Why Women Persist in Their Computer Science Majors

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

Why Women Persist in Their Computer Science Majors Utah State University DigitalCommons@USU All Graduate Theses and Dissertations Graduate Studies 5-2020 Retention of Women in Computer Science: Why Women Persist in Their Computer Science Majors Katarina Pantic Utah State University Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/etd Part of the Computer Sciences Commons Recommended Citation Pantic, Katarina, "Retention of Women in Computer Science: Why Women Persist in Their Computer Science Majors" (2020). All Graduate Theses and Dissertations. 7794. https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/etd/7794 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate Studies at DigitalCommons@USU. It has been accepted for inclusion in All Graduate Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@USU. For more information, please contact [email protected]. RETENTION OF WOMEN IN COMPUTER SCIENCE: WHY WOMEN PERSIST IN THEIR COMPUTER SCIENCE MAJORS by Katarina Pantic A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY in Instructional Technology and Learning Sciences Approved: Jody Clarke-Midura, Ed.D. Sherry Marx, Ph.D. Major Professor Committee Member Mimi Recker, Ph.D. Vicki H. Allan, Ph.D. Committee Member Committee Member Deborah Fields, Ph.D. Richard S. Inouye, Ph.D. Committee Member Vice Provost for Graduate Studies UTAH STATE UNIVERSITY Logan, Utah 2020 ii Copyright © Katarina Pantic 2020 All Right Reserved iii ABSTRACT Retention of Women in Computer Science: Why Women Persist in Their Computer Science Majors by Katarina Pantic, Doctor of Philosophy Utah State University, 2020 Major Professor: Jody Clarke-Midura, Ed.D. Department: Instructional Technology and Learning Sciences Retention of women through graduation in Computer Science (CS) majors is one of the biggest challenges for CS education. Most research in this area focuses on factors influencing attrition rather than why and how women remain committed. The goal of this research study is to understand retention from the perspective of women who persisted in their CS major. Using the theoretical lens of legitimate peripheral participation in communities of practice, I designed and conducted a study that involved focus groups, interviews, journey maps, and experience sampling methods. I found that retention of women in this study was influenced by four different types of interactions and eight different practices inside the CS major. I also found that learning was a matter of multimembership at the intersection of several different communities which supported both these women’s learning and retention. Finally, this dissertation provides a cross-case study narrative that highlights commonalities and differences of different pathways of iv ongoing participation investigated in this study. Such narrative is illustrated by five individual case studies of five women persisting in their CS major. (276 pages) v PUBLIC ABSTRACT Retention of Women in Computer Science: Why Women Persist in Their Computer Science Majors Katarina Pantic Retention of women through graduation in Computer Science (CS) majors is one of the biggest challenges for CS education. Most research in this area focuses on factors influencing attrition rather than why and how women remain committed. The goal of this research study is to understand retention from the perspective of women who persisted in their CS major. Using the theoretical lens of legitimate peripheral participation in communities of practice, I designed and conducted a study that involved focus groups, interviews, journey maps, and experience sampling methods. I found that retention of women in this study was influenced by four different types of interactions and eight different practices inside the CS major. I also found that learning was a matter of multimembership at the intersection of several different communities which supported both these women’s learning and retention. Finally, this dissertation provides a cross-case study narrative that highlights commonalities and differences of different pathways of ongoing participation investigated in this study. Such narrative is illustrated by five individual case studies of five women persisting in their CS major. vi DEDICATION I dedicate this dissertation to my family: my mother, for always insisting on the importance of education, and my brother, Aleksandar, for being an infinite source of love and encouragement throughout the years of my schooling. vii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS First and foremost, I would like to thank Dr. Jody Clarke-Midura, my advisor and dissertation chair, for all the patience, support and thoughtful feedback throughout this process. You have shaped me as a scholar, and you built my self-confidence. For that and your immense friendship, I am eternally grateful. I would also like to thank my committee members: Dr. Mimi Recker, Dr. Deborah Fields, Dr. Sherry Marx, and Dr. Vicki Allan for sharing their expertise, support, and time, and for guiding me through the development of my research proposal. I have learned so much from each and every one of you throughout the past six years! Apart from my committee, I would like to thank USU Center for Women and Gender who awarded me and Dr. Clarke-Midura a grant in April 2017, which funded my work on this dissertation and provided participant support. I owe my deepest gratitude to Dr. Sarah Brasiel, for getting me back on track when life got in the way, Dr. Andrew Walker for helping me recognize the extent of my accomplishments, and all the wonderful teachers who installed thirst for knowledge in me