Gender Gap Running head: GENDER GAP IN COMPUTER SCIENCE Research Proposal

Gender Gap in Computer Science Research Proposal Michael Scott Alexander University of British Columbia ETEC 500 Section 65A Dr. Stephen Carey April 19th, 2009

Gender Gap A. The Current Situation: The number of females electing to take computer science and computer science related courses in post-secondary has been declining since it peaked in the mid-1980s. In some post-

secondary institutions, the number of females taking computer science is critically low compared to the overall percentage of total females enrolled in post-secondary institutions across Canada and the United States. Several institutions are taking initiatives to identify causes of such a discrepancy between the numbers of males enrolled in computer science compared to the numbers of females. To fully comprehend these issues, one must look back at the history of computer science as it emerged as an academic field in colleges and universities across North America. The studies and research have listed some possible causes for the decline in female enrollment which will be looked at in some depth as well as to some possible strategies that can be implemented by educators to try and attract more females into realizing that computer science is a viable option for both males and females in post-secondary institutions. The challenge is to bear in mind that although the trend seems to be consistent across North America, each college and university is unique and the cause and effect relationship is not the same at any two institutions. The same can be said for strategies to address the discrepancy and it must be taken into account the exclusiveness of each institution and identify what strategy works best to solve this. As a high school Information Technology Instructor and judging by demographics of students in my technology classes, I would agree that there is a gender gap based solely on the demographics of my classroom; in the 168 students enrolled in technology based classes from grades 9 to 12 at Mission Secondary School, only 52 of those are female students (30.1%). The gap is even higher at the senior level courses, elective courses offered to students in grade 11 and

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12; only 23 of 110 (20.95%) students at Mission Secondary School enrolled in technology based courses are females. As an elective teacher, my program is based on numbers and if Im not reaching all of the students, some of my courses may be cancelled. Also, technology is a rapidly growing field and needs to attract the best and brightest students from both genders to fully maximize its potential.

B. In search of Solutions: It has become clear that students bring issues to school and the schools compound those issues. Margolis and Fischer (2002) have taken surveys from teachers of why girls enroll in computer science and why they do not: Why girls enroll in computer science: Computing is useful in many fields They have talent and enjoy math They have been previously encouraged by parents, teachers, or friends They enjoy problem solving They see great job opportunities They have course requirements Friends are taking the course They enjoyed and succeeded in an earlier course

Why girls avoid enrolling in computer science: Courses are taught in a dry, abstract style focused on language details rather than applications The classroom climate is unfriendly to girls The course has too few girls The course has a geeky reputation and girls do not want to be associated with that image or with people in the class

Gender Gap They fear they know less than others and some of the boys reinforce that fear Guidance counselors or parents actively or passively discourage girls from taking computer science They fear ruining their GPA They have broad interests that result in scheduling conflicts, since computer science courses are often toughly only in a single period They subscribe to the stereotype that computing is a male activity They find the games that are pervasive in the computer culture boring

In a search for solutions to my discrepancy in female enrollment in my senior level computer courses, I will implement a few strategies suggested by Margolis and Fischer (2002) to try and increase my female numbers in senior courses to a more equitable ratio.

Review of Related Literature: Computer science is one of a small number of fields in science that women have been able to contribute from its inception due to their changing role in society over the last two centuries. Since computer science formally emerged as an academic field in the 1960s, it does not seem overly ironic that this is around the same time as the development in the field of womens studies was emerging; women have had the rare opportunity to be involved in a development of a science field of academia. (Estrin, 1996), For example, Ada Lovegrace was pivotal in the development of Charles Babbages analytical engine as a programmer in the 19th century (Wright, 1997) as well as many female programmers that were employed during the Second World War that built the first electronic computers (Kraft, 1977). It would seem rational to believe that since women were present in actively contributing to computer science since its inception, that today women would be highly represented amongst the leaders in the industry and achieving great recognition in the field. This however, doesnt seem to be the case. As Esposito

Gender Gap (2008) echoes from a study conducted by the Association for Computing Machinery in collaboration with the National Science Foundation: The number of bachelor degrees awarded in computer science has been dropping overall, for men and women, but the pace of decline has been more rapid among women. In the 1985-86 academic year, a peak of 41,889 Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Science degrees were awarded in computer science; 36 percent went to women. But by 1993-94, the number of degrees fell to 24,200, with only 28.4 percent awarded to women. Yet at the same time, women accounted for 54.5 percent of degrees awarded in all disciplines. In just under a decade in the United States, the number of bachelor degrees afforded to women shrank from 15,080 down to 6,872; almost a 45.6 percent reduction in 8 years. All the while,

women were still prevalent in academia over that same period of time. This trend has continued over the past 14 years as well. As Stross points out in The New York Times (2008, November 16) reports a rapid decline in undergraduate degrees in computer science and engineering fell from 19 percent in 2001-02 to 12 percent in 2006-07 from institutions that grant PhDs in Canada and the United States; one could argue the North American leaders in developing technology. Statement of Hypotheses and Research Goals: Stage 1: (Implement recruiting strategies) Hypotheses: 1. By implementing strategies to target female students into enrolling into senior elective computer science courses, the ratio of females to males in these courses will increase significantly. Other Goals of the Study: 1. To increase the number of students overall enrolled in the elective computer science senior courses.

Gender Gap 2. To collect data to share with other schools throughout the district to improve female enrollment throughout the district in senior level computer science courses. Stage 2: (Implement retention strategies) Hypotheses: 1. Through continuing implementing strategies to target female students into enrolling into senior elective computer science courses, the ratio of females to males in these courses will be the same or increase from Stage 1. 2. Implement strategies to retain females currently enrolled in senior level computer science courses so that they will re-enroll in computer science courses.

