College Honors Program

Date of Creation

4-23-2025

Document Type

Thesis

Department

Computer Science

First Advisor

Laurie Smith King

Abstract

An estimated 21% of undergraduate women receive a degree in computer science, making it one of the most male dominant STEM fields. With many STEM disciplines like biology, earth science, and mathematics seeing nearly, if not more than 50% female participation, a critical question emerges: where are the women in computer science? This project centers on the experiences of undergraduate students enrolled in both introductory and advanced STEM courses, including computer science. Through a comparative analysis of the reflections, perceptions, and expectations of students in a variety of STEM courses, this project builds upon ongoing efforts to understand the barriers that female students face in computing environments. Results underscore that male computer science students are often more confident in their programming knowledge and open to the idea of pursuing an undergraduate computer science major or minor than their female peers. Female computer science students are also the least likely to predict and recognize success in an introductory course relative to their peers in computer science and other STEM courses. Understanding the challenges that young women face in pursuing computer science sheds light on attraction and retention efforts that should be sought at the undergraduate level, like hiring and training diverse teaching assistants or designing blended computer science majors, while also highlighting the need for a more inclusive industry- wide value proposition for women.

Comments

Readers: Professor Ting Gu and Professor Ann Sheehy

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Available for download on Wednesday, May 08, 2030

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