GENDER DIVERSITY IN STEM: Investigation into Gender Implication in Pursuing Computing-related Majors

This research study concerns the issue of gender diversity that still persists in STEM education, especially in computing-related fields. Females are so severely underrepresented in computing education that the diversity in the fields is even less than that in physics in K-12. This research study seeks to address the problem of low female participation in computing-related fields. For the purpose of the study, two versions of surveys were distributed. One was filled out by 94 local elementary school students that mostly in 3rd-4th grade; the other went to 399 college freshmen in W. P. Carey School of Business. It asks questions, including if students are interested in learning STEM, and what reasons explain them having interest or no interest in STEM learning. Meanwhile, the study aims to unveil if there are any gender discrepancies in regards to STEM learning. Besides those dynamics, three factors—attitudes toward learning computer skills, logic, and coding—are examined for indications on students’ interest in STEM learning.
The results suggest no indication that female students are necessarily less interested than male students in studying computing-related majors, despite that female students find working with computers and coding more difficult. Female students have diverse and varied interests that are non-computing-related, which could be an underlying factor that contributes to their “lower” participation in those majors. While self-interest is the key factor that influences students’ decisions in pursuing STEM majors or non-STEM majors, they also consider job market outlook an important factor. Compared to female students, male students tend to cite family influence in deciding whether to study STEM majors. Furthermore, showing positive attitudes toward working with computers, learning new computer skills, and even coding indicates both male and female students’ potential desires to pursue computing-related majors or careers.