Enhancing Girls' Feeling of Belonging to Computer Science

Marquardt, Kai

doi:10.1145/3502717.3532108

Cited by 3 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 8 publications

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“…This helps students to feel more comfortable exploring and experimenting with CS, to have the stability of a familiar knowledge base, and to be able to self-identify with relevant problems. Interdisciplinary-driven CS education might be a promising alternative to traditional introductory courses [25]. At the same time, our data demonstrate how sensitive interest and enthusiasm can be affected depending on the learning topic, how the topic is embedded, and the nature of the learning environment, which in total can result in polarizing effects as we could observe in our case study.…”

Section: A Suitable First Contactsupporting

confidence: 59%

“…Girls often experience CS education as dull and purposeless, as well as state their desire to do something that is relevant and makes positive differences in the world [16], [24]. Thus, interdisciplinary learning can be one strategy to address the diversity issue as it offers many possibilities for alternative pathways into CS [14], [25]. This way, students can explore the relevance of the topics for themselves and in relation to later application situations and, therefore, how topics are connected to their interests in other domains [26].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Engaging Girls in Computer Science: Do Single-Gender Interdisciplinary Classes Help?

Marquardt

Wagner

Happe

2023

2023 IEEE/ACM 45th International Conference on Software Engineering: Software Engineering Education and Training (ICSE-SEET)

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Computing-driven innovation cannot reach its full potential if only a fraction of the population is involved. Without girls and their non-stereotypical contribution, the innovation potential is severely limited. In computer science (CS) and software engineering (SE), the gender gap persists without any positive trend. Many girls find it challenging to identify with the subject of CS. However, we can capitalize on their interests and create environments for girls through interdisciplinary subcultures to spark and foster enthusiasm for CS. This paper presents and discusses the results of an intervention in which we applied a novel interdisciplinary online course in data science to get girls excited about CS and programming by contributing to the grand goal of solving colony collapse disorder from biology and geoecology. The results show the potential of such programs to get girls excited about programming, but also important implications in terms of the learning environment. The startling results show that girls from single-gender classes (SGCs) are significantly more open to CS-related topics and that the intervention evoked significantly more positive feelings in them than in girls from mixed-gender classes (MGCs). The findings highlight the importance of how CS-related topics are introduced in school and the crucial impact of the learning environment to meet the requirements of truly gender-inclusive education.

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Section: A Suitable First Contactsupporting

confidence: 59%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Engaging Girls in Computer Science: Do Single-Gender Interdisciplinary Classes Help?

Marquardt

Wagner

Happe

2023

2023 IEEE/ACM 45th International Conference on Software Engineering: Software Engineering Education and Training (ICSE-SEET)

Self Cite

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“…1. Responses from female participants to selected items on a likert-type scale (1) -Strongly Disagree to (5) -Strongly Agree in general including students of all gender, students with less self-confidence in CS, and students that showed programming aversions [17]. So the courses might be an excellent opportunity to enrich traditional school lessons, giving new possible connection points to identify with the subject and get curious about what one can do with CS.…”

Section: B Evaluation Approach -First Insightsmentioning

confidence: 99%

RockStartIT: Authentic and Inclusive Interdisciplinary Software Engineering Courses

Happe

Marquardt

2023

2023 IEEE/ACM 4th Workshop on Gender Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion in Software Engineering (GEICSE)

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The RockStartIT initiative was explicitly designed to increase the representation of girls in software engineering (SE) by providing interdisciplinary courses that connect the subject matter to their interests and passions. The program has been successful in engaging a diverse group of high school students, encouraging them to explore computer science (CS) through problem-solving in the areas of their choice. The program's structure and approach have been instrumental in promoting interest in CS and increasing the understanding of the importance of using CS to solve real-world, interdisciplinary problems. The results of surveys conducted with program participants have shown that the program has been successful in providing girls with an alternative pathway into the field of computer science by building on their individual interests, which would not have been possible without the interdisciplinary approach.

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