Female Under-Representation in Computing Education and Industry - A Survey of Issues and Interventions
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paper_title: Underrepresentation of Girls and Women in Computer Science: Classification of 1990s Research.

paper_content:

The proportions of Computer Science (CS) graduates who are women has been declining in the last fifteen years. At a time when the demand for computer programmers and systems analysts has been increasing, why are women becoming a smaller proportion of those enrolling in CS programs? This article presents a categorization by educational stages of the research into this topic, and an evaluation of the generalizability of findings to broader contexts. The categorization shows that the most extensive research on women in computing is done at the post-secondary stage, and uses students as non-randomly selected subjects. These studies are non-comprehensive, but where similar results are found in a number of studies, the findings are supported. The emphasis in research focuses on structural factors at the elementary stage, but by the post-secondary stage the emphasis is more likely to be on social psychological factors.
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paper_title: Are Computer Science and Information Technology still masculine fields? High school students' perceptions and career choices

paper_content:

This study investigated Greek high school students' intentions and motivation towards and against pursuing academic studies in Computer Science (CS), the influence of the family and the scholastic environment on students' career choices, students' perceptions of CS and the Information Technology (IT) profession as well as students' attendance at CS courses at school, computer use in the home and self-efficacy beliefs regarding computers. Gender differences were examined with a view to identifying factors that may affect boys' and girls' career choices. The participants were 358 students of both sexes who completed an anonymous questionnaire. The data analysis showed that girls are less likely than boys to pursue a CS degree, and when they do so, it is mainly because of extrinsic reasons rather than personal interest in CS. Lack of opportunities for early familiarization with computing in the home and the scholastic environment is the factor that mainly differentiates boys' and girls' motivation against studying CS, having a greater impact on girls. Misconceptions of CS were detected in students of both genders. Girls view CS as a self-referencing, machine- and programming-oriented discipline to a greater extent than boys do, and hold less positive views of the IT profession. Boys view CS as more human- and application-oriented than girls do. They also have greater computer self-efficacy and more sex-stereotypical views of CS and IT as male domains. Appropriate actions to increase girls' interest and participation in CS studies are proposed according to the findings.
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paper_title: Explaining, or Sustaining, the Status Quo? The Potentially Self-Fulfilling Effects of ‘Hardwired’ Accounts of Sex Differences

paper_content:

In this article I flesh out support for observations that scientific accounts of social groups can influence the very groups and mental phenomena under investigation. The controversial hypothesis that there are hardwired differences between the brains of males and females that contribute to sex differences in gender-typed behaviour is common in both the scientific and popular media. Here I present evidence that such claims, quite independently of their scientific validity, have scope to sustain the very sex differences they seek to explain. I argue that, while further research is required, such claims can have self-fulfilling effects via their influence on social perception, behaviour and attitudes. The real effects of the products of scientists’ research on our minds and society, together with the fact that all scientific hypotheses are subject to dispute and disconfirmation, point to a need for scientists to consider the ethical implications of their work.
---
paper_title: The Multiple Realities of Sameness and Difference: Ideology and Practice

paper_content:

Gender distinctions as dichotomous categories are perpetuated and maintained by social mechanisms and are socially constructed. Part of this social construction is reproduced by many social scientists who adopt mainstream cultural categories of gender and, through theoretical or methodological biases, fail to question them, or who, by their own practices, reinforce them. This analysis is an overview of the epistemological and methodolical practices that reinforce gender distinctions and neglect reporting of similarities. Rejecting several models used to explain cultural differences, an alternative mode of analysis—multiplicity and proteanism—is proposed as a more productive perspective in the analysis of gender.
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paper_title: Early determinants of women in the IT workforce: a model of girls' career choices

paper_content:

Purpose – To develop a testable model for girls' career choices in technology fields based on past research and hypotheses about the future of the information technology (IT) workforce.Design/methodology/approach – Review and assimilation of literature from education, psychology, sociology, computer science, IT, and business in a model that identifies factors that can potentially influence a girl's choice towards or against IT careers. The factors are categorized into social factors (family, peers, and media), structural factors (computer use, teacher/counselor influence, same sex versus coeducational schools), and individual differences. The impact of culture on these various factors is also explored.Findings – The model indicates that parents, particularly fathers, are the key influencers of girls' choice of IT careers. Teachers and counselors provide little or no career direction. Hypotheses propose that early access to computers may reduce intimidation with technology and that same‐sex education may s...
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paper_title: 'Because it's boring, irrelevant and I don't like computers': Why high school girls avoid professionally-oriented ICT subjects

paper_content:

