Women
in Computing Science: Perceptions of Computing Science among Female Students in
High Schools and Colleges
Surinder Dhanjal P. Eng. & Mila Kwiatkowska
Department of Computing Science
The University College of the Cariboo (UCC)
Kamloops, BC, Canada, V2C 5N3
sdhanjal@cariboo.bc.ca mkwiatkowska@cariboo.bc.ca
Phone: (250) 828-5153 Phone: (250) 371-5592
ABSTRACT
The authors have taught in various Computing Science
Departments for more than 15 years. This is our observation that the number of
females in computing science is very low as compared with the males in
computing education, research & development, and IT in general. This gender
imbalance leads to many negative social and economic consequences [1-15]. To study this phenomenon in a scientific
manner, the authors decided to conduct a survey, spread over a time-frame of at
least one year (2003-2004), directed at the following female audiences in
Kamloops: Junior high school students from grades 8 to 10, Senior high school
students from grades 11 and 12, UCC students taking first and second year
computing science courses, UCC students taking upper level computing science
courses. In this paper, the results of the first survey directed at 39 female
students of grade 9 from four different schools in Kamloops are described.
These three issues were used as primary
indicators: Computer usage
(secondary indicators: Frequency, Current types of usage, Desired computer
skills), Emotions (secondary indicators: positive emotions, neutral emotions
& negative emotions), and perceptions of gender roles. The results of the
other three groups will be discussed in the future papers. We believe that this
research is original in our region and we are contributing to a nation-wide
evolving body of knowledge.
1.
INTRODUCTION
The authors have taught in various Computing Science
Departments for more than 15 years. This is our observation that the number of
females in computing science is very low as compared with the males in computing
education, research & development, and IT in general. The ratio of males
and females in the 8 courses taught by the authors during the current academic
year 2002-2003 alone is quite alarming (see Table 1).
No |
Course |
Males |
Females |
Total |
1 |
COMP 213 |
27 |
6 |
33 |
2 |
COMP 220 |
18 |
2 |
20 |
3 |
COMP 312 |
21 |
0 |
21 |
4 |
COMP 341 |
23 |
2 |
25 |
5 |
COMP 361 |
24 |
1 |
25 |
6 |
COMP 461 |
23 |
2 |
25 |
7 |
COMP 462 |
10 |
0 |
10 |
8 |
COMP 492 |
10 |
0 |
10 |
Table 1.
Numbers of female and male students in some computing science courses at
UCC in 2002-2003
The ratio of the females graduating from two degree
programs: BTACS (Bachelor of Technology in Applied Computing Science) and B.Sc.
(Major in Computing Science) run at our institution is 6 females out of 29
graduates and 2 females out of 8 respectively. Since the programs started in
1998, the ratio of the females registered in these two programs is 7 females
out of a total of 49 and 3 females out of a total of 40 respectively. The total
number of female faculty members (1 out of 8) is also pointing very strongly
towards the same direction: the proportional lack of females in Computing
Science.
This gender imbalance leads to many negative social
and economic consequences [1-15]. According to Shashaani [1-3]: “A society that
believes technological understanding is primarily for males automatically
excludes a large segment of the population from contributing more effectively
to society’s advancement, and a valuable resource for the economy, is lost”
[1]. Edward
D. Lazowska addresses the
issue of these negative consequences from a positive angle, by publishing a
website statement [16]. According to this statement, six ‘Reasons for involving
more women in CS’ are:
Several related questions that come to our mind are:
“What is the fundamental reason behind this phenomenon? Is it because the interest of females is low
in the field of science and technology in general? Is it due to some
misperceptions about the females in science and technology? Is this problem
specific to the University College of the Cariboo (UCC) or is it specific only
to computing science at UCC?”
2. METHODOLOGY
To study this phenomenon in a scientific manner, the
authors decided to conduct a survey, spread over a time-frame of at least one
year (2003-2004), directed at the following female audiences in Kamloops:
·
Junior high
school students from grades 8 to 10
·
Senior high
school students from grades 11 and 12
·
UCC students
taking first and second year computing science courses
·
UCC students
taking upper level computing science courses
In this paper, the results of
the first survey directed at 39 female students of grade 9 from four different
schools in Kamloops are described. The results of the other three groups will be discussed in the future
papers.
