How to Increase the Number of Women Pursuing Computer Science
Faculty Sponsor
Peter Tucker, Whitworth University
Research Project Abstract
In 2022, over one million jobs will go unfilled in the computer science industry. The overall number of college graduates continues to increase each year, yet the number of graduates attaining a computer science degree has remained stagnant. While accounting for gender, there is a downward trend for women. As of 2015 eighteen percent of undergraduate computer science degrees are held by women.
A question that has plagued researchers and the computer science industry is why women are not studying computer science. To answer this question, researchers focused on high school girls. One theory is that the college gender gap can be reversed if high school girls are encouraged to take AP Computer Science classes. The challenge with using high school girls as the focus group is the gender gap begins prior to high school. To solve the gender gap, the problem at the root. Studies suggest the gender gap begins in middle school. This research will focus on the beginnings and causations of the gender gap. The research will then look at a program that targets middle school students and has shown to decrease the gender gap.
Session Number
RS1
Location
Robinson 141
Abstract Number
RS1-d
How to Increase the Number of Women Pursuing Computer Science
Robinson 141
In 2022, over one million jobs will go unfilled in the computer science industry. The overall number of college graduates continues to increase each year, yet the number of graduates attaining a computer science degree has remained stagnant. While accounting for gender, there is a downward trend for women. As of 2015 eighteen percent of undergraduate computer science degrees are held by women.
A question that has plagued researchers and the computer science industry is why women are not studying computer science. To answer this question, researchers focused on high school girls. One theory is that the college gender gap can be reversed if high school girls are encouraged to take AP Computer Science classes. The challenge with using high school girls as the focus group is the gender gap begins prior to high school. To solve the gender gap, the problem at the root. Studies suggest the gender gap begins in middle school. This research will focus on the beginnings and causations of the gender gap. The research will then look at a program that targets middle school students and has shown to decrease the gender gap.