The current paper details results from the Girls and ICT survey phase of a three year study investigating factors associated with low participation rates by females in education pathways leading to professional level information and communications technology (ICT) professions. The study is funded through the Australian Research Council's (ARC) Linkage Grants Scheme. It involves a research partnership between Education Queensland (EQ), industry partner Technology One and academic researchers at (affiliation removed for review purposes). Respondents to the survey were 1453 senior high school girls. Comparisons were drawn between Takers (n=131) and Non Takers (n=1322) of advanced level computing subjects. Significant differences between the groups were found on four questions: ''The subjects are interesting''; ''I am very interested in computers''; ''The subject will be helpful to me in my chosen career path after school''; and ''It suited my timetable''. The research has demonstrated that senior high school girls tend to perceive advanced computing subjects as boring and they express a strong aversion to computers.
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paper_title: The Algebraic Eigenvalue Problem

paper_content:

Theoretical background Perturbation theory Error analysis Solution of linear algebraic equations Hermitian matrices Reduction of a general matrix to condensed form Eigenvalues of matrices of condensed forms The LR and QR algorithms Iterative methods Bibliography Index.
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paper_title: Computational thinking and thinking about computing

paper_content:

Computational thinking will influence everyone in every field of endeavour. This vision poses a new educational challenge for our society, especially for our children. In thinking about computing, we need to be attuned to the three drivers of our field: science, technology and society. Accelerating technological advances and monumental societal demands force us to revisit the most basic scientific questions of computing.
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paper_title: Sex differences in spatial cognition, computational fluency, and arithmetical reasoning

paper_content:

Alternative explanations for the male advantage in arithmetical reasoning, as measured by the ability to solve complex word problems, include a male advantage in spatial cognition and a male advantage in computational fluency. The current study was designed to test these competing hypotheses. To this end, 113 male and 123 female undergraduates were administered arithmetical computations and arithmetical reasoning tests, along with an IQ test and a test of spatial cognition. There was no sex difference on the IQ test, but males showed significantly higher mean scores on the arithmetical computations, arithmetical reasoning, and spatial cognition measures. A series of structural equation models indicated that individual differences in arithmetical reasoning were related to individual differences in IQ, spatial abilities, and computational fluency. Moreover, the results suggested that the male advantage in arithmetical reasoning is mediated by the male advantages in both computational fluency and spatial cognition.
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paper_title: A university's educational program in computer science

paper_content:

After a review of the power of contemporary computers, computer science is defined in several ways. The objectives of computer science education are stated, and it is asserted that in a North American university these will be achieved only through a computer science department. The program at Stanford University is reviewed as an example. The appendices include syllabi of Ph.D. qualifying examinations for Stanford's Computer Science Department.
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paper_title: Fostering Equitable Consequences from Computer Learning Environments.

paper_content:

This article discusses (a) the potential advantages of learning computer programming, (b) the performance of males and females in middle school programming courses, (c) the problems teachers face in achieving this potential, and (d) the participation of males and females in programming courses. Females comprise about 40% of the students enrolled in middle school programming courses. They perform, on the average, as well as or better than the males, and comprise 60% of the most talented students. Significantly, neither males nor females make very much progress in learning to program and, therefore, in acquiring any of the general cognitive skills which might potentially result from programming courses.
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paper_title: Are Computing Students Different? An Analysis of Coping Strategies and Emotional Intelligence

paper_content:

