Outreach programmes to attract girls into computing: how the best laid plans can sometimes fail

Lang, Catherine; Fisher, Julie; Craig, Annemieke; Forgasz, Helen

doi:10.1080/08993408.2015.1067008

Cited by 34 publications

(17 citation statements)

References 10 publications

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“…Not all experiences with computers and programming lead to positive changes in beliefs and attitudes toward technology (Krendl et al, 1989;Lang et al, 2015). The addition of a social element, such as collaboration with a friend or group programming, could increase girls' interest as well (Hanks, Fitzgerald, McCauley, Murphy, & Zander, 2011).…”

Section: Interventions Translational Science and Early Stem: Limitamentioning

confidence: 98%

Programming experience promotes higher STEM motivation among first-grade girls

Master

Cheryan

Moscatelli³

et al. 2017

Journal of Experimental Child Psychology

286

140

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The gender gap in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) engagement is large and persistent. This gap is significantly larger in technological fields such as computer science and engineering than in math and science. Gender gaps begin early; young girls report less interest and self-efficacy in technology compared with boys in elementary school. In the current study (N=96), we assessed 6-year-old children's stereotypes about STEM fields and tested an intervention to develop girls' STEM motivation despite these stereotypes. First-grade children held stereotypes that boys were better than girls at robotics and programming but did not hold these stereotypes about math and science. Girls with stronger stereotypes about robotics and programming reported lower interest and self-efficacy in these domains. We experimentally tested whether positive experience with programming robots would lead to greater interest and self-efficacy among girls despite these stereotypes. Children were randomly assigned either to a treatment group that was given experience in programming a robot using a smartphone or to control groups (no activity or other activity). Girls given programming experience reported higher technology interest and self-efficacy compared with girls without this experience and did not exhibit a significant gender gap relative to boys' interest and self-efficacy. These findings show that children's views mirror current American cultural messages about who excels at computer science and engineering and show the benefit of providing young girls with chances to experience technological activities.

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Section: Interventions Translational Science and Early Stem: Limitamentioning

confidence: 98%

Programming experience promotes higher STEM motivation among first-grade girls

Master

Cheryan

Moscatelli³

et al. 2017

Journal of Experimental Child Psychology

286

140

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…In terms of sector retention, when women do study computer science and enter the ICT sector they are twice as likely to leave than men (termed the 'leaky pipeline'), attributed by Main & Schimpf [10], to "work-family conflicts, the occupational culture of computing fields, and limited mentoring and networking opportunities", and for reasons such as lack of flexibility in contracts, expectations of excessive hours and lack of recognition within their employer's organizations [11]. Despite the best efforts of outreach initiatives (for example, [5]; [12]), the gender imbalance in the UK, as elsewhere, remains pronounced. The underlying principles of many well-meaning interventions have now been questioned, for example, Frieze & Quesenberry [13] raise a concern that the essentialist approach which promotes gender-specific messages is hampering progress, indeed, counter-productive.…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Exploring women’s motivations to study computer science

Smith

Sobolewska

Bhardwaj

et al. 2018

2018 IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference (FIE)

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“…Benefits of all female STEM learning environments have been documented in summer coding programs (Lang, Fisher, Craig, & Forgasz, 2015) as well as within project teams in engineering (Dasgupta, Scircle, & Hunsinger, 2015). Computer science courses may try to experiment with grouping students in different ways to see how these principles apply in their classrooms.…”

Section: Implications For Practicementioning

confidence: 99%

Expanding capacity and promoting inclusion in introductory computer science: a focus on near-peer mentor preparation and code review

Pon-Barry

Packard

John

2017

Computer Science Education

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A dilemma within computer science departments is developing sustainable ways to expand capacity within introductory computer science courses while remaining committed to inclusive practices. Training near-peer mentors for peer code review is one solution. This paper describes the preparation of near-peer mentors for their role, with a focus on regular, consistent feedback via peer code review and inclusive pedagogy. Introductory computer science students provided consistently high ratings of the peer mentors' knowledge, approachability, and flexibility, and credited peer mentor meetings for their strengthened selfefficacy and understanding. Peer mentors noted the value of videotaped simulations with reflection, discussions of inclusion, and the cohort's weekly practicum for improving practice. Adaptations of peer mentoring for different types of institutions are discussed. Computer science educators, with hopes of improving the recruitment and retention of underrepresented groups, can benefit from expanding their peer support infrastructure and improving the quality of peer mentor preparation.

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Outreach programmes to attract girls into computing: how the best laid plans can sometimes fail

Cited by 34 publications

References 10 publications

Programming experience promotes higher STEM motivation among first-grade girls

Programming experience promotes higher STEM motivation among first-grade girls

Exploring women’s motivations to study computer science

Expanding capacity and promoting inclusion in introductory computer science: a focus on near-peer mentor preparation and code review

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