Experience and Representation of Gender Minorities in Undergraduate Computer Science

EasyChair Preprint no. 4792

Abstract

Computer science (CS) has a well-known gender diversity problem. Gender minorities (GeM) continue to be significantly underrepresented in professional and academic CS careers. This underrepresentation can be traced back to undergraduate programs and even to high school, where gender bias and stereotypes persist to drive GeM students away from the field.

To better understand the causes of the lack of diversity and poor GeM retention through undergraduate programs, this study reports on a survey of undergraduate students (n=84) in the nascent CS department at Reed College. Since Reed only began offering the CS major in 2018, it does not have an entrenched culture, which can help in isolating the larger cultural context and stereotypes that are affecting its students. Thus, the results of our survey may be generalized to other CS programs, despite its modest size.

Keyphrases: Computer Science Education, Gender Minorities, student diversity

@Booklet{EasyChair:4792,
  author = {Rhody Kaner and Eitan Frachtenberg},
  title = {Experience and Representation of Gender Minorities in Undergraduate Computer Science},
  howpublished = {EasyChair Preprint no. 4792},

  year = {EasyChair, 2020}}