Abstract
With the fast-growing sector of information technology in digitizing societies, the attraction and education of qualified recruits in computer science becomes a key task of tertiary education. Considering the high dropout rates and the continuing gender gap in computer science, the current study builds on the “leaky pipeline” phenomenon of women in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) by investigating belonging uncertainty in computer science as a predictor of students’ dropout intentions. In a study with first-semester computer science students (N = 217) at two time points, we tested the hypotheses that female students experience a greater belonging uncertainty than male students and that this belonging uncertainty is predictive of students’ dropout intentions. Furthermore, we explored whether belonging uncertainty is a more relevant predictor of female than male students’ intentions to drop out of computer science. In line with our predictions, our results show that female students experienced greater uncertainty about their belonging within the domain of computer science than male students and that belonging uncertainty significantly predicted students’ dropout intentions above and beyond the pertinent predictors academic self-efficacy, expectancy of success, perceived future utility value of the subject, and previous academic performance. Belonging uncertainty, however, was a relevant predictor of both female and male computer science students’ dropout intentions.
Zusammenfassung
Der Rekrutierung und Ausbildung qualifizierten Nachwuchses in der Informatik kommt vor dem Hintergrund des rasant wachsenden Sektors der Informationstechnologie eine besondere Bedeutung innerhalb der tertiären Bildung zu. Angesichts der hohen Abbruchquoten und fortwährender Geschlechterunterschiede in der Informatik knüpft die vorliegende Studie an das Phänomen der „Leaky Pipeline“ von Frauen in MINT-Fächern (Mathematik, Informatik, Naturwissenschaft, Technik) an und untersucht, welchen Einfluss die Unsicherheit über die Zugehörigkeit zum Studienfach Informatik auf die Studienabbruchsintention hat. In einer Studie mit Erstsemesterstudierenden (N = 217) zu zwei Messzeitpunkten wurden entsprechend die Hypothesen getestet, dass weibliche Studierende eine größere Unsicherheit bezogen auf ihre Zugehörigkeit erleben als männliche Studierende und dass diese Zugehörigkeitsunsicherheit prädiktiv für die Studienabbruchsintention ist. Des Weiteren wurde exploriert, ob die Unsicherheit über die Zugehörigkeit ein stärkerer Prädiktor für die Studienabbruchsintention weiblicher Studierender ist. Die Ergebnisse zeigen erwartungskonform, dass weibliche Studierende eine stärkere Unsicherheit bezüglich ihrer Zugehörigkeit zum Studienfach Informatik erlebten als männliche Studierende und dass diese über die pertinenten Prädiktoren akademische Selbstwirksamkeit, subjektive Erfolgserwartung, wahrgenommene zukünftige Nützlichkeit des Studienfaches und schulische Leistung hinweg signifikante Vorhersagekraft besaß. Die Zugehörigkeitsunsicherheit war hierbei jedoch sowohl für weibliche als auch für männliche Informatikstudierende relevanter Prädiktor der Studienabbruchintention.
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Höhne, E., Zander, L. Belonging uncertainty as predictor of dropout intentions among first-semester students of the computer sciences. Z Erziehungswiss 22, 1099–1119 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11618-019-00907-y
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11618-019-00907-y