ever since I was 5. I also feel so much gratitude for having had Deidri Nielson, Annalee Hall, and Dr. Sheri Haderlie in my life for the past few years. Your support and friendship meant a lot. I am also thankful for my ITLS cohort at Utah State University. First and foremost, Joana Franco, for being an amazing writing partner. All those days writing in different coffee places in Logan kept me motivated and supported, and I will never forget that. Frederick Poole and Chongning Sun for allowing me to learn from them on daily viii basis. Megan Hamilton, Dr Min Yuan, Dr Joel Drake, Dr Ryan Cain, Dr Ji-Eun Lee, Stephanie Benson, Dr Jeffrey Thayne, Dr Zeljko Pantic, Yessica Castro, and Dr Gisela Martiz for all the mentoring, emotional support, milestone celebrations and friendships. All of you were my family at USU, and I could not have done it without you. I also want to thank all the CS women and girls who worked with me throughout the years. Whether you were a middle schooler who learned with me in a summer camp, a high school mentor who helped us encourage young programmers, or a mature programmer who shared her stories—I have learned so much from you. Your creativity, resilience in and love for programming were my biggest inspiration for this study. I feel honored to have met you as part of my journey towards the completion of this dissertation. Finally, I feel immense appreciation for my partner, Tedy Anderson, for supporting me throughout the most challenging moments of working on this study. Thank you! Katarina Pantic ix CONTENTS Page ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................... iii PUBLIC ABSTRACT ................................................................................................... v DEDICATION ............................................................................................................... vi ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ............................................................................................. vii LIST OF TABLES ......................................................................................................... xi LIST OF FIGURES ....................................................................................................... xii CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................ 1 Problem Statement ........................................................................................... 2 Significance of This Study ............................................................................... 5 Definition of Terms .......................................................................................... 6 Summary .......................................................................................................... 7 Dissertation Outline .......................................................................................... 7 II. REVIEW OF LITERATURE ........................................................................... 9 Factors Influencing Computer Science Retention of Women in the U.S. ........ 9 Theoretical Framework .................................................................................... 28 Summary .......................................................................................................... 49 III. METHODS ....................................................................................................... 51 Research Design ............................................................................................... 51 Summary .......................................................................................................... 81 IV. RESULTS ......................................................................................................... 82 Demographic Information ...............................................................................
Recommended publications
  • Claudia Friedetzky Saturday, February 21, 10 Am Braddock Supervisor's
    FOCUS February 2015 Volume 41, No. 5 Our Troubled Waters Speaker: Claudia Friedetzky Saturday, February 21, 10 a.m. Braddock Supervisor’s Office, Kings Park Library Water is our most precious resource, and Environmental Leadership program and we take it for granted that when we turn on Public Policy Fellowship program at the the tap, it's always going to be there. In Center for Women in Government. places such as California; however, supplies This is a joint meeting with the Springfield- are running dangerously low. The old Annandale branch. The Braddock struggle between the cowhands and the Supervisor’s Office is located at the back of farmers is being updated to the suburbs the Kings Park Library, 9000 Burke Lake with their golf courses and the commercial Road, Burke, near the intersection with farms that supply all of us with our food. Rolling Road. What role is climate change having in Directions: accelerating the shortages that are forecast From Braddock Road: Turn south on Burke Lake Road. Go one block. Kings Park Library will be on your right. around the globe? And what about our own From Fairfax County Parkway: Turn north on Burke Lake water supplies, both with regard to purity Road. Kings Park Library will be on your left, just past Lake Braddock Secondary School. and supply? If, as proposed, fracking is permitted in the George Washington In this issue: National Forest, what risk will that bring? Vision to Reality ......................................... 2 Why Join AAUW? ....................................... 2 Our guest, Claudia Friedetzky, a climate Book & Author Update .............................. 3 activist with the Maryland Chapter of the STEMtastics ...............................................
