Why Do Female Students Choose to Study CS in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia?

Social network analysis involves delicate and sophisticated mathematical concepts which are abstract and challenging to acquire by traditional methods. Many studies show that female students perform poorly in computer science-related courses compared to male students. To address these issues, this research investigates the impact of employing a web-based interactive programming tool, Jupyter notebooks, on supporting deeper conceptual understanding and, therefore, better attainment levels of the course learning outcomes in a female setting. The work also highlights the overall experience and enjoyment this tool brought to the classroom. Document analysis and questionnaire were used as data collection methods. A mixed approach was applied, mid-term exam documents were investigated qualitatively, and the questionnaire was analyzed quantitatively. Our results showed that most students correctly perceived the learning outcomes and knowledge introduced within the Jupyter environment. Moreover, the interactive nature of Jupyter enhanced engagement and brought enjoyment to the learning experience.

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

Kovaleva,

Kasurinen,

Kindsiko

et al. 2024

IEEE Access

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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.

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Why Do Female Students Choose to Study CS in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia?

Cited by 6 publications

References 6 publications

Computer Science Teachers Perspectives on Competencies - A Case Study in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Computer Science Teachers Perspectives on Competencies - A Case Study in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Interactive notebooks for achieving learning outcomes in a graduate course: a pedagogical approach

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

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