Despite being in a digital age, the diversity of young people choosing to study and work in computing is of ongoing concern, especially low numbers of girls. This paper aims to determine the profile of students who are more likely to aspire to be computer scientists and provide insights into the key factors that shape their aspirations in this…

Efforts to increase the participation of groups historically underrepresented in computing studies, and in the computing workforce, are well documented. It is a national effort with funding from a variety of sources being allocated to research in broadening participation in computing (BPC). Many of the BPC efforts are funded by the National…

This dissertation investigates the issue of gender stratification within engineering and other STEM-related fields. The dissertation is divided into three articles that address different aspects of the problem and propose potential solutions. Article 1 explores the persistent gender imbalance within STEM fields, particularly in engineering and…

Computer science (CS) has been identified as one of the fastest-growing professions, with demand for CS professionals far outpacing the supply of CS graduates. The necessity for a trained CS workforce has compelled industry and academia to evaluate strategies for broadening participation in CS. The current literature in CS education emphasizes the…

This study examined the effects of an Arduino microrobot activity on college students' interest in robotics through three specific objectives: (1) determining how students' conceptual understanding regarding the basics of microcomputing and computer programming changes after engaging in an engineering robotics learning module, (2) assessing the…

Contribution: The current study finds that female-identified students report stronger associations between "helping others" and interest in bioengineering/biomedical engineering than non-females, while they report less interest in electrical and computer engineering overall, with similar associations to factors such as…

Increasing participation and continued persistence of women in computing is a perennial problem. This paper explores how participation in computing has been defined and the consequences definitions have on understanding women's persistence in computing. The data for this paper come from 64 in-depth, qualitative interviews with young women who in…

Math self-concept (MSC) is considered an important predictor of the pursuit of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) fields. Women's underrepresentation in the STEM fields is often attributed to their consistently lower ratings on MSC relative to men. Research in this area typically considers STEM in the aggregate and does not account…

In the United States, the number of students entering into and completing degrees in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) areas has declined significantly over the past decade. Although modest increases have been shown in enrollments in computer-related majors in the past 4 years, the prediction is that even in 3 to 4 years…

When you think of someone who is an engineer, do you imagine a man or a woman wearing a hardhat? How about when you imagine a teacher standing in front of a class of schoolchildren? If you answer "a man" to the first question, and "a woman" to the second, there's probably a reason. And the reason is simply that more men than…

ACT has been a leader in measuring college and career readiness trends since 1959. Each August, ACT releases The Condition of College & Career Readiness (www.act.org/newsroom/data/2015), an annual report on the progress of the ACT-tested graduating class relative to college readiness. Nationally, a record 59% of the 2015 graduating class took…

This paper provides a comprehensive overview of adolescent career plans reported in PISA 2006. Its main focus is on the differences in the status and area of employment expected by girls and boys in high school. In almost all countries, girls lead boys in their interest in non-manual, high status professional occupations. This can be seen as a…

ACT has been a leader in measuring college and career readiness trends since 1959. Each August, they release "The Condition of College & Career Readiness" (www.act.org/newsroom/data/2014), their annual report on the progress of the ACT-tested graduating class relative to college readiness. Nationally, 57% of the 2014 graduating class…

This study aims to compare and contrast the perspectives of preservice teachers and instructors on the "Computer Education and Instructional Technology (CEIT)" department. A questionnaire which was developed from the ideas of CEIT faculty members in the "The Results of Re-Designing the Teacher Education Curricula of the Faculties of…

This project report describes the process used to convert the retrospective life history data collected in 1969 at the Center for Social Organization of Schools at the Johns Hopkins University to a more usable form, the writing and testing of computer storage and retrieval programs for the data, and the initial interpretation of data relating to…