Gender gap in computer science does not exist in one former soviet republic: results of a study

Authors:
Hasmik Gharibyan;Stephan Gunsaulus
Affiliations:
California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, CA;Cuesta College, San Luis Obispo, CA
Venue:
Proceedings of the 11th annual SIGCSE conference on Innovation and technology in computer science education
Year:
2006

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Abstract

It is well known that women's involvement in the field of Computer Science is very low in the USA. This is viewed as a significant problem and has become a great concern to educators and professionals in the CS field. Although the low participation rate of women is an issue in many countries around the world, the truth is that it is not a universal problem: there are countries, such as countries of the former Soviet Union, that have well represented female populations in Computer Science. The Soviet society, culture and educational system in many ways are quite different than America's. It is important and helpful to explore these differences with the intention to identify factors in the Soviet system/culture that may contribute to attracting women to Computer Science.In 2005 we started an international investigation of the issue of women in CS in two different societies/cultures - American and Soviet. Our research is intended to bring a better understanding of the social perceptions and influences that make this issue a problem in the United States, and will contribute to designing better strategies in efforts of mitigating the low participation of women in the field of Computer Science. In this paper we present the results of an extensive study in one former Soviet republic, the Republic of Armenia.