Practitioner Enquiry 2024

The gender gap in computing. It has been a long-standing issue across Scotland, and indeed the rest of the UK. This practioner enquiry sets out to identify key areas in the education of our pupils to uncover some truths about why the subject fails to meet the needs of female pupils. It also seeks to present pathways and potential solutions in attempt to solve this.

It is highly unlikely that this practioner enquiry will transform Scottish computing education in one fell swoop, but it seeks to leave a few key focuses for improving the situation.

Why this research?

As a classroom teacher for more than six years now, I have seen pupil female numbers fluctuate; with some schools that I have worked at seeing around a ten to fifteen percent female cohort within a computing class (this includes all forms of computing, S3, National 5, Higher, Advanced Higher and all the various NPA qualifications) but then on the other hand, I've worked in schools where the numbers are absolute zero. I have also worked with classes where the number of girls of girls in S3 is reasonable but by S4 it is back to zero.

Why could this be the case?

Why is very difficult to decipher and pinpoint, but I have outlined several key points that I believe at the present time illustrate some of the main issues:

1. Perception of computing as a male subject
   • Computing is often seen as a male-dominated subject.^[1]
   • Lack of female role models in computing. ^[2]
2. Lack of early engagement and confidence
   • Girls may feel behind compared to boys with early exposure to technology. ^[3]
   • Fear of not being good at coding or computing.
3. Limited understanding of career opportunities
   • Computing is often mistaken as only coding-related. ^[2]
   • Misconception that tech jobs lack creativity or teamwork. ^[2]
4. Lack of female role models and representation
   • Few female computing teachers and professionals. ^[2]
   • Women’s contributions to computing are not always highlighted. ^[2]
5. Peer influence and social pressures
   • Girls may avoid computing if their friends do. ^[5]
   • Fear of being the only girl in the class. ^[2]
6. Misconceptions about the subject
   • Belief that computing is all about maths or coding. ^[2]
   • Perceived as boring or too theoretical. ^[2]
7. Teaching approach and curriculum
   • Heavily programming-focused lessons may not appeal to all pupils. ^[6]
   • Lack of interactive, problem-solving activities. ^[6]
   • Unlike subjects like English and Mathematics, Computing is a one-a-week subject and therefore teachers often do not have time to make good relationships with pupils. ^[6]
8. Parental and teacher expectations
   • Parents may unconsciously steer girls towards other subjects. ^[2]
   • Teachers may unintentionally favour boys in discussions. ^[2]

I believe this area of research holds greater depth than what I have encountered so far through my reading and discussions.

The Gender Insights in Computing Education published by the National Centre for Computing Education in April 2023 makes for an interesting read and covers a considerable amount of what I have discovered myself.

What this research involves

While this enquiry cannot encompass all the necessary research, the following will be the key focus areas:

• Why the numbers are low and the main causes
• What can be done to solve the issue

To construct a bigger picture, some further discourse will be carried out with particular focus on certain groups:

• S2 pupils who have chosen the subject
• S2 and S3 pupils who did not pick the subject
• Pupils who are currently in S3 and beyond (who did pick the subject)
• A female computing teacher (and indeed someone who, when at school, picked computing)

I also deem it neccesary to investigate S1 thoughts on the subject and to establish whether the issue, at least at Knox Academy, roots within the first year of secondary level education.

Using this information, the aim is to discern the main causes for the subject not being the number one choice, or even, in some cases, the backup choice when course selection is made. Crucially, this should focus on what needs to change to solve the issue.

Pupil involvement

At the very heart of the subject choices are the pupils. The main focus of the research will be the pupils' views and reasons.

The first stage of this was a questionnaire.

Questionnaire

The following questions were asked of all female pupils, regardless of year group or whether or not they picked the subject.

The questionnaire was built with my own DragonDocs Engine to make it easier for me collect formatted data. You can view the actual questionnaire here.

Informal group discourse

After the initial questionnaire that pupils completed, an informal group discourse took place.

The informal discourse was aimed at seeking additional thoughts on what might have put the pupils off the subject. This took place immediately after the questionnaire.

By working as a group, pupils came up with ideas together that would shape the later information individual discussions.

Informal individual discussions

As a teacher, I am well aware there are certain things that pupils will not disclose during a group discussion out of fear that peers might be critical of that but may divulge that information in a one-to-one conversation (for example, they might discuss their relationship with mathematics and how they have struggled).

Accordingly, a personal discussion took place as final element of the picture to discern if additional information could be extracted.

Analysis

In the analysis of the data provided in all three stages, several key areas of discussion were prevelant. These were:

• The perception of the subject being male-dominated
• Peer and parental influence
• The lack of female role models
• Individualised encouragement and discouragement

1. Perception of Computing as Male-Dominated

The following question was asked during the questionnaire:

Do you agree that computer science is a male-dominated subject?

• 6 out of 7 respondents agreed or strongly agreed that computing is seen as a male-dominated subject.
• Only 2 said that this perception influenced their decision not to pursue the subject.

2. Fear of Being the Only Girl

The following question was asked during the questionnaire:

How much did the fear of being the only girl in the subject have upon you?

• 3 out of 7 indicated that the fear of being the only girl had “some” or “a lot” of influence.
• This fear ranked highly in ordered decision-making factors.

3. Confidence & Early Exposure

The following question was asked during the questionnaire:

Girls may feel behind compared to boys with early exposure to technology — do you agree?