3. RESULTS OF THE SURVEY
We will consider four groups of students: grades 8 -
10, grades 11-12, first and second year university, and third and fourth year
university. The questionnaires will be age specific. The first questionnaire
was administered to a group of 39 female students from grade 9. The age ranged
from 13 to 15 years, with the mean value of 14.07. The results of this survey
are discussed below.
3.1 DESIGN OF THE
QUESTIONNAIRE
The most important component of this paper was the
design of the questionnaire (see Appendix A). We selected the questions to
address the following issues:
1.
Computer
usage
a.
Frequency
b.
Current types
of usage
c.
Desired
computer skills
2.
Emotions
3.
Perception of
gender roles.
These three issues were used as primary indicators as
follows:
3.1.1.
Computer Usage
Higher computer usage implies higher potential
interest in computer related education and career. In this category we wanted
to measure these three secondary indicators:
The questions 1, 2, and 5 were designed to measure the
above indicators.
3.1.2.
Emotions
In this category, we used an open ended question
(question 3) so that we can elicit a wide spectrum of emotional perspectives with
reference to computers. We divided
emotions into three secondary indicators: positive emotions, neutral emotions
& negative emotions. Positive emotions indicate higher interest whereas
negative or neutral emotions indicate lower interest.
3.1.3.
Perception
In this category, we wanted to find out how the female
students perceive their role in the computer field. The common misconception seems to be that the computer field is man’s field [1-7]. We
designed question 4 to address this issue. Whereas we disguised our intent
while designing questions 1, 2, 3, and 5; we were very direct in this question
because we considered this to be the strongest indicator out of all the primary
indicators chosen by us.
We did not include any career-oriented questions in this
questionnaire because grade 9 students are unlikely to be ready for a career
selection. The contents of the questionnaires for other groups will be modified
on an as-needed basis.
3.2 RESULTS FROM THE QUESTIONNAIRE
3.2.1.
Computer usage
Question 1: “How often do you use a computer?” (single answer)
Frequency
of usage |
No.
of responses |
Percentage |
Every day |
28 |
71.9 % |
2-3 times a
week |
8 |
20.5 % |
Once a week |
2 |
5.1% |
Less than once a
week |
1 |
2.5% |
Never |
0 |
0.0% |
Total: |
39 |
100.0% |
Question 2: “You use the computer mostly because ______”
(multiple answers chosen from a list)
Type
of usage |
No.
of responses |
Percentage |
I do my homework
on the computer |
27 |
69.2% |
I use the
Internet |
27 |
69.2% |
I use
e-mail |
33 |
84.6% |
Other
reasons |
28 |
71.8% |
I don’t use
computer |
0 |
0.0% |
Other
Types of Usage |
No.
of responses |
Games |
9 |
E-mail |
9 |
Chatting |
4 |
Internet/Web
research |
4 |
Other |
2 |
Question
5: “What would you like to
learn about computers, programming, Web? Please list three desired skills.”
This question was
answered by 23 students providing a total of 51 responses. Out of these 51
responses, we categorized 47 specific
responses into 12 sub-categories (listed below in decreasing order of frequency)
and 4 non-specific responses (for example: “lots of stuff”) into a sub-category
called “other”:
1.
Web page
design (x 10)
2.
Building
computer (hardware) (x 8)
3.
Drafting (x
5)
4.
Research
using Web resources (x 5)
5.
Editing
pictures (x 5)
6.
Programming
(x 4)
7.
Designing (x
3)
8.
Animation (x 2)
9.
Typing (x 2)
10. Make computer games
11. Web security
12. Word processor
3.2.2.
Emotions
Question 3:
“Try to finish the following sentence and describe how do you feel, when you
use a computer:
When
I use computers, I feel mostly ___”
Out of the 39 responses, we divided emotions into
three secondary indicators (positive emotions, neutral emotions & negative
emotions) as follows:
3.2.2.1
Positive
emotions (28 answers)
The following emotions were considered positive (listed
alphabetically):
3.2.2.2 Neutral emotions (5 answers)
The following emotions were considered neutral (listed
alphabetically):
3.2.2.3. Negative emotions (5 answers)
The following emotions were considered negative (listed
alphabetically):
Emotions |
No. of
Responses |
Percentage |
Positive |
28 |
71.9% |
Neutral |
5 |
12.8% |
Negative |
5 |
12.8% |
No Response |
1 |
2.5% |
Total: |
39 |
100.0% |
3.2.3. Perception
Question 4: Do you think that the computer field is a man's field?