As the number of students enrolling in computing majors [computer science (CS), information systems (IS), information technology (IT)] has declined, retaining students in these curricula becomes increasingly important. Student success is important to retention, and one of the premises of this study is that meeting the challenges of demanding curricula often requires more than innate intelligence. To explore this assumption, two intrapersonal variables rarely studied in the computing field were measured: coping strategies and emotional intelligence as contributors to within-major grade point average (GPA). Based on data collected from 613 upper-level undergraduate students enrolled at multiple universities in the USA, the effects of coping strategies and emotional intelligence on academic performance were tested, with self-efficacy (SE) used as a covariate. The results indicate that SE is related to academic success for computing students. Emotional intelligence does predict SE for computing students. However, computing and noncomputing majors differed significantly on emotional intelligence and the ldquoaccommodationrdquo coping strategy. Further, the ldquochange the situationrdquo coping strategy was directly linked to academic success for noncomputing students, but not for computing students. Implications of these findings are discussed.
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paper_title: Explaining, or Sustaining, the Status Quo? The Potentially Self-Fulfilling Effects of ‘Hardwired’ Accounts of Sex Differences

paper_content:

In this article I flesh out support for observations that scientific accounts of social groups can influence the very groups and mental phenomena under investigation. The controversial hypothesis that there are hardwired differences between the brains of males and females that contribute to sex differences in gender-typed behaviour is common in both the scientific and popular media. Here I present evidence that such claims, quite independently of their scientific validity, have scope to sustain the very sex differences they seek to explain. I argue that, while further research is required, such claims can have self-fulfilling effects via their influence on social perception, behaviour and attitudes. The real effects of the products of scientists’ research on our minds and society, together with the fact that all scientific hypotheses are subject to dispute and disconfirmation, point to a need for scientists to consider the ethical implications of their work.
---
paper_title: The Multiple Realities of Sameness and Difference: Ideology and Practice

paper_content:

Gender distinctions as dichotomous categories are perpetuated and maintained by social mechanisms and are socially constructed. Part of this social construction is reproduced by many social scientists who adopt mainstream cultural categories of gender and, through theoretical or methodological biases, fail to question them, or who, by their own practices, reinforce them. This analysis is an overview of the epistemological and methodolical practices that reinforce gender distinctions and neglect reporting of similarities. Rejecting several models used to explain cultural differences, an alternative mode of analysis—multiplicity and proteanism—is proposed as a more productive perspective in the analysis of gender.
---
paper_title: Computer self efficacy, computer anxiety, attitudes towards the Internet and reported experience with the Internet, by gender, in an East European sample

paper_content:

Seventy-four female and 76 male Romanian university students, from a wide mixture of courses, completed a Computer Self Efficacy Scale, a Computer Anxiety Scale, an attitude to the Internet Scale and gave information about their use of the Internet. Significant zero order correlations were obtained with the relationships being between higher computer self efficacy, lower computer anxiety, more positive attitudes towards the Internet and longer reported use of the Internet. Significant gender effects were found throughout, with males tending to report greater computer self efficacy, lower computer anxiety, more positive attitudes towards the Internet and longer use of the Internet than females. However, regression analysis indicted that reported Internet experience (use) was the only variable independently linked to gender. It is argued that the results tend to support the contention that the literature on attitudes and anxiety towards computers is liable to extrapolate to the Internet. In particular this may apply to the gender dimension of this literature. It is also argued that the countries of Eastern Europe may now be manifesting the gender variations in relation to technology that are found in Western Europe.
---
paper_title: Explaining, or Sustaining, the Status Quo? The Potentially Self-Fulfilling Effects of ‘Hardwired’ Accounts of Sex Differences

paper_content:

In this article I flesh out support for observations that scientific accounts of social groups can influence the very groups and mental phenomena under investigation. The controversial hypothesis that there are hardwired differences between the brains of males and females that contribute to sex differences in gender-typed behaviour is common in both the scientific and popular media. Here I present evidence that such claims, quite independently of their scientific validity, have scope to sustain the very sex differences they seek to explain. I argue that, while further research is required, such claims can have self-fulfilling effects via their influence on social perception, behaviour and attitudes. The real effects of the products of scientists’ research on our minds and society, together with the fact that all scientific hypotheses are subject to dispute and disconfirmation, point to a need for scientists to consider the ethical implications of their work.
---
paper_title: Gender and computers: similarities and differences in Iranian college students' attitudes toward computers

paper_content:

