Gender differences in computer science students

Abstract

We examined gender differences and differences in Computer Science (CS) majors vs. non-majors in ability in quantitative areas, educational goals and interests, experience with computers, stereotypes and knowledge about CS, confidence, personality, support and encouragement, stress and financial issues, gender discrimination, and attitudes toward the academic environment in CS. What is unique to this investigation is its multivariate nature. While others have studied these variables in isolation, our study looks at them collectively to identify important interactions among variables. This will eventually allow us to identify a profile of women who pursue careers in CS. The findings are reported in detail below. Particularly noteworthy is that men had more confidence in using computers than did women even when statistically controlling quantitative ability. In fact, female CS majors had less computer confidence than did male non-majors.

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Index Terms

• Social and professional topics

  • Professional topics

    • Computing education

      • Computing education programs

        • Computer science education