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November 22, 2021

Children as young as age 6 develop ideas that girls are less interested than boys in computer science and engineering stereotypes that can extend into the late teens and contribute to a gender gap in STEM college courses and related careers.

New research from the University of Houston and the University of Washington, published Nov. 22 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, explores the gender-based beliefs young children and teens hold about interest in STEM fields. The majority of children believe girls are less interested than boys in computer science and engineering, the study shows.

Gender-interest stereotypes that STEM is for boys begins in grade school, and by the time they reach high school, many girls have made their decision not to pursue degrees in computer science and engineering because they feel they dont belong, said Allison Master, an assistant professor of Psychological, Health and Learning Sciences at the University of Houston and the studys lead author.

The PNAS study involved four different studies a mix of surveys and designed experiments to capture the beliefs of a racially diverse sample of children and teens in grades 1 through 12. Researchers wanted to focus on interest, building on past studies of stereotypes about ability, to learn how gender-based stereotypes about who likes not just who is good at computer science and engineering can affect a childs sense of belonging and willingness to participate. Such information can influence a young persons motivation over the long term, researchers point out, and may deter them from trying an activity or taking a class.

As recently as 2019, national statistics reveal that women are underrepresented in some popular and lucrative STEM careers: United States Census Bureau statistics show that only about 25% of computer scientists and 15% of engineers were women.

In the first two studies, researchers surveyed more than 2,200 children and teens to gauge beliefs about computer science and engineering. The surveys used terms and phrases with which the students were familiar at school, such as computer coding for computer science or, for engineering, designing and creating large structures such as roads and bridges.

Researchers found that just over half (51%) of children believed girls are less interested than boys in computer science, and nearly two-thirds (63%) said girls are less interested in engineering. In comparison, 14% of children said girls are more interested than boys in computer science, and 9% said girls are more interested in engineering.

Subsequent lab studies provided a smaller sample of children two different activities from which to choose. The results demonstrated that girls were significantly less interested in a computer science activity when they were told boys were more interested in it than girls (35% of girls chose the activity), compared to one they were told boys and girls were equally interested in (65% of girls chose that activity).

While the surveys showed the pervasiveness of gender-based stereotypes around interest in computer science and engineering, the designed experiments demonstrated how stereotypes can affect a sense of belonging, which can influence motivation, co-author Andrew Meltzoff said.

The large surveys told us that the kids had absorbed the cultural stereotype that girls are less interested in computer science and engineering. In the experiments we zeroed in on causal mechanisms and consequences of stereotypes, said Meltzoff, a professor of psychology at the UW and co-director of the Institute for Learning & Brain Sciences. We discovered that labeling an activity in a stereotyped way influenced childrens interest in it and their willingness to take it homethe mere presence of the stereotype influenced kids in dramatic ways. This brought home to us the pernicious effect of stereotypes on children and teens

And thats important, added co-author Sapna Cheryan, a UW professor of psychology, because if fewer girls feel they belong, then fewer might pursue computer science or engineering through school and beyond. That can lead to gender disparities in STEM fields and even worsen the wage gap.

Current gender disparities in computer science and engineering careers are troubling because these careers are lucrative, high status, and influence so many aspects of our daily lives.

The dearth of gender and racial diversity in these fieldsmay be one of the reasonswhy many products and services have had negative consequences forwomen and people of color, Cheryan said.

Teachers and parents can help counteract stereotypes by offering high-quality computer science and engineering activities early in elementary school and encouraging girls participation, the authors note.

The study was funded by the National Science Foundation, the Institute of Education Sciences at the U.S. Department of Education, and the Bezos Family Foundation.

For more information, contact Meltzoff at meltzoff@uw.edu, Cheryan at scheryan@uw.edu, or Master at amaster@central.uh.edu.

This release includes material from S. Sara Tubbs at the University of Houston.

Continued here:

Kids, teens believe girls aren't interested in computer science, study shows - UW News

ISLAMABAD: Pakistani scientist Mubashir Husain Rehmani has been nominated among the top 1% of the most influential researchers in computer science for the second year in a row.

Compiled by Clarivate Analytics, the ranking highlights researchers with significant influence in their chosen field through the publication of cited papers during the last decade.

Mubashir Rehmanis work focuses on wireless networks, blockchain, cognitive radio networks, and software-defined networks.

He has written over 100 peer-reviewed articles, of which 12 were among the highly-cited articles by Clarivate.

A graduate of Mehran University of Engineering and Technology, Rehmani is serving as an assistant lecturer at Munster Technological University, Ireland.

Rehmanis penned 100 peer-reviewed articles, out of which 12 were highly cited according to Clarivate, which ranges from papers that cover wireless networks, blockchain, cognitive radio networks, and software-defined networks.

Every year, Clarivate compiles a list of highly cited researchers across the world, highlighting the top 1% of scientists by citations.

