Nuancing the discourse of underrepresentation: a feminist post-structural analysis of gender inequality in computer science education in the US

Convertino, Christina

doi:10.1080/09540253.2019.1632417

Cited by 23 publications

(16 citation statements)

References 25 publications

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“…Daniela's accounts of her experiences in the CS club revealed tensions between her and other male members of the club. Similar tensions also happen in CS classrooms in college, where women, in particular women of color, have positioned as outside of and/or not belonging in the male-dominated arena of CS (Convertino, 2019). Despite the harassment from male peers, Daniela authored herself into CS based on the intersecting storylines of underrepresentation and opportunity that she learned from her high school teacher.…”

Section: Underrepresentation Storylinesmentioning

confidence: 89%

“…Underrepresentation storylines are about recruitment and retention of women, in particular women of color in CS (Convertino, 2019). These storylines are tied to efforts to broaden participation in CS.…”

Section: Underrepresentation Storylinesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Related to but distinct from an economically driven opportunity storyline, is what we call the “underrepresentation storyline.” Wider discourses about the underrepresentation of women in CS (Convertino, 2019) shape this storyline to suggest that because of the underrepresentation of women in CS, and the wider interest in broadening participation of women in the field, women will encounter limitless opportunities in CS, and, thus, should pursue a major in CS. In the following analysis, we use figured worlds to provide a more nuanced and differentiated portrayal of the storylines that our participants constructed to “figure” themselves into the cultural realm of the CS major.…”

Section: Theoretical Frameworkmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Storylines in figured worlds: Understanding diverse college students’ decision to major in computer science.

Convertino¹,

Monárrez²

2021

Journal of Diversity in Higher Education

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Given the workforce demand for computer scientists, especially more racially, ethnically, and gender diverse computer scientists (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2016), significant efforts have been made to recruit underrepresented groups to major in computer science (CS; National Science Foundation, 2018). However, there is very little research on how underrepresented students decide to major in computer science. The purpose of this qualitative study was to understand how racially, ethnically, linguistically, and gender diverse students in an introductory CS course, at a Hispanic-serving university on the U.S.-Mexico border, decided to major in CS. Findings demonstrate that participants drew on four principal storylines to decide to major in CS: social mobility and opportunity storylines, user storylines, interest storylines, and underrepresentation storylines. Students' storylines stemmed from multiple sources, including but not limited to the media and family. Findings also show that students' storylines did not align with official storylines found in the figured world of CS in higher education. Rather, results illustrated the nuanced ways in which the media, family, friends, and school personnel influenced students' storylines to shape their decision to major in CS. Implications for practice and policy are discussed.

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Section: Underrepresentation Storylinesmentioning

confidence: 89%

Section: Underrepresentation Storylinesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Theoretical Frameworkmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Storylines in figured worlds: Understanding diverse college students’ decision to major in computer science.

Convertino¹,

Monárrez²

2021

Journal of Diversity in Higher Education

Self Cite

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“…Taken together Discourses of gender difference and underrepresentation simultaneously position women as other to the male norm. Speaking of female students in computer science education, Convertino (2019) argues that otherness and difference make women highly invisible and visible at the same time. This is true for women in higher education.…”

Section: Discourses Of Gender and Leadership Shaping Identitiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This chapter has outlined the importance of Discourses in shaping workplace identities. Offering a feminist poststructuralists perspective, it discounts the notion of gender as a pregiven identity, by emphasising the role of Discourses and cultural practices that create the subject positions available to women (Convertino 2019). This is elaborated on in a meta-analysis of four empirical studies, drawn from different international contexts, first China (Zhao and Jones 2017), then the United States (Dunn et al 2014), and finally two studies by Burkinshaw and White (2017) in the United Kingdom and Australia.…”

Section: Identitiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

A feminist poststructuralist analysis of discourses invoked in the construction of women’s leadership identities in higher education

Jones¹

2020

Educational Administration and Leadership Identity Formation

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The scholarly literature has witnessed many twists and turns in recent years as traditional 'old' style feminist discourse of discrimination and sexism has been replaced by a postfeminist Discourse of autonomy and choice (Gill 2014, Gill and Scharff 2013, Gill et al. 2017. Most recently a 'new' style of empowered feminist activism has (re)surfaced where women claim their voice to speak out against a wide range of issues, such as gender inequality, cultural sexism and masculine hegemony, to name just a few issues within society and specific vocational contexts. The analytical framework in this chapter draws on contemporary theorising of postfeminist and neoliberal Discourses and Discourses of gender and leadership. Focusing on women in higher education and adopting a feminist poststructuralist approach, which views language and discourse spoken as constituting subjectivity, this chapter will consider through a meta-analysis of empirical work, how women's professional identities are shaped and constrained by competing dominant Discourses. The analysis examines the identity work invoked in women's accounts of their workplace experiences in higher education, 3 to illuminate how prominent Discourses are taken on by women and enacted as part of their professional identities.

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Gender, participation and attainment in STEM: A comprehensive overview of long‐term trends in the United Kingdom

Smith,

White

2024

British Educational Res J

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There is a longstanding imperative from both government and industry for a workforce with the skills needed to drive forward the scientific and technological advances that are considered so crucial to the economic prosperity of the nation. However, the skills of this workforce have purportedly been both in short supply and inadequate for many decades, leading to the well‐established narrative of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) skill shortages. One solution to this challenge has been to encourage, through myriad policies and initiatives, more young people, particularly young women, to study more science for longer. This paper contributes to the literature on the supply of STEM workers by documenting the long‐term trends in the participation and attainment of girls and women in STEM education: from school science through to graduate entry into the highly skilled STEM labour market. Using population datasets that extend across seven decades and include millions of students, it shows that gendered patterns of participation in science subjects have varied little in recent decades, suggesting that efforts to increase the number of women studying science in school have not resulted in a substantial increase in well‐qualified female graduates entering highly skilled STEM jobs. Furthermore, studying STEM appears to be generally advantageous for men, in terms of field‐related employment outcomes, but is not always associated with such higher status occupations among women.

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Nuancing the discourse of underrepresentation: a feminist post-structural analysis of gender inequality in computer science education in the US

Cited by 23 publications

References 25 publications

Storylines in figured worlds: Understanding diverse college students’ decision to major in computer science.

Storylines in figured worlds: Understanding diverse college students’ decision to major in computer science.

A feminist poststructuralist analysis of discourses invoked in the construction of women’s leadership identities in higher education

Gender, participation and attainment in STEM: A comprehensive overview of long‐term trends in the United Kingdom

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