Degree of Belief |
No. of Responses |
Percentage |
strongly
agree |
0 |
0.0% |
agree |
1 |
2.5% |
disagree |
5 |
12.8% |
strongly
disagree |
33 |
84.6% |
Total: |
39 |
100.0% |
3.3
ANALYSIS OF THE RESULTS
3.3.1 Computer usage
The results from question 1 indicate that all girls in
grade 9 use computers at least once a week, about 92% use it a least 2-3 times
a week, and about 72% use it every day. This indicates a very high interest in
computers.
The results from question 2 indicate that about 69% of
the population use computers to do their homework, about 69% use the Internet,
about 84% use e-mail, and about 72% use for other reasons including games, MSN
e-mail, chatting, and Web research. This indicates a wide variety of usage and
consequently a very high interest in computers. The results from question 5
indicate a wide variety of desired computer skills as follows: Web page design,
Building computer (hardware), Drafting, Research using Web resources, Editing
pictures, Programming, Designing, Animation, Typing, Make computer games, Web
security, Word processor, and others. This wide range indicates a very strong
interest in the computer field.
3.3.2
Emotions
The results from question 3 indicate that 72%
responses represent positive emotions, whereas only 25% responses reflect
negative and neutral emotions. This indicates a very high level of confidence
among the respondents.
3.3.3
Perception
The results from question 4 indicate that about 97%
strongly disagree or disagree with the stereotyped perception that “computer
field is a man’s field”, and only 2.5% agree. Contrary to most of the other
surveys [1-15] studied by the authors, this result was the most startling
outcome of our survey.
4. FUTURE
PLANS
We plan to conduct an extensive survey of the students
and related audiences. The authors recognize that the effectiveness of the
survey depends upon the sample size. The larger the sample, the better will be
the final outcome. However, the larger sample will require a lot of time.
Therefore, the future surveys will spread over a time-frame of at least one
year (2003-2004), and will accommodate as large an audience as possible. In
addition to the four groups from Kamloops mentioned in the methodology, we
intend to expand the scope of our survey to areas outside of Kamloops in the
following manner:
(During this research, we realized that the issue
explored by us is high profile, and is being addressed in a number of studies
and initiatives around the world [1-16], including an initiative in British
Columbia at the University of British Columbia (UBC). Therefore, it makes sense
to expand our study to include other universities in BC as this project
progresses).
The proposed survey will provide measurements to
describe the female perceptions towards these two roles:
The professional role will be analyzed using these
four parameters:
The perception about the students in computing science
will be analyzed using these three parameters:
·
workload
(time spent in class and outside of the class)
·
level of
difficulty of courses
·
types of
personalities among students.
The authors are aware that the similar studies/surveys
have been conducted by other researchers [1-16]. Some examples are:
The final results of our survey will be compared with
other papers (for example [1-15]) dealing with the same or similar issue(s).
5. CONCLUSION
This paper (intended to be a discussion paper)
addresses the issue that the number of females in computing science is very low
as compared with the males in computing education, research & development,
and IT in general. This gender imbalance leads to many negative social and
economic consequences [1-15]. To study this phenomenon in a scientific manner,
a survey directed at 39 female students from grades 9 was conducted. Senior
high school students from grades 11 and 12, UCC first and second year students
currently taking computing science courses, and UCC students taking upper level
computing science courses will be dealt with in future.
We conclude that the issue of gender imbalance
explored by us is high profile, it is not specific to the University College of
the Cariboo (UCC) only or it is not specific only to computing science at UCC,
but it is an international phenomena, and consequently, it is being addressed
in a number of studies and initiatives around the world [1-16].
We believe that this research is original in our
region and we are contributing to a nation-wide evolving body of knowledge.
REFERENCES
1.