Abstract This study surveys attitudes about computers among 375 Iranian undergraduate students (155 males and 220 females). We found significant gender differences with respect to confidence about computers and stereotypic views of computer users. Women showed stronger beliefs in equal gender ability and competence in use of computers, but expressed low confidence in their own ability to work with computers. There were no significant gender differences in respondents' liking for computers or their perceptions of the usefulness of computers. Male and female students believed equally in the positive effects of computers on individuals and society. Results also are discussed in terms of parents' perceived beliefs and behaviors, as well as their socioeconomic status (SES.)
---
paper_title: Underrepresentation of Girls and Women in Computer Science: Classification of 1990s Research.

paper_content:

The proportions of Computer Science (CS) graduates who are women has been declining in the last fifteen years. At a time when the demand for computer programmers and systems analysts has been increasing, why are women becoming a smaller proportion of those enrolling in CS programs? This article presents a categorization by educational stages of the research into this topic, and an evaluation of the generalizability of findings to broader contexts. The categorization shows that the most extensive research on women in computing is done at the post-secondary stage, and uses students as non-randomly selected subjects. These studies are non-comprehensive, but where similar results are found in a number of studies, the findings are supported. The emphasis in research focuses on structural factors at the elementary stage, but by the post-secondary stage the emphasis is more likely to be on social psychological factors.
---
paper_title: Images of Self and Others as Computer Users: The Role of Gender and Experience

paper_content:

Gender differences in the pursuit of technology careers are a current issue of concern. We report on two studies that use surveys, drawings and interviews to examine sixth- and eighth-grade students' perceptions of knowledgeable computer users and their self-perception as a computer-type person. In Study 1, participants were asked to generate representations of computer users in pictures or words. The results indicate that the majority of representations were of male users and they frequently wore glasses. Students of both genders were more likely to draw males. Eighth-grade students' representations included more stereotypical features than those of sixth-grade students. In Study 2, students were asked whether they believed that there was such a thing as a computer-type person and whether they perceived themselves to be one. Eighty per cent of students rejected this characterization. They differed from students who accepted it in their levels of past experience, their confidence, and the probability that they shared their knowledge with others. The results of both studies suggest that while there is a male image of computer science in general, it is not overly negative and students' self-perception is not governed by their own gender as much as by other variables.
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paper_title: Organization-Level Determinants of Women in Management

paper_content:

This study investigated the association of organizational characteristics with the percentage of management positions held by women in a group of medium-sized to large private sector workplaces. Re...
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paper_title: Computer self efficacy, computer anxiety, attitudes towards the Internet and reported experience with the Internet, by gender, in an East European sample

paper_content:

Seventy-four female and 76 male Romanian university students, from a wide mixture of courses, completed a Computer Self Efficacy Scale, a Computer Anxiety Scale, an attitude to the Internet Scale and gave information about their use of the Internet. Significant zero order correlations were obtained with the relationships being between higher computer self efficacy, lower computer anxiety, more positive attitudes towards the Internet and longer reported use of the Internet. Significant gender effects were found throughout, with males tending to report greater computer self efficacy, lower computer anxiety, more positive attitudes towards the Internet and longer use of the Internet than females. However, regression analysis indicted that reported Internet experience (use) was the only variable independently linked to gender. It is argued that the results tend to support the contention that the literature on attitudes and anxiety towards computers is liable to extrapolate to the Internet. In particular this may apply to the gender dimension of this literature. It is also argued that the countries of Eastern Europe may now be manifesting the gender variations in relation to technology that are found in Western Europe.
---
paper_title: Gender and Computers: The Beneficial Effects of Experience on Attitudes

paper_content:

This study examines gender differences in computer attitudes and experiences of adolescents. A sample of students from five Bay Area high schools was surveyed for their uses of computers before and during their high school years, in both formal instruction and informal settings. Adolescent males had greater total exposure to computers, based primarily on higher enrollments in computer programming classes and participation in voluntary experiences, such as home computer use. Fewer gender differences were found in enrollment in classes using computers for purposes other than programming. Overall, males held more positive attitudes of interest in and confidence with computers than did females. Controlling for amount of computer experience, however, males and females responded with similar levels of interest. Social influences, especially those among peer groups, are explored as important factors for differential rates of participation in computer activities.
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paper_title: Effect of Gender and Computer Experience on Attitudes toward Computers

paper_content:

