Womens careers in Computer Engineering' Case study: Technical University of Madrid

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Womens careers in Computer Engineering.Case
study Technical University of Madrid

• Verónica Sanz González
• Universidad Complutense de Madrid
• Instituto de Filosofía- CSIC, SPAIN

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Overview

• Introduction
• The School of Computer Science at UPM.
• Quantitave Analysis
• Students (1994-1998)
• Faculty (1989-1999)
• Qualitative Analysis
• Questionnaire and Interview structure
• Results and Remarks
• Conclusions and future research

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The School of Computer Science of Technical
University of Madrid (UPM)

• Highlights UPM
• Created in 1971.
• Largest Technical University of Spain.
• 10 higher Engineering Schools and 8 lower
  Technical Schools.
• Characteristics of the School of Computer
  Science
• Created in 1976.
• One of the first three created in the country
• Bachelor degree in Computer Science until 1996.
  From 1997 Computer Engineer degree.

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Quantitative analysis Students
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Quantitative analysis Graduated
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Evolution of Women students
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Quantitative Analysis Faculty
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Women vs Men Faculty
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Qualitative Analysis Faculty

• Sample 10 women Faculty
• 1 Full Professor
• 4 Associate Professors
• 2 College Associate Professors
• 3 Assistant Professors
• Representative of the four School Divisions
• Artificial Intelligence
• Architecture and Technology of Computer Systems
• Applied Mathematics
• Languages, Computers Systems and Software
  Engineering

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Questionnaire Interview Structure

• Career track
• Academic positions and research work.
• Motivations to choose academic career.
• Family situation and compatibility.
• Perception of the women situation in society and
  within their area.
• Personal experiences and general evaluation.

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Results and Remarks

• Career track
• 6/10 Bachelor degree, Ph.D. degree and all their
  Faculty positions in this School.
• 3/10 Ph.D. Degree and all their Faculty
  positions in this School.
• Endogamy a common phenomenon in Spanish academic
  system.
• Usually they start as GSI and obtain a position
  just after their Ph.D.

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Results and Remarks

• Academic positions and research work
• All have developed a typical teaching and
  research work.
• Only the 2 oldest are members of scientific
  committees and editorial boards
• Only 2 have been head of Division, and they were
  the first women at the School.
• No one had been part of the regent board of the
  School during the studied period.

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Results and Remarks

• Motivations to choose academic career
• 8/10 chose it because of personal interest
  (vocational).
• All of them highlight the autonomy of academic
  work.
• All of them pointed out that provides a stable
  position with regular incomes.
• 8/10 valued the possibility of combine family and
  professional activity.
• They believe this balance is easier working in
  the Academia than in private companies.

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Results and Remarks

• Family situation and compatibility
• Only 4 are married and 3 have children.
• The once with children find difficult to combine
  career and family properly.
• Those who have partner are in charge of more than
  half of domestic tasks. (2 of everything!).
• All of them sacrifices free time for themselves,
  their hobbies and social relations, to develop a
  family and career at the same time.
• The 5 youngest express that academic demands
  forced them to postpone maternity.
• They wait until having a secure position to have
  children.

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Results and Remarks

• Perception of the women situation in society and
  within their area
• Most of them think than the main cause of unequal
  situation of women is due social discrimination.
• 8 think that women are well accepted in academy
  within their area.
• But 6 of the 8 believe that women should do more
  than men to obtain the same recognition.
• Some explain this situation base on the male
  preponderance in the informal networks of
  influence.

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Results and Remarks

• Personal experiences and general evaluation
• 5 recognize have felt some kind of gender
  discrimination (specially when competing for
  tenure or higher positions).
• None of them know the existence of equity
  promotion programs. But 6 think it will be
  helpful.
• 8 feel sometimes overloaded due to academic
  tasks. While oldest due to administrative tasks,
  youngest due to research requirements.
• Younger perceive academic career harder than use
  to be before.
• Anyway all of them would choose academic career
  again.

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Conclusions and future research

• Problems accessing to data (sparse sources,
  unformatted, disaggregated by sex,...)
• Spain does not follow UE recommendations from
  ETAN report.
• It is worrying the decreasing of women students
  in Computer Science in Spain.
• The ceiling glass is still a fact regarding women
  faculty.
• Comparative studies with other universities in
  Spain and in other countries

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Thank you!!

• Questions, Comments
• Email vsanz2004_at_yahoo.es