    [Show full text]
  • Solving the Equation
    SOLVING THE EQUATION The Variables for Women’s Success in Engineering and Computing EXECUTIVE SUMMARY To download a free copy of the full report, Solving the Equation: The Variables for Women’s Success in Engineering and Computing, go to www.aauw.org/what-we-do/research. More than ever before in history, girls are studying and excelling in science and mathematics. Yet the dramatic increase in girls’ educational achieve- ments in scientific and mathematical subjects has not been matched by similar increases in the representation of women working as engineers and computing professionals. Women made up just 26 percent of computing professionals in 2013, a substantially smaller portion than 25 years ago and about the same percentage as in 1960. In engineering, women are even less well represented, making up just 12 percent of working engineers in 2013. The representation of women in engineering and computing occupations matters. Diversity in the workforce contributes to creativity, productivity, and innovation. Women’s experiences—along with men’s experiences— should inform and guide the direction of engineering and technical innova- tion. We simply can’t afford to ignore the perspectives of half the population in future engineering and technical designs. Advocates have long extolled the importance of advancing girls and women in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). WOMEN IN SELECTED STEM OCCUPATIONS, 1960–2013 60 53% 50 46% 44% 42% 39% 40 35% 35% 34% 33% 32% 28% 30 26% 27% 26% 30% 27% 20% 26% 20 20% Percentage of women of Percentage 12% 11% 11% 12% 9% 10 8% 5% 1% 2% 0 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010 2013 Engineers Chemists and Computer and mathematical Biological scientists material scientists occupations Sources: AAUW analysis of data from U.S.
    [Show full text]
  • From the Woman Question in Technology to the Technology Question in Feminism
    05 Henwood (mh/d) (EJWS) 28/3/00 9:32 am Page 209 From the Woman Question in Technology to the Technology Question in Feminism Rethinking Gender Equality in IT Education Flis Henwood UNIVERSITY OF EAST LONDON ABSTRACT There have, by now, been a number of thorough-going critiques of what has variously been called the ‘equality’, ‘equity’ or ‘liberal’ approach to understanding ‘the woman problem in technology’ by those who would prefer to focus on ‘the technology question in feminism’. Most of these critiques adopt deconstructivist techniques to expose the limitations of equality approaches, including, most centrally, their assumptions about the neutrality of technology and the limited nature of equality programmes designed simply to increase access for women to that technology. However, the critiques themselves have so far failed to come up with convincing alternative interventionist strategies, either because the universalizing tendency of their theoretical perspective gives rise to interventions that fail to deal with the diverse and fragmented nature of women’s experiences and needs, or because recognition of this diversity and fragmentation leaves very little common ground on which to build successful intervention strategies. This article addresses this dilemma in the context of computing and IT education and draws on empirical research on women’s experiences of computing and IT in two different educational settings where issues of gender difference and equality were managed in very contrasting ways. It then offers some suggestions for how both a critical and constructivist discourse on technology might be made to coexist in educational programmes designed to promote gender equality. KEY WORDS computing ◆ education ◆ equality ◆ gender ◆ technology The European Journal of Women’s Studies Copyright © SAGE Publications (London, Thousand Oaks and New Delhi), Vol.