The purpose of this study was to determine the extent to which gender and prior computer exposure (has a computer at home; participated in a computer course; knows how to work with computers) affect students' attitudes toward computers prior to computer instruction in school. An attitude questionnaire including cognitive and affective attitude scales was administered to 222 Israeli pupils in grades 8 through 10 who study in schools where computers have not yet been introduced. The results showed that prior computer exposure (in particular, having a computer at home), had a stronger effect on attitudes toward computers than sex. Pupils owning computers were more motivated to become familiar with computers; felt a stronger need for computers in their lives and had more positive affective attitudes toward computers than pupils who don't have computers at home. Sex differences in affective and cognitive attitudes were also observed where boys had significantly more positive affective attitudes toward computer...
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paper_title: Gender and computers: similarities and differences in Iranian college students' attitudes toward computers

paper_content:

Abstract This study surveys attitudes about computers among 375 Iranian undergraduate students (155 males and 220 females). We found significant gender differences with respect to confidence about computers and stereotypic views of computer users. Women showed stronger beliefs in equal gender ability and competence in use of computers, but expressed low confidence in their own ability to work with computers. There were no significant gender differences in respondents' liking for computers or their perceptions of the usefulness of computers. Male and female students believed equally in the positive effects of computers on individuals and society. Results also are discussed in terms of parents' perceived beliefs and behaviors, as well as their socioeconomic status (SES.)
---
paper_title: Images of Self and Others as Computer Users: The Role of Gender and Experience

paper_content:

Gender differences in the pursuit of technology careers are a current issue of concern. We report on two studies that use surveys, drawings and interviews to examine sixth- and eighth-grade students' perceptions of knowledgeable computer users and their self-perception as a computer-type person. In Study 1, participants were asked to generate representations of computer users in pictures or words. The results indicate that the majority of representations were of male users and they frequently wore glasses. Students of both genders were more likely to draw males. Eighth-grade students' representations included more stereotypical features than those of sixth-grade students. In Study 2, students were asked whether they believed that there was such a thing as a computer-type person and whether they perceived themselves to be one. Eighty per cent of students rejected this characterization. They differed from students who accepted it in their levels of past experience, their confidence, and the probability that they shared their knowledge with others. The results of both studies suggest that while there is a male image of computer science in general, it is not overly negative and students' self-perception is not governed by their own gender as much as by other variables.
---
paper_title: Underrepresentation of Girls and Women in Computer Science: Classification of 1990s Research.

paper_content:

The proportions of Computer Science (CS) graduates who are women has been declining in the last fifteen years. At a time when the demand for computer programmers and systems analysts has been increasing, why are women becoming a smaller proportion of those enrolling in CS programs? This article presents a categorization by educational stages of the research into this topic, and an evaluation of the generalizability of findings to broader contexts. The categorization shows that the most extensive research on women in computing is done at the post-secondary stage, and uses students as non-randomly selected subjects. These studies are non-comprehensive, but where similar results are found in a number of studies, the findings are supported. The emphasis in research focuses on structural factors at the elementary stage, but by the post-secondary stage the emphasis is more likely to be on social psychological factors.
---
paper_title: Pair-programming helps female computer science students

paper_content:

Pair-programming has been found to be very beneficial in educational settings. Students who pair in their introductory programming course are more confident, have greater course completion and pass rates, and are more likely to persist in computer-related majors. Although pairing helps all students, we believe that it is particularly beneficial for women because it addresses several significant factors that limit women's participation in computer science. We provide reasons for our belief that pair-programming helps women persist in these majors. We also repeat, with special emphasis on the impact on women, some details published elsewhere regarding our experiments on pair-programming with college and university students. Additionally, we provide new data that supports our original findings.
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paper_title: Increased Retention of Early Computer Science and Software Engineering Students Using Pair Programming

paper_content:

An important problem faced by many Computer Science and Software Engineering programs is declining enrollment. In an effort to reverse that trend at Mississippi State University, we have instituted pair programming for the laboratory exercises in the introductory programming course. This paper describes a study performed to analyze whether using pair programming would increase retention. An important goal of this study was not only to measure increased retention, but to provide insight into why retention increased or decreased. The results of the study showed that retention significantly increased for those students already majoring in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or Computer Engineering. In addition, survey results indicated that the students viewed many aspects of pair programming to be very beneficial to their learning experience.
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paper_title: Women in computing---take 2

paper_content:

