Female-Only Third Level Computing Courses
Back to All ActionsWhat is the Action?
Quick Facts to Support this Action
- “Research indicates that single-gender classes in schools help female students feel significantly more open towards computer science-related topics than mixed-gender classes.”
- “Students report that they would not have studied Computer Science at all if it was not for a female-only course.”
“Mature students can be targeted, who often have practical career interests straight after the course (to sustain the pipeline).”
- “Mono-educational (single-gender) courses showed a high potential for attracting cross-over students (students who come from other disciplines) and therefore offered a new pool of future computing professionals, who are experts in other disciplines as well.”
- “Universities with mono-educational engineering programs benefit from better gender balance than in relevant mixed-gender courses.”
Evaluation Approach
Some examples of how this action was evaluated in different institutions are discussed below (please refer to the Resources tab for sample surveys):
A questionnaire examining the motivation for the female-only computer science course was distributed during the introductory week. Anecdotal evidence from TU Dublin (personalised feedback study – Lecturers’ Interviews) suggests that to encourage participation at filling out a questionnaire, it should be distributed to students in a paper form rather than online. A sample questionnaire is available in the Resources section.
➤ Gender Distribution & Participation Tracking
Gender distribution on faculty level has been recorded as part of the evaluation efforts at Hochschule Bremen as well as number of female students who receive international stipend, or those who become tutors during their studies. Career paths of graduates have been followed there as well.
To encourage retention and seek feedback for improvement of a vocational computing course in Austria, group discussions have been organised with students and lecturers, with stakeholders, as well as feedback surveys distributed at the end of the course and interviews organised with drop-out students. Stakeholders who represented the industry confirmed in their group discussion that initiatives like female-only courses are welcome. Findings from surveying students include students’ strong preferences towards the practical training as part of the course.
Actions to consider next
Hofstätter, B., Freitag, D., & Thaler, A. Innovative Engineering Education? A Case study of a Women-only college course in mechanical Engineering. In Proceedings of the Joint International IGIP-SEFI Annual Conference, 2010.
International Women´s Degree Program in Computer Science (2021 Runner-up) – Minerva Informatics Equality Award – Best Practices in Supporting Women – Enrol and Retain Female Students (Past Submissions) Hochschule Bremen, Germany – Retrieved 22/02/2024.
Marquardt K., Wagner I., and Happe L. Engaging Girls in Computer Science: Do Single-Gender Interdisciplinary Classes Help? In Proceedings of the 45th International Conference on Software Engineering: Software Engineering Education and Training (ICSE-SEET ’23). IEEE Press, 128–140, 2023.
Modulkatalog mit Modulbeschreibungen – Internationaler Frauenstudiengang Informatik, Hochschule Bremen (Module Catalogue with Description of Modules for The International Women’s Degree Program in Computer Science, Hochschule Bremen, Germany) – in German – Retrieved 22/02/2024.
Siegeris J. – Attracting a new clientele for computer science with a women-only IT degree course – Hochschuldidaktik der Informatik HDI 2021 – 9. Fachtagung des GI-Fachbereichs Informatik und Ausbildung/Didaktik der Informatik, Dortmund. Universitätsverlag Potsdam. Pages 157-172. ISBN 978-3-86956-548-4. 2023.
Siegeris J., Freiheit J., Krefting D., The Women’s Bachelor Programme “Computer Science and Business Administration” and its Consistent Orientation to Practical Training, Procedia – Social and Behavioral Sciences, Volume 228, Pages 509-514, ISSN 1877-0428, 2016.
Curriculum
University of Applied Sciences in Berlin (HTW Berlin), Germany runs a female-only computer science course with an interdisciplinary component – business administration.
While the original idea was to attract women into a course that also teaches components of economics, computer science-related classes take up 80% of the teaching curriculum. The course runs over 6 semesters, which is standard study time for the country to achieve a bachelor’s degree.
Another university in Germany, Hochschule Bremen, does not design its curriculum with gender differences in mind. One small addition to the female-only course compared to courses targeting all genders is a module on hardware in the first semester, with the argument that understanding computer components can raise one’s confidence in the subject. The hardware class ends with an installation party, during which students get to install all the required software needed for the first year.
Female-only courses do not necessarily have to be mono-educational for the whole duration of the study. For example, in Hochschule Bremen, only the first 2 semesters out of the 7 semesters are female-only, with the subsequent modules open for all genders of the faculty.
Practical orientation is an important part of the curriculum in the existing female-only technical courses. Ways to do this have included:
➤ International Academic Exchange
Promotional Points
➤ International Academic Exchange
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