The Underrepresentation of Female Students in Computer Science Programs

Debunking Structural Gender Inequalities in Academia

Abstract

Despite the shared recognition that ensuring equitable educational opportunities for learners of all genders is a fundamental social justice issue, computer science programs still encounter equity and inclusivity challenges. In Canada, women accounted for 15.8 percent of first-year undergraduates in CS programs in 2010, and only half of them graduated with a degree in computing (Statistics Canada, 2019). In the United States, only 18.7 percent of CS bachelor’s degrees were awarded to female students (National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics, 2019). Aside from the unbalanced gender composition, female CS students also suffer from quotidian gender essentialism and a sense of isolation under a male-dominated paradigm. The disproportionate female representation in academia restricts women from pursuing high-paying computing careers and exacerbates alarming gender inequalities in society. In essence, it is of paramount importance to question who leaves women behind. This study reveals that the androcentric institutional culture as well as its corresponding educational practices and resource allocation in North American universities result in the massive underrepresentation of female students in undergraduate CS programs from 2000 to 2022. This can be explored through the normalized yet dubious masculine culture, gender-inequitable pedagogical methods, and the scarcity of female support mechanisms that constantly interfere with female students’ enrollment, retention, and achievement in this subject area.