Other Goals of the Study: 1. To obtain feedback on what strategies were effective in recruiting female students and what strategies were not effective. 2. To collect data on females that plan to pursue computer science in post-secondary institutions. Methods Stage 1: A. Participants: Approximately 456 students at Mission Secondary School are currently enrolled in Grades 10 and 11 are eligible to take senior level elective courses. Currently, there are 110 students enrolled in senior level computer courses at Mission Secondary School of which only 23 are females. The school is located in the Fraser Valley in a semi-rural area with a total student population of 1040. The student population is diverse; 72% Caucasian, 15% Indo-Canadian, 10% Native, 3% other. I have chosen participants from this school because they are my students; so, out of a desire to increase my numbers in my courses at the same time improving the computer science education where I am teaching. The control group is the statistics of my current numbers in my senior computer science courses for the 2008/2009 year. My choice of this particular grade is due to my observation that this is the age that most females are not electing to enroll in computer science.

B. Procedures The implementation of strategies suggested by Margolis and Fischer (2002) will commence during Mission Secondary Schools course planning time period. This period runs

Gender Gap from April 27th through to May 8th 2009 as this is the time period that students choose courses for the upcoming 2009/2010 school year and will focus on recruitment of females into senior level computer courses. The following strategies will be implemented: Educate counselors and administration on the need to recruit and retain female in computer science courses. Date: April 16th meeting in the counseling office

Computer job advertisements and articles posted in the girls bathrooms and locker rooms showing the potential opportunities Date April 17th Recruit a mover and shaker that can recruit others Date: April 17th meeting with three of my top students whom are also in the MSS Leadership class Focus deliberate effort to recruit girls. Dates: April 27th May 1st presentations to Planning 10 and English 11 classes; these are the classes that course planning takes place. Get girls to recruit other girls. Dates: April 27th May 1st Marketing to Grades 8 and 9. Dates May 4th May 8th presentations to English 8 and English 9 classes; these are the classes that course planning takes place Based on research by Margolis and Fischer (2002) teachers that applied these strategies reported an increase in female enrollment from 5% to 31% with the mean improvement being 23%. I have deliberately neglected focusing on recruitment of males so that they will act as a control group. I hope to increase the number of girls enrolled with maintaining or slightly improving the number of males in my courses.

C. Data Analysis Pre and post implementation figures will be taken to determine whether there is a significant improvement in the percentage of females enrolled. The data of most interest, of course, is the difference between the number of girls enrolled as well as the percentage in the post implementation period. Qualitative data will also be collected during this study. I will engage in regular discussion and informal interviews with the girls in both the pre and post implementation to gauge their interest in computer science as well as what are some reasons for electing to take theses course.

Gender Gap The following are pre-implementation figures of the breakdown of my course for the 2008/2009 year: Desktop Publishing 11 # of Students # of Females % of Females 30 11 36.7% Desktop Publishing 12 26 2 7.7% Information Technology 11 28 10 35.7% Information

Technology 12 26 0 0%

Stage 2: A. Participants: Students from Mission Secondary School will participate in the second stage. I will try and focus on retaining my current students in my grade 11 courses; as the data indicates females dramatically drop computer science elective courses in their grade 12 year. I currently only have 2 female students in my grade 12 courses and will be looking to improve those for the 2010/2011 school year.

B. Procedure: Stage 2 will include the recruitment elements from Stage 1, with the addition of the retaining strategies suggested by Margolis and Fischer (2002). The timeline for Stage 2 will be from September 2009 to June 2010 and most of the retaining strategies will be implemented in my classroom, they include: Creating girl friendly classroom and assignments: o Make assignments useful (i.e. CD databases, personal web pages) o Make it personal and local o Interface with other programs o Focus on ease of use o Use big data too large to solve by hand o Use real-world data o Use natural language text manipulate or analyze bodies of text from the web o Make it sensory add graphics, audio, animation and manipulation o Make it socially relevant, use real names

Gender Gap o Simulate real systems o Include observations of the real world or programs behavior o Illustrate how everyday objects work; calculators, vending machines, ATMs Try to bridge the experience gap Get rid of the locker room feel Monitor your own classroom behavior (i.e. asking only boys questions, showing only boys examples) Use the big names of women in computer science (i.e. Ada Lovelace, Grace Hopper)

C. Data Analysis The same data analysis procedure from Stage 1 will be used. I will include the data from the 2008/09 year, 2009/2010 year and 2010/2011 year.

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References College Board AP Central National Summary Reports, Retrieved on November 2, 2008, from http://www.collegeboard.com/prod_dowlaods/about/news_info/cbsenior/yr2008/nationalreport.pdf Computer Hall of Fame, Retrieved on November 18, 2008 from http://www.computermuseum.org/hof/ Esposito, Andi, Steady Decline in Female Computer Majors is Troubling, Telegram & Business Editor, 2008. Estrin, Thelma, Womens Studies and Computer Science; Their Intersection, IEEE Annals of The History of Computing 18, No. 3, 1998. Kraft, Phillip, Programmers and Managers: The Routinization of Computer Programming in the United States, New York: Springer-Verlag, 1977. Margolis, J. & Fisher. A. (2002). Unlocking the Clubhouse: Women in Computing. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. Statistics Canada, Retrieved on November 7, 2008 from http://www.statscan.gc.ca/dailyQuotidian/021029/dq021029a-eng.htm Stross, Randall, What Has Driven Women Out of Computer Science?, The New York Times, November 16, 2008, page BU4. Wright, Rosemary, Women Computer Professionals Controlled Progress in a Male Occupation, New York: The Edwin Mellen Press, 1997.