ABSTRACT
In this paper, we describe research that reports gender differences in usage of software engineering tools by end-user programmers. We connect these findings with possible explanations based on theories from other disciplines, and then add to that our recent results that these differences go deeper than software engineering tool usage to software engineering strategies. We enumerate the strategies that work better for males and the ones that work better for females, and discuss implications and possible directions for follow-up.
- Bandura, A. Self-efficacy: Toward a unifying theory of behavioral change. Psychological Review 8, 2 (1977), 191--215.Google Scholar
- Beckwith, L. and Burnett M. Gender: An important factor in end-user programming environments? In Proc. IEEE Symposium on Visual Languages and Human--Centric Computing (2004), 107--114. Google ScholarDigital Library
- Beckwith, L. Burnett, M., Wiedenbeck, S., Cook, C., Sorte, S., and Hastings, M. Effectiveness of end-user debugging software features: Are there gender issues? In Proc. CHI 2005, ACM Press (2005), 869--878. Google ScholarDigital Library
- Beckwith, L., Inman, D., Rector, K., Burnett, M. On to the real world: Gender and self-efficacy in Excel, In Proc. VLHCC, IEEE (2007). Google ScholarDigital Library
- Beckwith, L. Kissinger, C., Burnett, M., Wiedenbeck, S., Lawrance, J., Blackwell, A., and Cook, C. Tinkering and gender in end-user programmers' debugging, In Proc. CHI 2006, ACM Press (2006), 231--240. Google ScholarDigital Library
- Blackwell, A. First steps in programming: a rationale for attention investment models. In Proc. IEEE Human--Centric Computing Languages and Environments (2002), 2--10. Google ScholarDigital Library
- Burnett, M., Cook, C. and Rothermel G. End-user software engineering. Communications of the ACM 47, 9 (2004), 53--58. Google ScholarDigital Library
- Busch, T. Gender differences in self-efficacy and attitudes toward computers. Journal of Educational Computing Research 12, 2 (1995), 147--158.Google ScholarCross Ref
- Byrnes, J. P., Miller, D. C. and Schafer W. D. Gender differences in risk taking: A meta-analysis. Psychological Bulletin 125, (1999), 367--383.Google ScholarCross Ref
- Finucane, M., Slovic, P., Merz., C-K., Flynn, J. and Satterfield, T. Gender, race and perceived risk: the white male effect. Health, Risk and Society 2, 2 (2000), 159--172.Google Scholar
- Jones, M. G., Brader--Araje, L., Carboni, L. W., Carter, G., Rua, M. J., Banilower, E. and Hatch, H. Tool time: Gender and students' use of tools, control, and authority. Journal of Research in Science Teaching 37, 8 (2000), 760--783.Google ScholarCross Ref
- Kissinger, C., Burnett, M., Stumpf, S., Subrahmaniyan, N., Beckwith, L., Yang, S., and Rosson, M. B. Supporting end-user debugging: What do users want to know? In Proc. Advanced Visual Interfaces, ACM Press (2006), 135--142. Google ScholarDigital Library
- Meyers--Levy, J. Gender differences in information processing: A selectivity interpretation. In P. Caffarata & A. Tybout (Eds.), Cognitive and Affective Responses to Adverrtising. Lexington, MA, Lexington Books, 1987.Google Scholar
- Rowe, M.B. Teaching Science as Continuous Inquiry: A Basic (2nd ed.). McGraw-Hill, New York, NY 1978.Google Scholar
- Subrahmaniyan N., Beckwith, L., Grigoreanu, V., Burnett, M., Wiedenbeck, S., Narayanan, V., Bucht K., Drummond, R., Fern, X. Testing vs. Code Inspection vs. .. What Else? Male and Female End Users' Debugging Strategies. In Proc. CHI 2008, ACM Press (to appear). Google ScholarDigital Library
- Subrahmaniyan N., Kissinger, C., Rector, K., Inman, D., Kaplan, J., Beckwith, L., and Burnett, M. Explaining debugging strategies to end--user programmers. In Proc. IEEE Symposium on Visual Languages and Human--Centric Computing (2007), 127--134. Google ScholarDigital Library
- Torkzadeh, G. and Koufteros, X. Factorial validity of a computer self-efficacy scale and the impact of computer training. Educational and Psychological Measurement 54, 3 (1994), 813--821.Google ScholarCross Ref
- Wilson, A., Burnett, M., Beckwith, L., Granatir, O., Casburn, L., Cook, C., Durham, M. and Rothermel, G. Harnessing curiosity to increase correctness in end-user programming. In Proc. CHI 2003, ACM Press (2003), 305--312. Google ScholarDigital Library
Index Terms
- Gender in end-user software engineering
Recommendations
The state of the art in end-user software engineering
Most programs today are written not by professional software developers, but by people with expertise in other domains working towards goals for which they need computational support. For example, a teacher might write a grading spreadsheet to save time ...
Effectiveness of end-user debugging software features: are there gender issues?
CHI '05: Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing SystemsAlthough gender differences in a technological world are receiving significant research attention, much of the research and practice has aimed at how society and education can impact the successes and retention of female computer science professionals-...
Tinkering and gender in end-user programmers' debugging
CHI '06: Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing SystemsEarlier research on gender effects with software features intended to help problem-solvers in end-user debugging environments has shown that females are less likely to use unfamiliar software features. This poses a serious problem because these features ...
Comments