Encouraging Girls to Participate in Computer Science

TA/CS-SIG 20-Minute Rundown

TCEA’s Technology Applications & Computer Science Special Interest Group (TA/CS-SIG) Secretary/Treasurer

Educational Technology Coordinator, Georgetown ISD, Georgetown, Texas

Former High School Computer Science and Webmastering Teacher

Presenter: Kim Garcia

What Percentage of Your Computer Science Students are Female?

87%

13%

Kim's CS EnrollmentMale Female

Did You Know?

In elementary school, girls like science as much as boys do

Girls and boys who take the AP Computer Science exam score equally

Source: Edudemic, “Why Are Girls Not Pursuing Computer Science Degrees?”, by Katie Lepi, October 12, 2013 http://www.edudemic.com/girls-computer-science-degrees/

Reasons Girls Might Be Avoiding Computer Science

1. Girls’ Perception of Computer Science Computer Science doesn’t help people Computer scientists are geeky guys who

like to be alone at a computer or with a gaming console

Girls don’t feel they fit in to the computer science classroom / environment

Sources: Edudemic, “Why Are Girls Not Pursuing Computer Science Degrees?”, by Katie Lepi, October 12, 2013 http://www.edudemic.com/girls-computer-science-degrees/

“Ambient belonging: how stereotypical cues impact gender participation in computer science,” by Cheryan, Plaut, Davies, and Steele, December 2009 http://psycnet.apa.org/?&fa=main.doiLanding&doi=10.1037/a0016239

Reasons Girls Might Be Avoiding Computer Science

2. Girls’ Perception of Their Own Abilities Girls feel people are born with fixed

abilities, especially in math. Girls often give up instead of working through difficulties.

Girls perceive boys’ bravado or boasting means that boys are more knowledgeable than girls

Sources: Mind/Shift, “Giving Good Praise to Girls: What Messages Stick”, by Katrina Schwartz, April 24, 2013 http://blogs.kqed.org/mindshift/2013/04/giving-good-praise-to-girls-what-messages-stick/

Featuring the research of Carol S. Dweck, Ph.D. https://www.stanford.edu/dept/psychology/cgi-bin/drupalm/system/files/cdweckmathgift.pdf

Ways to Encourage Girls to Join or Stay in Computer Science

1. Recruitment Reach out to female students through collaborative projects with

campus clubs/organizations and classes Recruit friend groups so female students won’t feel isolated Current female students visit other classes to explain how

computer science relates Meet with guidance counselors, teachers, and parents to share

opportunities in computer science

Source: NCWIT, “Top 10 Ways of Recruiting High School Women into Your Computing Classes” https://www.ncwit.org/resources/top-10-ways-recruiting-high-school-women-your-computing-classes/top-10-ways-recruiting

Ways to Encourage Girls to Join or Stay in Computer Science

2. Make People Aware of Stereotypes Discuss stereotypes with all students and find out what they

consider a stereotypical computer scientist to be Dispel the stereotype Help students understand how computer science helps people Be conscious that your students may not want to think of

themselves as nerds or geeks

Sources:NCWIT, “Top 10 Ways of Recruiting High School Women into Your Computing Classes” https://www.ncwit.org/resources/top-10-ways-recruiting-high-school-women-your-computing-classes/top-10-ways-recruiting

Edudemic, “Why Are Girls Not Pursuing Computer Science Degrees?”, by Katie Lepi, October 12, 2013 http://www.edudemic.com/girls-computer-science-degrees/

Ways to Encourage Girls to Join or Stay in Computer Science

3. Show Female Role Models Discuss pioneering and prominent women in the field of

computer science Invite former female computer science students to speak Invite local female computer scientists to speak.

• Make connections through your city’s Chamber of Commerce or through one of the Top 10 Women in Tech Organizations: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/craig-newmark/10-women-in-tech-orgs-you-should-know_b_4005325.html

Sources:NCWIT, “Top 10 Ways of Recruiting High School Women into Your Computing Classes” https://www.ncwit.org/resources/top-10-ways-recruiting-high-school-women-your-computing-classes/top-10-ways-recruiting

Edudemic, “Why Are Girls Not Pursuing Computer Science Degrees?”, by Katie Lepi, October 12, 2013 http://www.edudemic.com/girls-computer-science-degrees/

4. Decorate Classroom with Non-Stereotypical Objectsx Star Trek and video games Nature posters and phone books• Some images that include women: computing leaders,

group pictures of students

Sources:NCWIT, “Top 10 Ways of Recruiting High School Women into Your Computing Classes” https://www.ncwit.org/resources/top-10-ways-recruiting-high-school-women-your-computing-classes/top-10-ways-recruiting

“Ambient belonging: how stereotypical cues impact gender participation in computer science,” by Cheryan, Plaut, Davies, and Steele, December 2009 http://psycnet.apa.org/?&fa=main.doiLanding&doi=10.1037/a0016239

Ways to Encourage Girls to Join or Stay in Computer Science

Ways to Encourage Girls to Join or Stay in Computer Science

5. Praise and Encouragement for Girls and Boys Emphasize that computer science skills are learned

through a process of setbacks and overcoming challenges Praise students for:

• The process or strategy they are using to think through a problem or a segment of code

• Taking on a challenge and sticking to it

Sources:Mind/Shift, “Giving Good Praise to Girls: What Messages Stick”, by Katrina Schwartz, April 24, 2013 http://blogs.kqed.org/mindshift/2013/04/giving-good-praise-to-girls-what-messages-stick/

