Women,%20Mathematics%20and%20Computer%20Science

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Women, Mathematics and Computer Science

• Orit Hazzan
• Department of Education in Technology and Science
• Technion, Haifa, Israel 32000
• oritha_at_techunix.technion.ac.il

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Outline

• Data from Israeli high-school
• Research setting
• Preliminary data analysis
• Questionnaire
• Teacher workshop

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Data from Israeli high schools- Highest level
1999Matriculation
CS Math Literature Bible
3,990 (72) 5,602 (57) 757 (16) 2,538 (39) Boys
1,538 (28) 4,179 (43) 4,041 (84) 3,992 (61) Girls
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Research Setting

• Focus
• High Schools
• (Gal-Ezer, J., Beeri, C., Harel, D., Yehudai, A.
  (1995). A high school program in Computer
  Science. Computer, 73-80.)
• Army
• For future research
• Academia (from B.Sc. to academic positions)
• Industry

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Research Setting Three stages

• First stage Description of the situation in
  Israel
• Numbers (quantitative research)
• Attitudes (qualitative research) Next Slides
• Second stage Identify the reasons why boys and
  girls choose CS (or not)
• Third stage Based on 1 and 2 - recommendations

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Women in CSHow we research the topic?

• Quantitative data analysis
• Interviews
• Questionnaires
• Teacher workshop

? ?
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Attitudes
CS Boys and girls in CS What Who
Teachers (CS teachers, others) Principals Advisors
High-school pupils
Pre-service teachers
Soldiers
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Attitudes

• Questionnaire multiple-choice open questions
  (14 teachers).

Definite Yes Yes Neutral No Definite No
6 5 1 2 There is a difference in girls and boys attitude towards CS
5 7 1 1 Pupils who choose the highest level of matriculation in CS, select the highest level also in other subjects
6 2 5 1 Girls and boys choose CS for the same reasons
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Attitudes Teacher explanations

• There is a difference in girls and boys
  attitude towards CS
• Definitely Yes (6 teachers)
• Girls work more precisely and by the book Boys
  work more by tricks.
• Girls are shy to show that they do not know and
  do not understand. This is especially true in
  mixed groups.
• Yes (5 teachers)
• Especially in the lab the boys feel free.

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Attitudes Teacher explanations

• Pupils who choose the highest level of
  matriculation in CS, select the highest level
  also in other subjects.
• If yes, please specify what subjects
• Definitely Yes (5 teachers) Yes (7 teachers)
• In all answers appear either
• Mathematics
• or
• Physics/Chemistry/Biology
• or both.

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Attitudes Teacher explanations

• Girls and boys choose CS for the same reasons.
• If yes please specify the reasons if not
  which reasons fit boys? Which reasons fit
  girls?
• Yes (6 teachers)
• Both genders conceive the subject as an
  intellectual and social challenge.
• No (5 teachers)
• For boys it is practical it talks to them , a
  profession for the future. It is boring for the
  girls, it is difficult for them.
• The boys think about the future, to be part of
  the hi-tech sector The girls do not have the
  same financial motivation.

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Data collection Attitudes

• Teacher workshop
• Activities (will be elaborated)
• At its end the teachers get research tasks (for
  payment)
• Purpose
• Teachers involvement in the topic
• Teachers involvement in data collection
• Teachers awareness
• Variety of resources and points of view
  (different schools, different teachers).

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Teacher workshop Activities
Factors that encourage/discourage girls and boys
from choosing CS.
Both genders Boys Girls
Encourage
Discourage
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Some data

• Example from one of the workshops
• of factors that influence the selection of CS
  in high school

Both genders Boys Girls
4 1 0 Encourage
3 1 7 Discourage
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Some Data

• Example from one of the workshops
• Factors that influence the selection of CS in
  high school

Both genders Boys Girls
Cool A lot of money Dynamic career Hi-tech Bill Gates 0 Encourage
High requirements The hi-tech crisis Requires a lot of work 7 Next Slide Discourage
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Some Data

• Factors that discourage girls from learning CS
• A technological field
• The male image of the field
• Culture (boys get Lego, girls get Barbie)
• Principals, teachers, advisors influence
• Requires a lot of work
• Fear of learning a topic that they will not
  succeed in
• Connection to the kind of work in the future

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Preliminary findings

• Teacher explanations Why girls do not choose CS?
• Emotional (e.g., fear from failure)
• Cognitive (e.g., its difficult)
• Pedagogical (e.g., the learning environment)
• Social (e.g., the nature of the profession)
• Teacher explanations of these kinds appear in all
  activities.

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Preliminary findings

• Central factor The image of the profession
• The name Students (and sometimes teachers)
  connect CS to computer applications.
• That leads to the connection of computers to
  computer games, nerds, etc.
• The tendency to examine the future work place is
  unique for CS (usually it does not exist in
  Mathematics, Biology, Physics).

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Possible actions

• Activities suggested by the teachers
• The profession image Demonstration of CS in
  connection with attractive topics, such as
  biotechnology, genetic.
• Joint project of boys and girls
• Separate classes for girls (similar phenomenon
  was described with respect to physics)
• Collaboration with hi-tech companies