    [Show full text]
  • 1 “We Are Ewits
    “WE ARE EWITS - HEAR US ROAR!”: EMPOWERING WOMEN IN TECHNOLOGY STARTUPS (EWITS) AS AN EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING MODEL TO CHALLENGE GENDERED SOCIAL NORMS IN THE FIELD By CHERYL D. CALHOUN A DISSERTATION PRESENTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF THE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA 2017 1 © 2017 Cheryl D. Calhoun 2 To my wife and family 3 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS First, I would like to thank my wife, Ester, for her support and encouragement throughout this process. She provided many hours of reflection, including some challenging debate, about my ideas and understanding of my work. She was also patient, and incredibly supportive, when I just needed space to work things out for myself. I would also like to thank my children, Sean, and Jessica, who supported me along the way and never doubted that I would accomplish this goal. I would like to thank my Santa Fe College family. The incredible professionals at the educational centers and throughout the college who provided support and understanding while I juggled a full-time academic career along with a full-time pursuit of a PhD. I thank the faculty at the University of Florida, who challenged me in the classroom, and worked with me as I integrated my classroom learning into my years of experience in academia. I thank my committee members, Dr. Kara Dawson, Dr. Rosana Resende, and Dr. Andy Naranjo, who provided challenging feedback and pushed me to refine my thinking and align my research goals. I would like to thank my chair, Dr.
    [Show full text]
  • WOMEN TECHNOLOGISTS COUNT Recommendations and Best Practices to Retain Women in Computing
    WOMEN TECHNOLOGISTS COUNT Recommendations and Best Practices to Retain Women in Computing ANITA BORG INSTITUTE SOLUTIONS SERIES TABLE OF CONTENTS Foreword . 1 Introduction . 2 Leadership and Accountability . 5 Corporate Culture Built for Innovation . 7 Support Networks and Communities . 11 Organizational Infrastructure and Policies . 18 Conclusion . 21 Endnotes . 22 FOREWORD ver the past 15 years, as the Anita Borg Institute has worked to improve the representation and advancement of women in computing, we’ve learned how important it is to retain women in the technical Ocareer pipeline . We know from our work with organizations that turnover among women in technology is a significant problem . Companies recognize that they cannot afford to lose valuable talent, but making a tangible impact on attrition levels can be challenging . Attrition begins when some women struggle in the transition from college to their first technical position in industry . For those who stay initially, the mid level is an especially critical “make or break” point . Many mid-level women leave the technical track to become managers . Others switch companies or step away from technology altogether . Those who advance to senior technical roles face many obstacles as they work toward the top tiers of technical leadership . Keeping women in the technical workforce matters . Teams that have a diversity of perspective, including gender, improve innovation and, ultimately, financial performance . It is in the best interest of technology companies to retain women who are committed to inventing technology and making a contribution in their fields . To institute real change in the workplace, employees throughout the organization need to understand that including people with a broad range of perspective, background and gender is a business imperative .
    [Show full text]
  • Female Under-Representation in Computing Education and Industry - a Survey of Issues and Interventions
    (IJACSA) International Journal of Advanced Computer Science and Applications, Vol. 5, No. 10, 2014 Female Under-Representation in Computing Education and Industry - A Survey of Issues and Interventions Joseph Osunde, Gill Windall, Professor Liz Bacon and Professor Lachlan Mackinnon Department of Computing and Mathematical Sciences, University of Greenwich, London, UK Abstract—This survey paper examines the issue of female Mathematics (STEM) subjects. The second section reviews under-representation in computing education and industry, the key factors which have been proffered as potential causes which has been shown from empirical studies to be a problem for for the under-representation of females in computing over two decades. While various measures and intervention education and industry. This section will further review the strategies have been implemented to increase the interest of girls key arguments and associated theories. in computing education and industry, the level of success has been discouraging. The key intervention strategies implemented which have been employed in an attempt to reverse this trend are The primary contribution of this paper is to provide an discussed in the third section of the article. A review of these analysis of the extensive research work in this area. It outlines strategies provides an opportunity to explore the breadth of the progressive decline in female representation in computing current solutions and identify areas for further investigation. education. It also presents the key arguments that attempt to explain the decline and intervention strategies. We conclude that II. EVIDENCE OF THE PROBLEM there is a need to further explore strategies that will encourage young female learners to interact more with computer A.
