Once she makes it, she is there: Gender differences in computer science study

Tamar Vilner, Ela Zur

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contributionpeer-review

Abstract

When you sit in a Computer Science lecture at any university in the western world, what are the chances that the person sitting next to you will be a woman? Furthermore, what are the chances that the lecturer will be a woman? And if we were to enter a Computer Science classroom in a high school, what percentage of the students would be female? Computer Science is possibly one of the few remaining disciplines that is almost entirely controlled by men in the university staff, and in which the percentage of female students is usually below 30%. This phenomenon is prevalent throughout the western world. In this paper we present data about women studying Computer Science in universities and high schools in Israel. It deals with the specific problems that lead to a low rate of female enrollment in Computer Science courses and a high female-dropout rate. It describes some suggested solutions to encourage female enrollment and retention rate in Computer Science programs. The research was done at the Open University of Israel. An attempt has been made to identify whether there is a specific stage in the undergraduate program that is the most difficult for women to pass. Finally, we discuss ways to assist female students and enable them to overcome this obstacle and remain in the program.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationITiCSE06 - Proceedings of the 11th Annual SIGCSE Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education
Pages227-231
Number of pages5
StatePublished - 2006
EventITiCSE06: 11th Annual SIGCSE Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education - Bologna, Italy
Duration: 26 Jun 200628 Jun 2006

Publication series

NameITiCSE06 - Proceedings of the 11th Annual SIGCSE Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education
Volume2006

Conference

ConferenceITiCSE06: 11th Annual SIGCSE Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education
Country/TerritoryItaly
CityBologna
Period26/06/0628/06/06

Keywords

  • Diversity of CS courses
  • Gender and CS
  • Success rates

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