Gender & Computing Why Actively Recruit Girls to CS? Joanne McGrath Cohoon UVA Associate Professor NCWIT Senior Research Scientist Michigan Tapestry Workshop August 1, 2012

Why Do We Need to Actively Recruit Girls to CS?

30% of jobs for college grads will be in computing in 2020

Not Just Predicted, but Current

More than double students if CS drew from the majority

How CS got the women it has Positive experiences Encouraged Math or logic confidence Rewarding, flexible career Enjoy programming Persuaded by friends Path to helping career Self-expression Communication Defy stereotypes

What keeps other women out of CS Lack of information/misconceptions Little support and encouragement Educational policies allow choices influenced by stereotypes Stereotypes reduce confidence and interest

Lack of information abounds Few students, parents, or teachers (people) know what computer scientists do Too many sources misinform, steer girls away

Too Little Support & Encouragement Peers and authorities »You’re studying what? »Women need to explain their choice of CS …but men don’t - Cohoon 2006 Isolation »Feeling like you do not belong - Kissinger et al. 2009

Policies allow stereotype-based choice -Carter Charles & Bradley 2006

Stereotypes are good … Mental shortcuts for generalizing knowledge to other situations

And stereotypes are bad May lead to mistakes - miscategorization African American s

Easy to form, harder to change Explicit and implicit preferences for certain groups formed by imagining or by inducing »Gregg et al. 2006

Common Mistaken Stereotype: Feminine ≠Technical Lagesen 2005

Stereotype threat »Fear of confirming negative beliefs about my group Hinders performance Affects confidence, choices and aspirations Leads to harsh personal standards, opting out if not met –Correll 2004 Stereotypes can create threatening situations Not just about gender, e.g., age stereotypes reduce memory effectiveness - Chasteen et al. 2005

Stereotype Threat masks ability and reduces learning and persistence Remove threat and Anglo women test better -Good et al Note-taking skill reduced by stereotype threat (ST) -Appel et al Feelings of belonging impaired by ST -Good et al Good, Aronson, Harder, 2008 Calculus Test Results

Removing threat improves performance Interventions showed “Black students significantly outperformed White students with the same level of past performance.” Substantial effect »Logel et al. 2012

ST is easy to trigger and particularly affects motivated students Gender imbalance in room Stereotyped physical space Attention called to gender Belief that ability is inherent

Some of the Interventions that Work Self-affirmation of values – Purdie-Vaughns & Garcia 2011 Emphasize growth in intelligence - Aronson et al 2002 Normalize – Good et al But only for students in your class

Four reasons few women study CS 1.

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What can you do about it? What could you do to undermine the stereotypes and mitigate stereotype threat?

NCWIT is the National Center for Women & Information Technology Our coalition includes more than 250 universities, corporations, and non-profits. Mobilizing for Change: NCWIT