    [Show full text]
  • Social Sciences $€ £ ¥
    social sciences $€ £ ¥ Article Segregation, Stereotypes, and STEM Sarah Thébaud and Maria Charles * Department of Sociology, University of California—Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA 93106-9430, USA; [email protected] * Correspondence: [email protected] Received: 10 May 2018; Accepted: 4 July 2018; Published: 9 July 2018 Abstract: Scientific, technical, engineering, and mathematical (STEM) occupations are strongholds of gender segregation in the contemporary United States. While many Americans regard this segregation as natural and inevitable, closer examination reveals a great deal of variability in the gendering of STEM fields across time, space, and demographic groups. This article assesses how different theoretical accounts accord with the available evidence on the gender composition of scientific and technical fields. We find most support for accounts that allow for a dynamic interplay between individual-level traits and the broader sociocultural environments in which they develop. The existing evidence suggests, in particular, that Western cultural stereotypes about the nature of STEM work and STEM workers and about the intrinsic qualities of men and women can be powerful drivers of individual aptitudes, aspirations, and affinities. We offer an illustrative catalog of stereotypes that support women’s STEM-avoidance and men’s STEM-affinity, and we conclude with some thoughts on policy implications. Keywords: gender; STEM; segregation; stereotypes; culture; work; occupations; science; inequality For more than three decades, American educators, policy makers, activists, and business leaders have engaged in research and policy initiatives to increase the presence of women and other underrepresented groups in scientific, technical, engineering, and mathematical (STEM) occupations and fields of study. These efforts have been motivated by interests in broadening opportunities in lucrative, high-status occupations and in ameliorating acute STEM labor shortages that are believed to threaten national prosperity, private profits and the public welfare.
    [Show full text]
  • Women in Computing 2
    ! ! An#In"Depth&Examination&of&Data&and& Trends'Regarding'Women'in'Computing! ! ! Stuart!Zweben&and&Elizabeth!Bizot! Final&Report! ! September(1,"2015! Acknowledgements This work was supported by grant B2014-12 from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Data from the Survey of Earned Doctorates was licensed through the National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics at the National Science Foundation. The use of NSF data does not imply NSF endorsement of the research methods or conclusions contained in this report. 1 Table of Contents Acknowledgements ............................................................................................................................................... 1 Table of Contents .................................................................................................................................................. 2 List of Figures ........................................................................................................................................................ 4 List of Tables ......................................................................................................................................................... 6 Introduction ............................................................................................................................................................ 7 Data Sources .......................................................................................................................................................... 8 Prior
    [Show full text]
  • Solving the Equation: the Variables for Women's Success
    SOLVING THE EQUATION The Variables for Women’s Success in Engineering and Computing SOLVING THE EQUATION The Variables for Women’s Success in Engineering and Computing Christianne Corbett, M.A., AAUW Senior Researcher Catherine Hill, Ph.D., AAUW Vice President of Research Published by AAUW 1111 Sixteenth St. NW Washington, DC 20036 202.785.7700 [email protected] www.aauw.org Copyright © 2015 AAUW All rights reserved Printed in the United States of America First printing: March 2015 Library of Congress Control Number: 2015933064 ISBN: 978-1-879922-45-7 082-15 05M 03/15 AAUW deeply appreciates the following generous contributors for their support of this research report. AAUW gratefully acknowledges the financial support of the National Science Foundation, Research on Gender in Science and Engineering award 1420214, for the production and dissemination of this report. Any opinions, findings, and con- clusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation. AAUW gratefully acknowledges AT&T, the exclusive Information and Communications Technology Member of AAUW’s STEM Workforce Coalition. AT&T’s leadership support will help the report inspire maximum impact among the broadest audience possible. The views expressed in this report do not necessarily reflect the views of AT&T. AAUW gratefully acknowledges the members of the Mooneen Lecce Giving Circle for their generous support and encouragement of AAUW’s research for the past eight years. Their work honors the legacy of Mooneen Lecce, whose passion for AAUW’s mission continues to inspire volunteerism and charitable giving dedicated to improving the lives of women and girls.
