Gender influences in studying Computer Science at University of Novi Sad A. Šišarica, M. Ivanović 8 th 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 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 number 2. “Theoretical Informatics”: number decreasing each year 3. “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 Statement Mean value Standard Deviation Marks during studies are important to me I believe I am about to have a successful career I am worried about further course of my career after I complete my studies

Results: Expression of attitude towards curriculum Statement Mean value Standard Deviation I am generally satisfied with my choice of studies I feel more comfortable with mathematical courses, rather than with CS courses Studies positively effected my intellectual development and interests

Results: Expression of attitude towards the gender issue Statement Mean value Standard Deviation Professionally, I feel completely equal to my male colleagues Concern regarding the lack of women in IT is justified Stereotypes regarding women in IT do not manifest in real life

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 rates June 2008 Year / Average mark 6,00-7,007,00-8,008,00-9,00 9,00- 10,00 Unknown 1st11.11%27.78%33.33%5.56%22.22% 2nd %31.58%- 3rd-64.29%35.71%-- 4th-33.33%44.44%22.22%-

Results: Interest in taken courses 1 st year2 nd year3 rd year4 th 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

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