When asked to imagine a computer scientist, males and females tend to report that they imagine a male. This perception can be detrimental for females’ computer science self-efficacy and may contribute to findings that as early as elementary school females are less interested in and less confident in their computing abilities in comparison to their male peers. However, not all females imagine computer scientists to be males. Here we examine the association between females’ perceptions of computer scientists’ characteristics and their own self-efficacy about coding. Through a larger research study, we measured female children’s computer science self-efficacy with a survey on their beliefs about their personal coding ability and the characteristics of other children who code. They were also asked to draw a picture of a computer scientist and report similarities between themselves and the person they drew. We found that girls who drew female computer scientists had greater computer science self-efficacy and that girls with greater computer science self-efficacy described similarities related to coding. This work illuminates how female children conceptualize the identities of professional computer scientists and their own identities as computer scientists in the face of cultural and social norms that tend to place men at the center of STEM fields. It also provides insight into what specific beliefs or practices, such as participating in coding activities, might affect female children’s development of computer science self-efficacy.

Last modified

• 06/30/2021

Creator

• Smyth, Paige
• McCarty, Stephanie

DOI

• https://doi.org/10.21985/n2-seva-pw63

Keyword

• women in STEM
• computer science self-efficacy
• STEM representation

Date created

• 2021

Resource type

• Conference Proceeding

Rights statement

• In Copyright