Gender Balance

 

Computing has become known as a subject for “men” in today’s society, so much so that computing companies are trying to turn the focus to recruiting more women. With saying that, research has shown that over time, the enrolments of women within the computing industry has declined from 32% to 18% in 2004 (Miliszewska, I., Barker, G., Henderson, F. & Sztendur, E. 2006). A survey that had been carried out for both genders stated that women did not feel supported in their journey of computing courses. Within secondary schools, we as teachers can help with this problem by including more focus on women within the classroom and enforcing a gender balance.

Teach Computing offer courses for women to help support their journey within the computing field. Teachers can help influence and encourage secondary pupils within the classroom by making young girls aware that computing is a subject for everyone.

It is found that women tend for avoid continuing with computer science in further education because of “Maths Anxiety” (de Palma, Paul. 2001). When looking into the research around the maths anxiety within women, it does not make sense as 50% of women Maths Graduates tend to gain a job from their degree. Teachers need to raise awareness around this in order to motivate women and make them feel that they are capable to succeed in the computer science field.

A balance in gender can also be promoted in the classroom using resources. An example of this could be on worksheets. Teachers could include a fact on the worksheet that highlights something a woman has done for the benefit of the computing industry. Rather than talking about the man who created the World Wide Web, teachers can highlight that in-fact, the first ever considered programmer was a woman called Ada Lovelace. Ada had written notes that explained “how the notion of a specific engine could transition calculation to computation” (Mary, G. 2021).

Whilst studying about the gender balance within computing, research is showing that girls feel intimidated in the classroom as the subject is male dominant but there was an idea of holding extra-curricular activities for girls only to help boost their confidence in computer science (Olivieri, Lisa M. 2005).

 

 





References:

Miliszewska, I., Barker, G., Henderson, F. & Sztendur, E. (2006). The Issue of Gender Equity in Computer Science – What Students Say. Journal of Information Technology Education: Research, 5(1), 107-120. Informing Science Institute. Retrieved February 4, 2022 from https://www.learntechlib.org/p/111535/.

de Palma, Paul (2001). Viewpoint: Why women avoid computer science. Communications of the ACM, 44(6), 27–30. doi:10.1145/376134.376145 

G, M. (2021). 10 somewhat interesting and sometimes fascinating facts about women in tech. [online] The Shadow. Available at: https://medium.com/the-shadow/10-somewhat-interesting-and-sometimes-fascinating-facts-about-women-in-tech-caab5614db8e [Accessed 4 Feb. 2022].

Olivieri, Lisa M. (2005). High school environments and girls' interest in computer science. ACM SIGCSE Bulletin, 37(2), 85–. doi:10.1145/1083431.1083470 

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