NCWIT, “Top 10 Ways of Recruiting High School Women into Your Computing Classes” https://www.ncwit.org/resources/top-10-ways-recruiting-high-school-women-your-computing-classes/top-10-ways-recruiting

Edudemic, “Why Are Girls Not Pursuing Computer Science Degrees?”, by Katie Lepi, October 12, 2013 http://www.edudemic.com/girls-computer-science-degrees/

Ways to Encourage Girls to Join or Stay in Computer Science

6. Social and Hands-on Learning Activities Pair programming Promote social and teamwork aspects of

computer science in a blended learning environment (Schoology, Edmodo)

Source: Edudemic, “Why Are Girls Not Pursuing Computer Science Degrees?”, by Katie Lepi, October 12, 2013 http://www.edudemic.com/girls-computer-science-degrees/

Ways to Encourage Girls to Join or Stay in Computer Science

7. Computer Science Camps & Internships for Girls University of Texas at Austin’s FirstBytes camp https://

www.cs.utexas.edu/outreach/first-bytes NCWIT Aspirations in Computing

https://www.aspirations.org/participate/opportunities

Ways to Encourage Girls to Join or Stay in Computer Science

8. Introduce Programming Early Code.org’s Hour of Code at Grades K-8 Texas Technology Applications TEKS Grades K-2,

3-5, and 6-8 require that students be exposed to programming languages

Free Apps and Websites: Kodable (iPad), Hopscotch (iPad), Scratch, Alice

Robotics: play-i Bo & Yana, Lego Mindstorms Board Games: Robot Turtles

Source: Edudemic, “Why Are Girls Not Pursuing Computer Science Degrees?”, by Katie Lepi, October 12, 2013 http://www.edudemic.com/girls-computer-science-degrees/

Why Diversity is Important in Computer Science

Source: The Chronicle of Higher Education: “More Gender Diversity Will Mean Better Science,” by Sue V. Rosser, October 29, 2012 http://chronicle.com/article/More-Gender-Diversity-Will/135310/

May lead to innovation. People bring different approaches to problem solving.

Women have invented technologies useful in child care, for example, because of their unique experiences

More diversity (gender, ethnicity, socioeconomic background) helps guard against bias and may lead to new ideas that will improve life for everyone

Help boys and girls understand why diversity is important. Don’t exclude or marginalize boys in your quest to recruit and retain girls!

Women in Computer Science Resources University of Texas at Austin’s FirstBytes camp

https://www.cs.utexas.edu/outreach/first-bytes

National Center for Women & Information Technology (NCWIT): http://www.ncwit.org/

NCWIT Aspirations in Computing https://www.aspirations.org/participate/opportunities

UT Austin’s Women in Engineering Program on Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/utwep/

Huffington Post: “10 Women in Tech Orgs You Should Know” by Craig Newmark on September 27, 2013 http://www.huffingtonpost.com/craig-newmark/10-women-in-tech-orgs-you-should-know_b_4005325.html

American Association of University Women (AAUW) supports computer science education – find your local group: http://www.aauw.org/article/hour-of-code/

Introduce Programming EarlyResources Code.org’s Hour of Code http://code.org/

Texas Technology Applications TEKS http://ritter.tea.state.tx.us/rules/tac/chapter126/

Kodable app (iPad) http://www.surfscore.com/

Hopscotch app (iPad) https://www.gethopscotch.com/

Scratch http://scratch.mit.edu/

Alice http://www.alice.org/

play-i https://www.play-i.com/

Lego Mindstorms http://mindstorms.lego.com

Robot Turtles http://www.robotturtles.com/

Presentation Resources

Edudemic: “Why Are Girls Not Pursuing Computer Science Degrees?” by Katie Lepi on October 12, 2013 http://www.edudemic.com/girls-computer-science-degrees/

NCWIT: “Top 10 Ways of Recruiting High School Women into Your Computing Classes” https://www.ncwit.org/resources/top-10-ways-recruiting-high-school-women-your-computing-classes/top-10-ways-recruiting

Mind/Shift: “Giving Good Praise to Girls: What Messages Stick” by Katrina Schwartz on April 24, 2013 http://blogs.kqed.org/mindshift/2013/04/giving-good-praise-to-girls-what-messages-stick/

Huffington Post: “10 Women in Tech Orgs You Should Know” by Craig Newmark on September 27, 2013 http://www.huffingtonpost.com/craig-newmark/10-women-in-tech-orgs-you-should-know_b_4005325.html

The Chronicle of Higher Education: “More Gender Diversity Will Mean Better Science” by Sue V. Rosser on October 29, 2012 http://chronicle.com/article/More-Gender-Diversity-Will/135310/

The Stereotypical Computer Scientist: Gendered Media Representations as a Barrier to Inclusion for Women http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs11199-013-0296-x

Ambient belonging: How stereotypical cues impact gender participation in computer science http://psycnet.apa.org/?&fa=main.doiLanding&doi=10.1037/a0016239

Questions & Discussion + Connect with Kim, TCEA, & TA/CS-SIG Questions & Discussion

Connect with Kim Garcia– Twitter: @DigitalLearners– Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/digitallearners/computer-science-education/

–Diigo: https://www.diigo.com/user/digitallearners/Computer_Science

Connect with TCEA: http://www.tcea.org/

Join TA/CS-SIG: http://www.tcea.org/membership/sigs/tacs-sig