An applicator for tampons has a sleeve for the tampon and for a portion of a reciprocable pusher which can expel the tampon by causing the latter to flex outwardly a set of domed petals at the front end of the sleeve. The sleeve is formed by advancing a strip of degradable material longitudinally, by forming spaced-apart portions of the strip with transversely extending rows of hourglass-shaped webs, by converting the strip into a tubular envelope with a seam extending in parallelism with the axis of the envelope, by severing the envelope across the rows of webs so that the envelope yields a series of tubes each having a circumferentially extending set of petals (halves of webs) at each of its ends, and by cutting each tube midway between its ends to form shorter tubes (sleeves) each of which has a set of petals at one end. The petals are thereupon domed to close the respective ends of the sleeves and the other ends of the sleeves are formed with indentations which center the respective pushers. The strip can be assembled with a row of tubular reinforcing members which are placed between successive rows of webs and are confined in the envelope. Each sleeve then contains an inner tubular component which constitutes one-half of a reinforcing member and an outer tubular component which constitutes one-half of a tube and has petals extending beyond one end of the inner tubular component.
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paper_title: Digital Game-Based Learning in high school Computer Science education: Impact on educational effectiveness and student motivation

paper_content:

The aim of this study was to assess the learning effectiveness and motivational appeal of a computer game for learning computer memory concepts, which was designed according to the curricular objectives and the subject matter of the Greek high school Computer Science (CS) curriculum, as compared to a similar application, encompassing identical learning objectives and content but lacking the gaming aspect. The study also investigated potential gender differences in the game's learning effectiveness and motivational appeal. The sample was 88 students, who were randomly assigned to two groups, one of which used the gaming application (Group A, N=47) and the other one the non-gaming one (Group B, N=41). A Computer Memory Knowledge Test (CMKT) was used as the pretest and posttest. Students were also observed during the interventions. Furthermore, after the interventions, students' views on the application they had used were elicited through a feedback questionnaire. Data analyses showed that the gaming approach was both more effective in promoting students' knowledge of computer memory concepts and more motivational than the non-gaming approach. Despite boys' greater involvement with, liking of and experience in computer gaming, and their greater initial computer memory knowledge, the learning gains that boys and girls achieved through the use of the game did not differ significantly, and the game was found to be equally motivational for boys and girls. The results suggest that within high school CS, educational computer games can be exploited as effective and motivational learning environments, regardless of students' gender.
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paper_title: Gender, software design, and occupational equity

paper_content:

After reviewing the work on gender bias in software design, a model of gender-role influenced achievement choice taken from Eccles [7] is presented. The paper concludes that (1) though laudable, reduction of gender bias in software design is not the most straightforward way to reduce gender inequity in the choice of computing as a career, (2) the model itself makes more clear some of the ethical issues involved in attempting to achieve gender equity on computing, and (3) efforts to reduce gender inequity in the choice of computing as a career need to be evaluated in the light of this model.
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paper_title: From Barbie to Mortal Kombat: Gender and Computer Games

paper_content:

