The image of computer scientists and programmers is well known
in the media: the brilliant but socially inept mumbler
who could use a few tips on hairstyles and clothes. Claudia Morrell suggests
that "girls in particular don't want to be perceived as geeks and
nerds." Increasing numbers of girls are using the internet and email for
personal reasons, but still they are not interested in third level education or
careers in computing. Stereotyping and culture remain the major barriers to
recruiting females. Girls tend to choose academic disciplines with a visibly
social dimension and where female role models are more accessible. As a
discipline we need to harness the best available talent, male or female, and
encourage them to make the transition from using computers for personal reasons
to considering computing as a career.
We intend a
two-pronged approach to investigating what is currently happening:
1. Talking to Students: Female students
from all undergraduate years, and relevant degree programs from each
participating institution will be asked to participate in semi-structured
interviews, which will be tape recorded and later transcribed Previous work has shown that it is profitable to pool
information gleaned from students from different institutions. We will be
seeking similarities between the different groups of students. Our lives are
not understood in a logical chronological sequence, but rather as a complex
multiplicity of memories. The documentation of the students' opinions, memories
and experiences is likely to be more than a simple task of transcribing their
comments from the interviews.
2. Talking to Academics: One major
recruitment obstacle is the lack of information on what a career in computing
involves. We will talk to academics in charge of recruitment in order to
determine exactly what message is being sent to the students we are actually
recruiting. Are the students taking our degrees because of, or despite, our
messages?
Janet Carter, University of Kent, UK
Tony Jenkins,
Paul Tymann,
Rochester Institute of
The groups’ wiki is available here
for those with permission to access it.