Undergraduate Students' Perceptions of Gender in Computer Science
Abstract
Higher education environments in the area of computing have several problems faced by female students. In this article, students perceptions of these problems were investigated, where data and reports were collected on unpleasant facts that happened to the students. An online questionnaire was answered by 300 undergraduate students in computer courses from 23 institutions in Brazil. The collected data were analyzed using statistical and qualitative methods. The results show that the majority of students of both sexes have a low sense of belonging and also that men carry part of the problems. However, girls sufferers more with discrimination and gender stereotype than boys.
Keywords:
Perceptions of Gender, Computer Science, Discrimination
References
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Ceci, S. J. (2015). Women in the academy: Past, present, and future.Past as Prologue,18(25):273.
Cheryan, S., Lombard, E. J., Hudson, L., Louis, K., Plaut, V. C., and Murphy, M. C.(2019). Double isolation: Identity expression threat predicts greater gender disparities in computer science.Self and Identity, pages 1–23.
Cheryan, S., Plaut, V. C., Davies, P. G., and Steele, C. M. (2009). Ambient belonging: how stereotypical cues impact gender participation in computer science.Journal of personality and social psychology, 97(6):1045.
DTI-MEC (2018).Rede federal de educação profissional, científica e tecnológica.http://plataformanilopecanha.mec.gov.br/2019.html. Mai 19, 2020.
Giannakos, M. N., Pappas, I. O., Jaccheri, L., and Sampson, D. G. (2017). Understanding student retention in computer science education: The role of environment, gains, barriers and usefulness. Education and Information Technologies, 22(5):2365–2382.
Leslie, S.-J., Cimpian, A., Meyer, M., and Freeland, E. (2015). Expectations of brilliance underlie gender distributions across academic disciplines.Science, 347(6219):262–265.
Master, A., Cheryan, S., and Meltzoff, A. N. (2016). Computing whether she belongs: Stereotypes undermine girls’ interest and sense of belonging in computer science.Journal of Educational Psychology, 108(3):424.
Michell, D., Szorenyi, A., Falkner, K., and Szabo, C. (2017). Broadening participation notborder protection: how universities can support women in computer science.Journalof Higher Education Policy and Management, 39(4):406–422.
Misa, T. J. (2011).Gender codes: Why women are leaving computing. John Wiley &Sons.
Mishkin, A. (2019). Applying self-determination theory towards motivating young women in computer science. In Proceedings of the 50th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education, pages 1025–1031.
Moss-Racusin, C. A., Sanzari, C., Caluori, N., and Rabasco, H. (2018). Gender bias produces gender gaps in stem engagement.Sex Roles, 79(11-12):651–670.
Santos, C. M. (2018).Por que as mulheres “desapareceram” dos cursos de computação? https://jornal.usp.br/universidade/por-que-as-mulheres-desapareceram-dos-cursos-de-computacao/. Mai 19, 2020.
Strayhorn, T. L. (2018). College students’ sense of belonging: A key to educationalsuccess for all students. Routledge.
Yin, R. K. (2015). Estudo de Caso-: Planejamento e métodos. Bookman editora.
Published
2020-11-24
How to Cite
SILVA, Uyara F.; FERREIRA, Deller J.; AMBRÓSIO, Ana Paula L.; OLIVEIRA, João L. S..
Undergraduate Students' Perceptions of Gender in Computer Science. In: BRAZILIAN SYMPOSIUM ON COMPUTERS IN EDUCATION (SBIE), 31. , 2020, Online.
Anais [...].
Porto Alegre: Sociedade Brasileira de Computação,
2020
.
p. 632-641.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.5753/cbie.sbie.2020.632.
