Subtle and Not-So-Subtle Messages of Non-Inclusion

Final Paper pdf 508KB

Numbers involved in the gender gap in computer science are substantial and growing. The gender gap has been slowly decreasing in most STEM fields, with several showing significant gains, leading some to believe that time will solve the problem. However, the percentage of degrees awarded to women in computer science peaked in 1986, and has been significantly decreasing ever since.1 Many studies have been performed, and many hypotheses formed to try to explain why this is so. One hypothesized reason is that subtle, and not-so-subtle, messages convey to women in computer professions that these are “men’s fields;” another, that cyberbullying affects women disproportionately. Both may cause women to leave computer professions. This paper gives examples of messages of non-inclusion, discusses preliminary results of an on-going study on cyberbullying, and invites discussion of what those both in, and outside, the computer professions can do to address the climate for women.

Author(s):

Claire McCullough    
Computer Science and Engineering
University of Tennessee at Chattanooga
United States

Sviatlana Chesser    
Psychology
University of Tennessee at Chattanooga
United States

Bart Weathington    
Psychology
University of Tennessee at Chattanooga
United States