    [Show full text]
  • Recruiting Women Into Computer Science and Information Systems
    2014 ASCUE Proceedings Recruiting Women into Computer Science and Information Systems Steven Broad1 Assistant Professor of Mathematics and Computer Science [email protected] Meredith McGee2 [email protected] Saint Mary's College Notre Dame, IN 46556 574-284-4497 Abstract While many technical disciplines have reached or are moving toward gender parity in the number of bachelors degrees in those fields, the percentage of women graduating in computer science remains stubbornly low. Many recent efforts to address this situation have focused on retention of undergraduate majors or graduate students, recruiting undergraduate women into graduate programs, or appealing to girls through K12-focused experiences. Our approach focuses more specifically on recruiting women to take their first “major-track” computer science course (CS1) and strategically redeveloping that course to spur interest in computing. Our strategy for so doing is to better understand how women view computer science prior to any direct experience in college-level study, developing a woman-centered first programming course that focuses on fundamentally-sound curriculum, addressing the retention recommendations offered in other studies, and face-to-face recruiting to encourage students to register for their first course. Introduction In 2010, only 18% of computer science bachelor’s degrees were awarded to women, despite the fact that 37% of such degrees were awarded to women in 1985. [1] This worrisome trend was noted by many computer scientists and was systematically studied in an attempt to reverse it. The Computing Research Association’s Committee on the Status of Women in Computing Research produced a report aimed at summarizing much of this work.
    [Show full text]
  • Women in Computer Science
    University of Washington Tacoma UW Tacoma Digital Commons Sociology Student Work Collection School of Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences Fall 2020 Women in Computer Science Jorge Aguilar-Flores [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.tacoma.uw.edu/gender_studies Recommended Citation Aguilar-Flores, Jorge, "Women in Computer Science" (2020). Sociology Student Work Collection. 71. https://digitalcommons.tacoma.uw.edu/gender_studies/71 This Undergraduate Presentation is brought to you for free and open access by the School of Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences at UW Tacoma Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Sociology Student Work Collection by an authorized administrator of UW Tacoma Digital Commons. Women in Computer Science Jorge Aguilar Abstract For this week’s unit, Gender at work, I chose to focus my investigation on gender in the computing industry. More specifically, the goal of my research was to uncover some of the reasons behind the lack of female representation in the computer science world. As a minority in computer science, this investigation has been very personal to me because it has allowed me to learn more about some of the institutional oppressors that have been adopted over time to further marginalize minority populations and allow a certain demographic to flourish. As you may have learned from our previous discussions and explorations in Sociology, that demographic is the average white, able- bodied, Christian male. I have reviewed a plethora of scholarly articles and have made note of some of the frequent themes that have led to the lack of female representation in computer science, and have compiled all these claims and conversations into this presentation.
    [Show full text]
  • *Se CMVTI JG * DPVME
    *sECMVTI JG*DPVME $-04*/((&/%&3%*7*%&4 */%*(*5"-4,*--4 5)306()&%6$"5*0/ 8JUIUIFTVQQPSUPG This publication was prepared by UNESCO for the EQUALS Skills Coalition, one of three coalitions that comprise the EQUALS partnership. EQUALS is a global partnership of governments and organizations dedicated to promoting gender balance in the technology sector by championing equality of access, skills and leadership for women and men alike. The Skills Coalition, Access Coalition, Leadership Coalition and a transversal Research Group release knowledge products periodically, organize competitions and funds, and take actions in countries and internationally to advance EQUALS’s mission. The German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) generously supported this publication financially and co-leads the EQUALS Skills Coalition with UNESCO. A dedicated working group composed of digital skills and gender experts guided the development of the content. Published in 2019 by EQUALS © EQUALS GEN/2019/EQUALS/1 REV 2 This publication is available in Open Access under the Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 IGO (CCBY-SA 3.0 IGO) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/igo/). Authors: Mark West, Rebecca Kraut and Han Ei Chew Design: Huieun Kim Contents ABOUT THIS PUBLICATION ____ 04 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ____ 06 POLICY PAPER Rationales and recommendations for 07 gender-equal digital skills education ____ THINK PIECE 1: The ICT gender equality paradox 74 ____ THINK PIECE 2: The rise of gendered AI and its troubling 85 repercussions ____ BIBLIOGRAPHY
    [Show full text]