What Works for Girls in Computing?: Insights from Teachers on Supporting Gender Diversity in Computing

Megan Copsey-Blake; Peter Kemp; Billy Wong; Jessica Hamer

doi:10.1145/3605468.3609774

What Works for Girls in Computing? Insights from Teachers on Supporting Gender Diversity in Computing

Megan Copsey-Blake^*, Peter Kemp, Billy Wong, Jessica Hamer

^*Corresponding author for this work

School of Education, Communication & Society

Research output: Contribution to conference types › Poster › peer-review

Abstract

This poster presents the findings from qualitative reflections of computing teachers in four schools that have a particularly good uptake of girls into the General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) Computer Science qualification in England. This is a national qualification that students can take at age 16. The research identified four key themes: 'a supportive team,' 'creative computing,' 'culturally relevant education' and 'challenging stereotypes'. The findings emphasise the importance of a supportive team within the school, as well as involving students in promoting the subject and challenging gender stereotypes. Demonstrating the relevance of computing skills across industries and supporting accessibility for all students is crucial. Encouraging creativity in the curriculum, showcasing problem-solving processes and addressing limited funding and career information gaps are also highlighted.

Original language	English
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1145/3605468.3609774
Publication status	Published - 27 Sept 2023
Event	Proceedings of the 18th WiPSCE Conference on Primary and Secondary Computing Education Research - Cambridge, United Kingdom Duration: 27 Sept 2023 → 27 Sept 2023 Conference number: 18 https://dl.acm.org/doi/proceedings/10.1145/3605468

Conference

Conference	Proceedings of the 18th WiPSCE Conference on Primary and Secondary Computing Education Research
Abbreviated title	WiPSCE 2023
Country/Territory	United Kingdom
City	Cambridge
Period	27/09/2023 → 27/09/2023
Internet address	https://dl.acm.org/doi/proceedings/10.1145/3605468

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

Access to Document

10.1145/3605468.3609774

Cite this

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title = "What Works for Girls in Computing?: Insights from Teachers on Supporting Gender Diversity in Computing",

abstract = "This poster presents the findings from qualitative reflections of computing teachers in four schools that have a particularly good uptake of girls into the General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) Computer Science qualification in England. This is a national qualification that students can take at age 16. The research identified four key themes: 'a supportive team,' 'creative computing,' 'culturally relevant education' and 'challenging stereotypes'. The findings emphasise the importance of a supportive team within the school, as well as involving students in promoting the subject and challenging gender stereotypes. Demonstrating the relevance of computing skills across industries and supporting accessibility for all students is crucial. Encouraging creativity in the curriculum, showcasing problem-solving processes and addressing limited funding and career information gaps are also highlighted.",

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note = "Proceedings of the 18th WiPSCE Conference on Primary and Secondary Computing Education Research, WiPSCE 2023 ; Conference date: 27-09-2023 Through 27-09-2023",

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What Works for Girls in Computing? Insights from Teachers on Supporting Gender Diversity in Computing. / Copsey-Blake, Megan ; Kemp, Peter ; Wong, Billy et al.
2023. Poster session presented at Proceedings of the 18th WiPSCE Conference on Primary and Secondary Computing Education Research, Cambridge, United Kingdom.

Research output: Contribution to conference types › Poster › peer-review

TY - CONF

T1 - What Works for Girls in Computing?

T2 - Proceedings of the 18th WiPSCE Conference on Primary and Secondary Computing Education Research

AU - Copsey-Blake, Megan

AU - Kemp, Peter

AU - Wong, Billy

AU - Hamer, Jessica

N1 - Conference code: 18

PY - 2023/9/27

Y1 - 2023/9/27

N2 - This poster presents the findings from qualitative reflections of computing teachers in four schools that have a particularly good uptake of girls into the General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) Computer Science qualification in England. This is a national qualification that students can take at age 16. The research identified four key themes: 'a supportive team,' 'creative computing,' 'culturally relevant education' and 'challenging stereotypes'. The findings emphasise the importance of a supportive team within the school, as well as involving students in promoting the subject and challenging gender stereotypes. Demonstrating the relevance of computing skills across industries and supporting accessibility for all students is crucial. Encouraging creativity in the curriculum, showcasing problem-solving processes and addressing limited funding and career information gaps are also highlighted.

AB - This poster presents the findings from qualitative reflections of computing teachers in four schools that have a particularly good uptake of girls into the General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) Computer Science qualification in England. This is a national qualification that students can take at age 16. The research identified four key themes: 'a supportive team,' 'creative computing,' 'culturally relevant education' and 'challenging stereotypes'. The findings emphasise the importance of a supportive team within the school, as well as involving students in promoting the subject and challenging gender stereotypes. Demonstrating the relevance of computing skills across industries and supporting accessibility for all students is crucial. Encouraging creativity in the curriculum, showcasing problem-solving processes and addressing limited funding and career information gaps are also highlighted.

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