Women in Computer Science:

Two Studies on the Effects of Stereotypes


Maria Enderton

Psychology Honors Thesis

Macalester College

May 2003




You've reached the website to download my honors thesis. The links to download a pdf copy are at the bottom of the page.

If you're wondering what exactly this thesis is about, and which, if not both, of the two studies you would be interested in, read on.


ABSTRACT
The goal of this honors thesis is to illuminate issues related to the systematic under-representation of females in computer science. It does so, first, through a review of research that addresses the existence of gender differences in computing ability, attitudes, and experiences, as well as factors potentially related to these differences, particularly stereotypes. Secondly, it expands on such research with two studies. The first study experimentally tests for the existence of stereotype threat effects for females with regard to computer competency. The second, qualitative, study collects and analyzes female computer scientists’ experiences with and views about the effects of gender stereotypes for women in computer science.
The second study involved collecting female computer scientists' experiences/stories, primarily through an (anonymous) internet response form. If you contributed to this study and are primarily interested in the results/finding from this, I suggest: About 1/2 way through, the results and discussion for study 2 begin (I should note, however, that in this section I often make reference to works/studies I discussed in the intro/lit review - in fact, the outline of the study's discussion is a direct reflection of the lit review, which is the first 1/3 or so of the paper).

Double-spaced (original format) - 75pgs: PDF (200KB)

Single-spaced - 43pgs: PDF (182KB)




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