• 6 out of 7 girls agreed that girls may feel behind compared to boys due to early exposure to technology.
• This confidence gap emerged as a recurring concern.

4. Lack of Female Role Models

The following question was asked during the questionnaire:

Do you agree that having a female role model such as a teacher would have encouraged you to pick the subject?

• 5 out of 7 students felt a female computing teacher would have had a positive impact or were neutral.
• "Lack of female role models" often appeared in ranked reasons for not choosing the subject.

5. Career Awareness

The following question was asked during the questionnaire:

How much do you agree that you had a limited idea of what careers you could go into in computer science fields?

• Several girls strongly agreed that they had limited awareness of career options in computing.
• This lack of information influenced their decisions, especially among those who didn’t pick the subject.

6. Teacher Influence

The following question was asked during the questionnaire:

In relation to your last (or current) year of Computing, how much would you agree that the teacher impacted on your choice of subject?

• Mixed responses—some felt positively influenced, others not at all.
• This suggests the teacher’s role can be pivotal but inconsistent in impact.

7. Peer and Social Influence

The following question was asked during the questionnaire:

Do you agree that the subject was appealing/unappealing because you knew your friends were taking/not taking it?

• Direct peer influence was mostly denied, but social conformity emerged indirectly.
• Examples: "If one girl does not take the subject..." and "girls tend to go in groups."

8. General Subject Appeal

The following question was asked during the questionnaire:

In relation to your last (or current) year of Computing, which would describe the content?

• Most girls rated the subject content as “Good” or “Brilliant.”
• This implies that the barrier isn’t the subject itself, but the perceptions surrounding it.

Interview questions

Role models

The following question was asked during the interview:

Do you agree that having a female-role model such as a teacher would have encouraged you to pick the subject?

Discouragement and encouragement

The following question was asked during the interview:

Do you agree you were discouraged/encouraged by someone else to pick the subject?

Discouragement came up more often that was originally hypothesised. From people saying they "don't know how to work computers" or the attitude of "coding is too difficult" or the belief that there aren't enough women in technology.

These were seen as major hinderances that pupil girls off picking computing. Boys on the other hand, more often stated that they were interested in going into jobs like electronic engineering where "coding was a staple part of what they do", or science-based careers where understanding "how to use data can be helpful" came up.

Parental discouragement came up frequently during the individual discourse as well as the group discourse too. However, it was more encouragement for other subjects than literal discouragement toward Computing Science.

Pupil thoughts on improving the situation

Several key themes were present throughout the interview and the questionnaire and the literature review carried out.

Here are the correlation results between those who took computing and those who perceived it as a male subject or those who feared being the only girl in the class. The correlation coefficients are as below:

• Took Computing vs. Perceives Male-Dominated: 0.42
• Took Computing vs. Fear of Being the Only Girl: 0.47
• Perceives Male-Dominated vs. Fear of Being the Only Girl: 0.06

This suggests that some girls who took computing were not deterred by these perceptions—and in fact, they still recognised them.

Proposals

Making an objective proposal on this issue is incredibly challenging, and this is apparent across Scottish education.

Despite efforts to modernise Computing Science education in Scotland, a persistent gender imbalance remains, with significantly fewer girls enrolling in the subject. This disparity stems from entrenched stereotypes, limited early exposure, lack of female role models, and narrow perceptions of computing as a career. These issues often discourage girls from pursuing the subject, especially at critical decision points such as course choice in secondary school.

To address this, I propose a multi-pronged approach: introducing computing concepts early in primary schools using gender-inclusive materials; showcasing female role models through lessons and guest speakers; fostering inclusive, bias-aware classrooms; promoting the wide-ranging careers available in computing; and building supportive peer networks for girls.

Collaborations with initiatives like dressCode and the Ada Scotland Festival, along with tools like Equally Safe at School and the Gender Equality Toolkit, are recommended to make computing education more welcoming and equitable.

Next steps

• Introduce gender-inclusive computing activities at primary level using the Gender Equality Toolkit.
• Invite female professionals in tech to speak at school events or deliver workshops.
• Develop lesson materials that highlight contributions of women in computing history.
• Establish a girls' computing club to build peer support and confidence.
• Partner with organisations such as dressCode and Ada Scotland Festival to access additional resources.
• Recognise and change from unconscious bias in classroom practice.
• Gather pupil feedback to evaluate perceptions of Computing Science and adjust strategies accordingly.
• Monitor subject uptake annually by gender to assess progress and inform future interventions.

Conclusion

Finally, this is just a snapshot practioner enquiry into what we see as computing teachers. Education within Computer Science as a whole is experiencing a similar problem.

These points I have raised are nothing more than a bunch of literature research combined with pragmatic research carried out with pupils who are in that boat.

Additionally, the research was carried out after course choices were carried out for S3 and S4 respectively, and numbers dwindled even further as the pupils get older.

There is no single approach that seems to work to fix this, but it's certainly clear that computing education needs to begin on onset in primary schools and that female role models need to be prominent throughout the pupils' computing education.

What this research also highlights is it is not about the competition from other subjects, pupils do like the subject, and often prefer it, they just don't know how they'll use it. A lot of that comes from not having those female role models but also from not having been inspired from day one. It also highlights that the fear of being the only girl and that the subject being male dominated, which are often seen as two of the biggest reasons, does not necessarily impact on the girls asked. Even if students think computing is male-dominated, it doesn't necessarily mean they're afraid of being the only girl—these are likely separate ideas in students' minds.