Average grade What had the most influence on your choice

of studies? The most and the least preferred subjects

Questionnaire: professional ambitions and interests On which job position do you imagine

yourself after comletion of your studies?

On which job position do you imagine yourself 10 years from now?

Questionnaire: gender related attitudes Is IT a suitable field for women?

Is it possible to have both successful career and family?

Results: Expression of personal ambitions regarding career

StatementMean value

Standard Deviation

Marks during studies are important to me.

3.66 1.05

I believe I am about to have a successful career.

4.31 0.78

I am worried about further course of my career after I complete my studies.

2.44 1.26

Results: Expression of attitude towards curriculum

StatementMean value

Standard Deviation

I am generally satisfied with my choice of studies.

4.27 0.86

I feel more comfortable with mathematical courses, rather than with CS courses.

2.87 1.59

Studies positively effected my intellectual development and interests.

4.29 0.95

Results: Expression of attitude towards the gender issue

StatementMean value

Standard Deviation

Professionally, I feel completely equal to my male colleagues.

4.37 0.91

Concern regarding the lack of women in IT is justified.

2.62 1.33

Stereotypes regarding women in IT do not manifest in real life.

4.04 1.21

Results: What had the greatest influence on the choice of your studies?

Results: Is IT a suitable field for women?

Results: Is it possible to have both successful career and family life?

Results: Average success ratesJune 2008Year / Average mark

6,00-7,00

7,00-8,00

8,00-9,00

9,00-10,00

Unknown

1st 11.11% 27.78% 33.33% 5.56% 22.22%

2nd - - 68.42% 31.58% -

3rd - 64.29% 35.71% - -

4th - 33.33% 44.44% 22.22% -

Results: Interest in taken courses1st year 2nd year 3rd year 4th year

The least preferred courses

Math. Logic and Algebra, Analysis, Financial Mathematics

Data Structures and Algorithms, Math. Logic and Algebra, Analysis, Linear Algebra

Data Structures and Algorithms, Numerical Analysis

Differential Equations, Linear Algebra

The most preferred courses

Web design, Introduction to E-business, Data Structures and Algorithms, Introduction to Programming

Computer Organization, Object-Oriented Programming, Data Structures and Algorithms, Web Design, Data Bases

Data Bases, Web Design, E-learning, Information systems

Data Bases, Information Systems, Object-Oriented Programming

Results: How do you imagine your job position 10 years from now?

Conclusion Surprisingly high level of gender self-

awareness and confidence

Participants expressed serious and ambitious attitudes regarding their career objectives, feeling professionally equal to their male colleagues, with their marks to prove those claims

Present satisfaction with the choice of studies

Conclusion Even though the number of female students at

our department is dropping each year, those who manage to complete their studies, prove to be as competitive and skillful as their male peers

Technical skills are gender-blind?

CS as such “bears more promises for equity between genders in opportunities, positions and finally salary, than the other fields”?

Conclusion “It is important to understand a student’s

sense of identity both personally and with respect to the profession and gender, and to determine what students find to be most relevant and meaningful as they connect learning with life goals”

Becomes possible to employ liberative pedagogies more effectively and have more influence on students’ interest, motivation and performance

References Gharibyan H., “Work in Progress – Women in Computer Science: Why There Is No

Problem in One Former Soviet Republic”, Computer Science Department, California Polytechnic State University

Paloheimo A., Stenman J., “Gender, Communication and Comfort Level in Higher Level Computer Science Education – Case Study”, Laboratory of Software Technology, Helsinki University of Technology

Putnik Z., Ivanovic M., Budimac Z., “Gender Related Issues Associated to Computer Science Students”, Faculty of Science, University of Novi Sad, 2008

Kilgore D., Yasuhara K., Saleem J. J., Atman J. C., “What brings women to the table? Female and Male Students` Perceptions of Ways of Thinking in Engineering Study and Practice”, University of Washington

Ngambeki I., Rua A., Riley D., “Work in Progress: Sojourns and Pathways: Personal and Professional Identity Formation and Attitudes Toward Learning Among College Women”, Picker Engineering Program, Smith College, Northampton

Grurer D., “Women in Computing History”, SIGCSE Bulletin, Vol. 34, No. 2, 2002

Bailey M., Baillie C., Impagliazzo J., Riley D., Catalano D. G., “Not Many Women in Engineering – So Why Should I Care? Bridging Gender Gaps and Stereotypes”, 36th ASEE/IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference, San Diego, 2006

Thank you for attention!

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