This years list features 31 researchers in Ireland who exert significant influence in their fields.

The rest is here:

Pakistani scientist ranked among top 1% computer science researchers - Geo News

Bill Lewis began teaching computer science at PHS in 1979. (Provided)

By Ashley McCarty

Peoples Defender

Before there was Google, Facebook, or YouTube, 25 years ago in 1996, Peebles High School became one of the very first schools in the area to have a website.

As we were building the new high school buildings, the school district sent several teachers out to workshops around the state. At one of these workshops, they taught us a little bit about how to create a website. I had been teaching computers at PHS for a number of years already, so this was kind of an amazing thing to me that these tools made this. It was really possible for students to do this. At that time, Microsoft was behind a project called Schools on the Web. You could create a website and then upload it to them, and thats actually how we got started, said former PHS Computer Science Teacher Bill Lewis.

The original group of 11 students credited for creating the website were Amy Farquer, Dale Fitzpatrick, Cori Hanna, Mandy Hedrick, Amanda Howard, Jason Howard, Beth Myers, Justin Myers, Jake Phipps, Regina Smalley and Robyn Workman. Since then, nearly 400 students at PHS have been directly involved in its design and development.

[Back then] we used Notepad [to create the website]. While [during my tenure] we did upgrade to Notepad++, we continued to write the code for the entire website in hand-coded HTML. We hand wrote it, we never used web tools. I always felt like, for the students, if they hand-coded it, it gave them a better understanding of what was happening. If you can hand-code it, you can adapt to using web tools very easily, because you can understand the concepts behind it. Since then, David Vogler has replaced me as the computer teacher, and they continue to start off doing hand-coding, said Lewis.

Over the years, not only have students been able to learn the intricacies of HTML through the website, but they have learned how to create graphic images, design, as well as the value of writing content.

They learned how to create graphic images, such as gifs, jpegs, creating icons or headers. We were extremely frugal. In 25 years, we spent less than $1,000 total. We bought a couple of digital cameras over the years. We used Paintshop Pro instead of Photoshop, and we used that to teach them how to do graphic editing. Beyond the mechanics of writing the HTML and the graphic editing, it was learning to design; using the right colors as well as background wallpapers. There was also writing content, and [all of the aspects that go with that to do it properly], said Lewis.

Alongside working on the school website, students were encouraged to create pages about themselves.

They would get so excited about that. It was something a lot of them took a lot of pride in, he said. He recalls many personalized and thoughtful pages created by his students reflecting their hobbies, interests and their passions. Even without internet, these pages could be created and opened in a web browser.

Once it got started, I became very passionate about it. I always started off the year telling the students that I took a lot of pride in the fact that this was a website made by them, by the students. I had my hand in it, but for the most part, everything was done by the students. I took and take so much pride in that, said Lewis. Still very impassioned, Lewis dedicates two or three days each year to guest-instruct the class.

[Over the years the website] has taken on many forms. In the beginning, the website was very basic, but it was something, and we were proud of it. As students became used to seeing websites, they would want to do different things. One year, I remember the background on the school homepage looked like it was inspired by the Grateful Dead, Lewis said, laughing, even though something may not have been to my taste, I supported the kids, because it was their website, he said. Though Lewis was always adamant to make sure everything was in good taste and properly legible.

Since its inception in 1996, the website has been visited by every state and every continent except for Antarctica.

Shortly before I retired [in 2014], it had been visited by somebody from every state aside from two. I vowed that if those two states still hadnt visited by the time I retired, I was going to go there and log into the website myself, he said, laughing, but, that happened before I retired.

Over the years, Lewis has had the opportunity to bond with some of those individuals in other states and countries and make a plethora of fond memories.

According to Lewis, sometime between 2010-2012, the district moved to using a single hub website for the different school attendance areas. Despite this change, the original PHS website continues to be updated.

Since I left, theyve added a Twitter feed and integrated the school calendar which has upcoming school events. It has the bell schedule, the teachers, course descriptions, news from various clubs, sports schedules, graduation information and much more. The website the students make is a lot more personal, said Lewis. Aside from that, there is history.

There is a page on there about the history of PHS. One of the last big projects we took on before I retired was digitizing all of the old senior composites. Theyre all on there. A lot of people in the community were excited about it. Theres some information on there about the history of the buildings, and even the teaching staff. Theres a lot of formal history aside from the [history students have created just by creating the pages], said Lewis.

For those wishing to experience the deeply nostalgic and enrapturing content the PHS website has to provide, visit https://www.peebles.scoca-k12.org/.

It was something that, in my last several years at Peebles, I took a lot of pride in. I think that we created a new tradition that still continues. I hope to see it continue for many more years. If people visit the site, I think they will find many interesting and wonderful things, said Lewis.

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Ahead of their time - The People's Defender