L. Shashaani,
“Gender-Based Differences in Attitudes Toward Computers”, Computers and
Education, Pergamon Press Ltd., Volume 2(2), 1993, pp.169-181.
2.
L. Shashaani,
“Gender-Differences in Computer Experience and Its Influence on Computer
Attitudes”, Journal of Educational-Computing Research, Volume 11(4),
1994, pp.347-367.
3.
L. Shashaani,
“Gender-Differences in Computer Attitudes and Use Among College Students”, Journal
of Educational-Computing Research, Volume 16(1), 1997, pp.37-51.
4.
Janet
Morahan-Martin, Alan Olinsky & Phyllis Schumacher, “Gender Differences in
Computer Experience, Skills and Attitudes Among Incoming College Students”, Journal
of Educational-Computing Research, Volume 11, Number 4, 1994.
5.
Phyllis Schumacher
& Janet Morahan-Martin, “Gender, Internet and Computer Attitudes and
experiences”, Computers in Human Behavior, 17, 2001, pp. 95-110.
6.
Leslie J.
Francis, “Measuring Attitude Toward Computers Among Undergraduate College
Students: The Effective Domain”, Computers and Education, Pergamon Press
Ltd., Volume 20, Number 3, 4/93.
7.
Lior Avraham,
“Differences in the way males and females perceive computers”, website:
http://eserver.org/courses/spring97/76100o/contributions/avraham.
8.
Monique
Volman, “Gender-Related Effects of Computer and Information Literacy
Education”, Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Education
Association, 1995.
9.
Herman G.
Weller, Judi Repman & Gene E. Rooze, “The Relationship of Learning Behavior
and Cognitive Style in Hypermedia-Based Instruction: Implication for Design of
HBI”, Computers in Schools, Haworth Press Inc., Volume 10, 4/94.
10.
Panel
Discussion: "Ethical and Professional Issues in Computing", SIGCSE
Bulletin, ACM Press, Volume 27, Number 1, March 1995, pp.366-367.
11.
William Haliburton, Mack Thweatt & Nancy J. Wahl, “Gender Differences in Personality
Components of Computer Science Students: A Test of Holland’s Congruence
Hypothesis”, SIGCSE 1998,
Atlanta, GA, USA, ACM
Press, 1995, pp.77-81.
12.
Janet Carter
& Tony Jenkins, “Gender and Programming: What’s Going On?”, ITiCSE 1999, 6/99, Cracow, Poland, ACM Press, 1999
13.
Tor Busch,
“Gender differences in self-efficacy and attitudes toward computer”, Journal
of Educational-Computing Research, Volume 12(2), 1994, pp.147-158.
14.
Manju K. Ahuja, “Information
Technology and the Gender Factor”, SIGCPR 1995, Nashville, TN, USA, ACM Press, 1995, pp.156-166.
15.
Denise Gurer & Tracy Camp (Project
Investigators), “Investigating the Incredible Shrinking Pipeline for Women in
Computing Science”, Final Report-NSF Project 9812016, National Science
Foundation.
16. Edward D. Lazowska,
Web site: http://cra.org/Policy/testimony/lazowska-5.html,
October 1999.
Appendix A
WOMEN IN INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
(IT)
Computers and Young Women
Please answer the following questions. The organizers
will use the data to prepare for the next conference. The answers will be
compared with other groups of students (grade 11-12) and used in the UCC study
on “Women and Computers”.
Please specify your age _________
1.
How often do
you use a computer? (check one box)
⃞
Every day
⃞
2-3 times a week
⃞
Once a week
⃞
Less than once a week
⃞
Never
2.
You use the
computer mostly because (check as many boxes as you need)
⃞
I do my homework on the computer
⃞
I use the Internet for school projects
⃞
I use e-mail
⃞
Other reasons, please describe
________________
⃞
I don’t use computer
3.
Try to finish the following sentence and describe how do
you feel, when you use a computer:
When
I use computers, I feel mostly _________________________________
4.
Do you think
that the computer field is a man's field?
⃞
strongly agree
⃞
agree
⃞
disagree
⃞
strongly disagree
5.
What would
you like to learn about computers, programming, Web? Please list three desired
skills in order of their importance to you:
1. _______________
2. _______________
3. _______________