Factors contributing to the underrepresentation of female undergraduates in computer science in Australia

Research has shown that females do not participate as much as males in Information Technology (IT) related studies in both Australian secondary and tertiary education. Despite research in the 1990s which identified such underrepresentation of girls in IT studies, the rate of female enrolment still remains consistently low. Drawing on relevant literature, this paper explores the possible key factors and statistical data which highlight the existence of gender disparity in IT studies. The statistical data regarding female enrolment in Australian secondary and tertiary IT education suggests a possible correlation between secondary IT and tertiary IT participation. In conjunction with these statistics as well as the wider literature, a range of possible key factors are outlined to explain the pattern of females’ underrepresentation in IT-related studies. The project also explores how the possible key factors in the low female participation rates in undergraduate Computer Science (CS) degrees occur in two different educational contexts, in Australia and Taiwan. The study adopts Eccles et al. Expectancy Value Model in exploring the psychological and social factors which influence female students’ CS enrolment decisions. A mixed methods approach is used to further triangulate Eccles’ theory of social and psychological factors in influencing individuals’ course selections.