Women, Mathematics and Computer Science
( SIGCSE 2002 Panel Session )
( This document includes links to relevant articles and power point presentations )
Peter B. Henderson (Moderator)
Department of Computer Science and Software Engineering
Butler University
Indianapolis, IN 46208-3485
phenders@butler.edu
Panelist:
Vicki Almstrum, Computer Science, University of Texas, Austin, TX <almstrum@cs.utexas.edu>
Paul De Palma, Gonzaga University, Spokane, WA <depalma @cps.gonzaga.edu>
Orit Hazzen, Technion -- Israel Institute of Technology <oritha@techunix.technion.ac.il>
Peter B. Henderson, Butler University, Indianapolis, IN <phenders @butler.edu>
Kim Potter Kihlstrom, Westmont College, Santa Barbara, CA <kimkihls@westmont.edu>
1. Summary
“… women embrace the “precision” of mathematics.” a quote from panelist Paul DePalma’s viewpoint article “Why Women Avoid Computer Science” in the June 2001 CACM. Panelist Kim Kihlstrom notes "… I got into electrical engineering and then computer science exactly because I love math.” Henderson’s evidence indicates that women performed better than men in a mathematically oriented first course in computer science, and felt the course was more beneficial than a traditional programming oriented first course. Regarding a mathematically oriented functional programming course for high schools Kathi Fisler says “Our high school teachers have noticed females preferring this to a conventional curriculum by as much as 5 to 1!”
Coincidence, or is there a common thread here? Please join us for the discussion and share your own viewpoints.
2. Panelist Position Statements
In my presentation, I will discuss the results of several studies that address issues related to the premise of this panel. The results will include an analysis of responses to a survey on this topic conducted with subscribers to the mailing list Systers, an informal organization for technical women in computing. These results will be posted HERE.
Paul De Palma, Gonzaga University ( “Why Women Avoid Computer Science” CACM Viewpoint Article )
The literature fairly bubbles over with speculation as to why there are so few young women in computer science courses. We hear about math anxiety, violent computer games, the scarcity of mentors, and a supposed female preference for "relational work." Since no one really knows why women avoid computer science or what to do about it, I feel justified in offering a guess of my own.
The introduction of microcomputers in the 1980's and the Internet in the 1990's has placed a level of gadgetry between students and the formal regularities that make computing possible. This drives women away. At the same time, young women seem drawn to mathematics: they receive nearly half of the undergraduate degrees in the field. To make computing more attractive to women, make it more like mathematics. This includes emphasizing logic, de-emphasizing microcomputers, keeping programs short, and treating programming languages as notational systems.
The topic of women and computing science can be examined from many different perspectives. In my presentation, I examine research methodologies that are suitable for learning about the topic of women & computing science in general and for studying relationship between women & computing science & other disciplines (such as mathematics) in particular. Towards this end, both qualitative research methods (such as ethnographic research) and quantitative research methods are presented, and specific research settings are described.
Consider an introductory computer science course in which: women perform better than men, women devote more time than men, women feel the challenge is a positive experience, women are not intimidated by the labs, and much more. These are results from 10 years of student and alumni surveys for a mathematically oriented first course for majors, Foundations of Computer Science taught at SUNY Stony Brook.
Kim Potter Kihlstrom, Westmont College ( Kim’s Power Point Presentation )
When I ask my male students how they became interested in computer science, they usually say "through playing computer games." My female students often reply "because I like math." I got into electrical engineering and then computer science because I love math. As an undergraduate, the time that I really knew I wanted to continue in electrical engineering was the day that, in my introduction to circuits class, we wrote and solved a differential equation to describe an RC circuit.
My student sample sizes are small, but I believe there is a general trend. Women are attracted more to the mathematics, logic, linguistic foundations, and beauty in computer science. Men are attracted more to the computer as something that can be played with, tested, experimented with, and pushed to its limits. These differences reflect male/female traits that are known.
Both views are important and complementary. However, considering the under-representation of women in computer science, it is worth modifying our pedagogical methods to place more emphasis on the mathematical foundations and thus bring out an aspect of computer science that appeals to women.
Relevant References and
URLs:
Mathematics Reasoning in CS group ( http://www.math-in-cs.org )
De Palma, P. (2001). Why women avoid computer science, Communications of the ACM 44(6), pp. 27-29.
Camp, T. (1997). The
Incredible Shrinking Pipeline, Communications of the ACM 40(10), pp.
103-110, http://www.mines.edu/fs_home/tcamp/cacm/paper.html.
MIT Department of Electrical Engineering & Computer Science. (1995). Women
Undergraduate Enrollment in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at MIT.
(http://www-swiss.ai.mit.edu/~hal/women-enrollment-comm/finalreport.html)
WICS: An organization for women in Computer Science at Stanford University (http://www-cs-students.stanford.edu/~womencs/ )
WICSE: An organization for women graduate students in Computer Science and
Electrical Engineering at the University of California in Berkeley
( http://www-inst.eecs.berkeley.edu/~wicse/).