State-of-the-Art Review on Current Approaches to Female Inclusiveness in Software Engineering and Computer Science in Higher Education

Abstract

Software engineering (SE) and computer science (CS) programs in universities worldwide are marked by a gender gap, which subsequently translates into a gender gap at the industry level. However, there are positive activities that can help attract more women to these male-dominant professions. This study maps the literature related to the achievement of gender balance in SE and CS university-level education and identifies future research directions. More specifically, this article reports on a systematic mapping study of female-inclusive SE and CS tertiary education programs. The authors collected 882 publications between 2015 and 2022 from five databases (ACM, IEEE, Scopus, Web of Science, and Science Direct), selecting 143 peer-reviewed papers for further analysis. The results showed that the main academic contributors were researchers from the USA. The majority of the publications contained observations and explanations regarding the gender gap in computing education. However, an important part of the literature considered proposals and practical activities for achieving gender balance in SE and CS programs. Finally, the authors classified the literature related to female-inclusive SE and CS tertiary education programs, identified the main research focuses and regional distribution, and considered ideas for future research.

Emerging best strategies and capabilities for university–industry cooperation: opportunities for MSMEs and universities to improve collaboration. A literature review 2000–2023

“…For example, hackathons and Code camps were mentioned in multiple contexts as one of the natural tools to enhance industry collaboration for HEIs, but very little was talked about, e.g., participating students' gender roles (Kovaleva et al, 2024) and inclusiveness in this context. This would be an important area to extend research, as ICT and software engineering are male dominated now, and all genders use the results, products, and solutions equally.…”