The Underrepresentation of Women in Information Technology Careers

1
The Under-representation of Women in Information
Technology Careers

• Donna M. Grant
• April 28, 2006

2
Research Objective

• What are the seminal factors responsible for
  the desolate interest of high school girls in
  Information Technology Careers?

3
Outline

• Overview
• Importance of Research
• Multi-paper Dissertation
• Problem Formulation
• Model
• Research Methodology
• Dissertation Timeline
• Conclusion

4
Overview
5
Importance of Research

• Predicted IT workforce shortage
• US losing global technological leadership
• Less Diverse Workforce generating a limited array
  of IT solutions
• Decline in womens enrollment in IT majors

6
Decline in Womens Enrollment
7
Multi-paper Dissertation

• Proposed Article Titles and Contribution
• Paper 1 - Seminal Barriers for Womens Inclusion
  in IT Careers
• Barriers identified in one comprehensive model
• Paper 2 - Perception of Computers, IT Careers and
  IT Workers What Do Girls Say About IT?
• Results of a study of 300 girls from
  diverse backgrounds at four high schools
• Paper 3 - A Framework to Identify Barriers for
  Female High School Students IT Career
  Alternatives
• Updated model, identifying seminal barriers at
  this age and showing interrelationships among
  them

8
Problem Formulation

• H1 Girls are less likely to choose IT as their
  major than other disciplines.
• H2 Factors that girls identify as important in
  their career choice differ substantially from
  factors they believe characterize IT jobs.
• H3 Girls feel that it is important for their
  career to have a social or community component,
  and they do not believe that IT careers have this
  characteristic.

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Problem Formulation (continued)

• H4 Girls think IT careers have a primary
  emphasis in computer programming.
• H5 Girls do not have an accurate perception of
  what people in the IT field do.
• H6 Girls think careers in IT require a strong
  background in mathematics.
• H7 Girls have a negative image of people who
  work in IT fields as being geeks, nerdy and
  generally unsocial.

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Problem Formulation (continued)

• H8 Girls do have computers in their homes with
  access when they want it they like using
  computers, spend a considerable amount of time on
  them and started using them at an early age.
• H9 Girls have not have taken and do not plan to
  take a computer course.
• H10 Girls receive little encouragement from
  parents, teachers, counselors or peers regarding
  IT careers.

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Problem Formulation (continued)

• H11 Girls do not have access to role models or
  family/friends who work in IT.
• H12 Girls feel uncomfortable in considering a
  male-dominated occupation.
• H13 Girls do not identify stereotypes or gender
  bias as reasons that they dislike computers,
  computer courses or IT careers.
• H14 Girls will not identify a lack of
  confidence in their IT skills.

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Model - Stages in IT Career Lifecycle
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Stage I Model
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Stage I Barriers
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Stage I Barriers (continued)
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Stage I Barriers (continued)
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Research Methodology - Instrument

• Derived from survey created by Elizabeth Creamer
  for NSF funded project at Virginia Tech.
• Includes seven major subject areas
• Majority Four point Likert and one five point as
  a result of pilot test
• Six Open-ended questions

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Research Methodology Research Instrument Tests

• Content Validity Three faculty members
• Face Validity Three individuals
• Pilot test 1 - Six Her CTI undergraduates
• Pilot test 2 - Four female senior high school
• Instrument modified six times

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Research Methodology - Schools
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Dissertation Timeline

• Defend Dissertation Proposal - June 2006
• Complete Paper 1- July 2006
• Data Analysis for Paper 2 - Aug. 2006
• Complete Paper 2 - Sept. 2006
• Complete Paper 3 Nov. 2006
• Revise Proposal Chapters - Jan. 2006
• Develop Conclusion Feb. 2007
• Defend Dissertation - April 2007

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Conclusion

• Research Contribution
• A comprehensive model of factors and their
  relationships will serve as a foundation for
  exploring new strategies and programs to attract
  high school girls to the IT industry.

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References

• Beyer, S., Rynes, K., Haller, S. (2004).
  Deterrents to women taking computer science
  courses. IEEE Technology and Society Magazine,
  23(1), 21-28.
• Camp, T. (1997). The incredible shrinking
  pipeline. Communications of the ACM, 40(10),
  103-110.
• Cohoon, J. M. (2002). Recruiting and retaining
  women in undergraduate computing majors. ACM
  SIGCSE Bulletin, 34(2), 48-52.
• Frenkel, K. A. (1990). Women computing.
  Communications of the ACM, 11(11), 34-46.
• Kiesler, S., Sproull, L., Eccles, J. S. (1985).
  Pool halls, chips, and war games Women in the
  culture of computing. Psychology of Women, 9(4),
  451-462.

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References

• Lazowska E. (2002) 19th Century Design in a 21st
  Century World. ACM SIGCSE Bulletin, 34(2),
  11-12.
• Margolis, J., Fisher, A. (2002). Unlocking the
  clubhouse Women in computing. Cambridge,
  Massachusetts MIT Press.
• McGee, Marianne Kolbasuk. (2005). New program
  aims to woo more kids into IT careers.
• InformationWeek. Online. Available
  http//informationweek.com/story/showArticle.jhtml
  jsessionidL03QZWT3ZXB32QSNDBCSKH0CJUMEKJVN?artic
  leID170703150x

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References

• Moorman, P., Johnson, E. (2003). Still a
  stranger here Attitudes among secondary school
  students towards computer science. Proceedings of
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  193-197.
• National Center for Educational Statistics.
  (2003). U.S. Department of Education,
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• O'Lander, R. (1996). Factors effecting high
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• Pearl, A., Pollack, M. E., Riskin, E., Thomas,
  B., Wolfe, E., Wu, A. (1990). Becoming a
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• Rowell, G. H., Perhac, D. G., Hankins, J. A.,
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  Proceedings of the 34th SIGCSE technical
  symposium on computer science education, 54-58.

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References

• Shashaani, L. (1994). Gender-differences in
  computer experience and its influence on computer
  attitudes. Journal of Educational Computing
  Research, 11(4), 347-367.
• Spertus, E. (1991). Why are there so few female
  computer scientists? AIT Technical Report 1315.
  MIT AI Lab.
• Teague, J. (2000). Women in computing What
  brings them to it, what keeps them in it? GATES,
  5(1), 45-59.
• Townsend, G. C. (2002). People who make a
  difference Mentors and role models. ACM SIGCSE
  Bulletin, 34(2), 57-61.

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Under-representation of Women in Information
Technology careers

• Questions Discussion