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Diversity or Difference? New Research Supports the Case for a Cultural Perspective on Women in Computing

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Abstract

Gender difference approaches to the participation of women in computing have not provided adequate explanations for women’s declining interest in computer science (CS) and related technical fields. Indeed, the search for gender differences can work against diversity which we define as a cross-gender spectrum of characteristics, interests, abilities, experiences, beliefs and identities. Our ongoing case studies at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) provide evidence to show that a focus on culture offers the most insightful and effective approach for investigating women’s participation in CS. In this paper, we illustrate this approach and show the significance of cultural factors by describing a new case study which examines the attitudes of CS majors at CMU. Our analysis found that most men and women felt comfortable in the school, believed they could be successful in the CS environment at CMU, and thought they fit in socially and academically. In brief, we did not see any evidence of a strong gender divide in student attitudes towards fitting in or feeling like they could be successful; indeed we found that the Women-CS fit remained strong from prior years. Hence, our research demonstrates that women, alongside their male peers, can fit successfully into a CS environment and help shape that environment and computing culture, for the benefit of everyone, without accommodating presumed gender differences or any compromises to academic integrity.

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Notes

  1. Carnegie Mellon’s School of Computer Science is made up of seven departments: the Computer Science Department, the Robotics Institute, the Human Computer Interaction Institute, the Language Technologies Institute, the Institute for Software Research, the Machine Learning department and the Lane Center for Computational Biology.

  2. The synopsis of the NSF program, “EHR: Research on Gender in Science and Engineering” illustrates this point: “Typical projects will contribute to the knowledge base addressing gender-related differences in learning and in the educational experiences.” The goals of the program include: “To discover and describe gender-based differences and preferences in learning science and mathematics” http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2010/nsf10516/nsf10516.htm.

  3. Factors such as opportunities, experience, exposure to computing are outside of gender and not intrinsic to one gender or the other.

  4. http://www.about.collegeboard.org/.

  5. At CMU new students are admitted directly into the CS major.

  6. Here we refer to the Ph.D. granting schools with data collected and monitored by the CRA Taulbee Reports.

  7. Women@SCS is a professional organization of faculty and students in CMU’s School of Computer Science working to promote diversity in the field both on-campus and through outreach programs. The organization contributes to building an environment that works for all. For a fuller picture of the activities and resources offered through Women@SCS please see the web site at: http://www.women.cs.cmu.edu.

  8. One example of this is the Women@SCS led “Pre-Registration Event” advertised as “No Faculty Allowed” and open to all undergraduates. Students share information and advice about classes and professors. In other words they formalize a common activity more readily available to those in the majority and make it available to all.

  9. Pacesetters, an offshoot of NCWIT (National Center for Women & Information Technology), is a group of schools around the nation who have shown themselves to be outstanding examples of good practices for diversity in CS and IT.

  10. One example is CS4HS (Computer Science for High School Teachers), now in its 6th year, which provides resources to help High School teachers bring a broad range of computer science principles into their classrooms. Another example is OurCS (Opportunities for Undergraduate Research in Computer Science), a 3 days research focused workshop in which undergraduate women from across the nation come to CMU to work in teams on research problems designed and led by CMU faculty.

  11. This research study was funded through the CRA-W undergraduate research program (CREU).

  12. The 2002 and 2004 interviews were carried out as part of a project funded by the Sloan Foundation. Surveys carried out 2004–2005 were funded by a grant from the CRA-W, CREU program.

  13. See the CREU website for more details: http://www.cra-w.org/creu.

  14. Two examples of this cultural message are Peggy Orenstein’s Schoolgirls: Young Women, Self Esteem, and the Confidence Gap, Anchor, 1995 and the AAUW Report Shortchanging Girls, Shortchanging America, AAUW 1991.

  15. See http://www.hr.web.cmu.edu/drg/overview/statement.html.

  16. We plan to continue our investigations over the next few years using surveys and in-depth interviews as data collection tools.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Computer Science, Carnegie Mellon University, 5000 Forbes Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA, 15213, USA

    Carol Frieze

  2. Information Systems Program, Carnegie Mellon University, 5000 Forbes Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA, 15213, USA

    Jeria L. Quesenberry

  3. Pittsburgh, PA, USA

    Elizabeth Kemp

  4. Qualcomm, 5775 Morehouse Drive, San Diego, CA, 92121, USA

    Anthony Velázquez

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  1. Carol Frieze
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  2. Jeria L. Quesenberry
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  4. Anthony Velázquez
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Correspondence to Carol Frieze.

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Frieze, C., Quesenberry, J.L., Kemp, E. et al. Diversity or Difference? New Research Supports the Case for a Cultural Perspective on Women in Computing. J Sci Educ Technol 21, 423–439 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10956-011-9335-y

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