Book Reviews From Barbie to Mortal Kombat: Gender and Computer Games. Justine Cassell and Henry Jenkins, eds. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1998. 360 pp., 57 illustrations, 26 color. Cloth: $35.00. Boys and girls are different; of this, there is no question. But how does the biological and social construct of gender relate to computer games and, more importantly, to our computer-driven culture? In From Barbie to Moral Kombat: Gender and Computer Games, editors Justine Cassell and Henry Jenkins address this question. The book grew out of a one-day symposium on gender and computer games sponsored by Women's Studies at MIT that was organized to bring together both game industry representatives and academics for the purpose of discussing computer games for girls. However, the discussion went much further, providing a thought-provoking analysis of the limitations and opportunities females face as they are socialized in a world that is both male-dominated and computer-based. As Cassell and Jenkins point out in their introduction to the book, males have tended to control the computer games industry, create games for themselves, and market exclusively to boys. In the words of one games executive. "I have more left handed players than I have female players and I don't make games for left-handed people. Why should I make them for [girls]?" (5). This attitude presents a multiplicity of problems. First, boys have been attracted to computer games more than girls have and thus use them to hone their computer skills. In a world where computer literacy is a requirement in education and for high-status employment, girls could be at a disadvantage. Second, the content of the games frequently undermines girls (a key reason why girls are not drawn to them). Popular games, frequently depicting violent action, often exclude or objectify girls, showing them, if at all, as "damsels in distress" or passive bystanders. These images could erode girls' confidence and sense of empowerment and contribute to a misogynistic attitude among boys. Third, the games industry is resistant to change. Major retailers, such as Toys 'R' Us or Kaybee, will take a game off the shelves in a few weeks if it fails to show an immediate profit, thus giving new products that might be more appealing to girls a chance to catch on. To be sure, not all girls feel marginalized by the computer games industry. Henry Jenkins relates a conversation he overheard in which a schoolgirl expressed her enthusiasm for "Tomb Raider," and other writers speak of the puzzle or exploration games, such as "Tetris," "Myst," and "Donkey Kong Country," which are attractive to girls as well as boys. Nevertheless, as of the 1990s, eighty percent of computer game playing among children aged nine to fifteen was done by boys, who also comprised ninety percent of the readership for games magazines. Further, most of the games readily available failed to address the preferences of the female half of the population. The contributors to From Barbie to Mortal Kombat offer divergent solutions to these problems. …
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paper_title: Gender and Computers: Understanding the Digital Divide

paper_content:

Contents: Preface. Introducing the Problem. Computer Anxiety: A Matter of Gender. The Social Context of Computing. Expectancies and the Computer. A Threat in the Air. Working Toward Solutions. Solutions: Single-Sex Schools and Classrooms?
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paper_title: Digital game-based learning

paper_content:

Research published by University of Rochester neuroscientists C. Shawn Green and Daphne Bavelier has grabbed national attention for suggesting that playing "action" video and computer games has the positive effect of enhancing student's visual selective attention. But that finding is just one small part of a more important message that all parents and educators need to hear: Video games are not the enemy, but the best opportunity we have to engage our kids in real learning.
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Title: Female Under-Representation in Computing Education and Industry - A Survey of Issues and Interventions

Section 1: INTRODUCTION
Description 1: Introduce the issue of female under-representation in computing education and industry and define the scope of the paper.

Section 2: Computing Education and Industry
Description 2: Review the evidence of female under-representation in computing from both education and industry perspectives.

Section 3: Comparative trend with other STEM subjects and jobs
Description 3: Compare trends of female representation in computing with other STEM subjects and jobs.

Section 4: POSSIBLE CAUSES OF FEMALE UNDER-REPRESENTATION IN COMPUTING
Description 4: Discuss theories and factors proposed to explain female under-representation in computing education and industry.

Section 5: Inherent gender characteristics linked to computer science capability
Description 5: Explore arguments about inherent gender characteristics that may influence decisions to study computer science.

Section 6: Socio-cultural factors
Description 6: Examine the socio-cultural factors impacting female engagement and success in computing.

Section 7: Structural factors
Description 7: Analyze structural factors affecting education and career access, choice, and advancement in computing for females.

Section 8: Confidence and motivation
Description 8: Discuss the impact of confidence and motivation differences between genders in computing.

Section 9: Perception of the Computer Scientist
Description 9: Consider societal impacts on perceptions of computer scientists and how this affects young girls.

Section 10: INTERVENTION STRATEGIES AND INITIATIVES
Description 10: Review the strategies and interventions aimed at addressing female under-representation in computing.

Section 11: Gender grouping, collaborative working, role models and mentoring
Description 11: Discuss the impact of gender grouping, collaborative working, role models, and mentoring on female motivation in computing.

Section 12: Working parties and initiatives
Description 12: Examine working parties and initiatives designed to support females in computing education and careers.

Section 13: Educational policies
Description 13: Review policies aimed at improving female accessibility and representation in computing education.

Section 14: Educational games as a motivating tool and its implications
Description 14: Explore the use of educational games as a tool to motivate females in computing education.

Section 15: DISCUSSION, CONCLUSION AND FUTURE DIRECTION
Description 15: Summarize key findings, conclude the paper, and suggest future research directions.