Gender Differences in Factors Influencing Pursuit of Computer Science and Related Fields

Wang, Jennifer; Hai, Hong; Ravitz, Jason; Ivory, Marielena

doi:10.1145/2729094.2742611

Cited by 82 publications

(73 citation statements)

References 16 publications

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“…A recent Google report emphasised the need for parents, students and educators to be made more aware of the benefits of CS education [26]. Numerous studies have identified the significance of social support as an influence on females to choose to study CS [19,57,61,63]. Mishkin et al [43] found that female students making an engineering career choice are influenced by social support more than male students.…”

Section: Social Supportmentioning

confidence: 99%

Using Social Cognitive Career Theory to Understand Why Students Choose to Study Computer Science

Alshahrani

Ross

Wood

2018

Proceedings of the 2018 ACM Conference on International Computing Education Research

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The aim of this research is to use Social Cognitive Career Theory (SCCT) to identify and understand reasons why students choose to study Computer Science (CS) at university. SCCT focuses on students' prior experience, social support, self-efficacy and outcome expectation. The research is partly motivated by the desire to increase female participation rates in CS, particularly in the UK. Policymakers can use the factors that both females and males identify as influencing their choice of studying CS to enhance the experiences of all students prior to coming to university, but female students in particular. The study uses a semi-structured interview with 17 mixed gender subjects currently studying CS at three Scottish universities. The findings are that social support from family, teachers, friends and mentors is a particularly important factor in choosing to study CS, especially for female subjects. The career paths offered by a CS degree is another major factor, not just the potential jobs, but also the general value of a CS education and the potential to make useful contributions to society. School education appeared to have limited influence, though exposure to problem solving, programming, online self-learning and internships are positive influences. The stereotypical view of CS students as 'geeks' is outdated and unhelpful -it is more appropriate to see them as 'analytical' or 'over-achievers'. Subjects make many suggestions for improving the CS education provided at school, especially to make it more attractive to females, including: make it compulsory, teach it earlier, include more programming and problem solving, and increase the visibility of female exemplars and role models.

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Section: Social Supportmentioning

confidence: 99%

Using Social Cognitive Career Theory to Understand Why Students Choose to Study Computer Science

Alshahrani

Ross

Wood

2018

Proceedings of the 2018 ACM Conference on International Computing Education Research

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“…But while the number of women who major in STEM disciplines is trending upwards, the number of women earning degrees in technologyrelated disciplines is not. For example, while women earned about 58 percent of the STEM-related degrees in 2014, they earned only about 18 percent of the degrees awarded in computer and information sciences in 2014-down from a peak of 37 percent in the mid-1980s (National Center for Education Statistics, 2015;Sax et al, 2017;Wang, Hong, Ravitz, & Ivory, 2015).…”

Section: Figure 1 Percent Of Female Employees At Selected Technologymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Over the last two decades, many studies have queried women about their interest in technology-related disciplines using surveys, focus groups, and direct interviews (Beyer, 2008(Beyer, , 2014Buschor, Berweger, Frei, & Kappler, 2014;Cory, Parzinger, & Reeves, 2006;Geyfman, Force, & Davis, 2016;Joshi & Schmidt, 2006;Merhout, Havelka, & Rajkumar, 2016;Stout, Grunberg, & Ito, 2016;Wang et al, 2015;Zhang, 2007). These studies have found that parental influence, role models, stereotypes, knowledge of the field, influence of peers, self-efficacy, and external encouragement are important factors that affect women's interest in IS.…”

Section: Figure 1 Percent Of Female Employees At Selected Technologymentioning

confidence: 99%

How Can Universities Best Encourage Women to Major in Information Systems?

Anderson¹,

Edberg²,

Reed³

et al. 2017

CAIS

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Abstract:Despite both government and industry initiatives, the under-representation of women in information systems (IS) continues. Can academia help right this imbalance by helping fill the pipeline for technically qualified female employees? We analyze the results of four experimental interventions based on empirical studies and prior surveys designed to address this issue. We conducted these interventions as projects in an introductory undergraduate IS class in a public university in the western US. Sadly, none were effective in encouraging more female students to consider majoring in IS.

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“…In order to attract more females to the IT profession, there is a need to focus on how to make the study of IT attractive to secondary school students (Wang, Hong, Ravitz, & Ivory, 2015;Yansen, 2014;Zagami et al, 2015). The situation is complex to remedy (Ridley & Young, 2012) and requires intervention to influence perceptions of careers in the IT workforce (Quesenberry & Trauth, 2012).…”

Section: Gender Diversity In Itmentioning

confidence: 99%

Influencing the Influencers: The Role of Mothers in IT Career Choices

Stockdale¹,

Keane²

2016

JITE:IIP

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This paper reports on the outcomes from a pilot study targeted at mothers of school children in Melbourne, Australia. The aim of the study was to engender a positive view of technology in the participants and to introduce the concept of Information Technology (IT) as a potential career. Mothers were given the opportunity to develop basic IT skills and learn about different IT career pathways for their children with an emphasis on their daughters' choices. Mothers were offered an evening course over a four week period that was designed to introduce them to a range of social media and Web 2.0 tools. Their opinions were documented using both questionnaires and informal discussions. It explored whether their attitudes towards IT can be changed by up-skilling and introducing them to the technologies their children commonly use. The findings of the pilot study suggest that addressing this demographic has the potential to make the participants question their pre-conceptions about IT careers for women.

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Gender Differences in Factors Influencing Pursuit of Computer Science and Related Fields

Cited by 82 publications

References 16 publications

Using Social Cognitive Career Theory to Understand Why Students Choose to Study Computer Science

Using Social Cognitive Career Theory to Understand Why Students Choose to Study Computer Science

How Can Universities Best Encourage Women to Major in Information Systems?

Influencing the Influencers: The Role of Mothers in IT Career Choices

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