Assessing gender bias in the software used in computer science and software engineering education

Lyndsey O’Brien · Tanjila Kanij · John Grundy

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Gender and Technology in Education Career Development and Diversity Persona Design and Applications

Abstract

Women are underrepresented in Computer Science (CS)/ Software Engineering (SE) and other technology related degrees. As undergraduates, they are also less likely to persist with CS/SE studies than men enrolled in those same courses. Gender correlated differences in personal characteristics, behaviour, and preferences mean that course design decisions may introduce unintended bias. To address this issue, we drew inspiration from the GenderMag method. GenderMag uses personas with evidence-based gender differences in problem-solving traits to detect usability issues in software. In this paper we investigate the personal qualities of CS and SE students, and how these influence their CS/SE learning journey. A series of persona development workshops were held to gather an extensive and unique qualitative dataset capturing the prior experiences, preferences, learning styles, motivations, goals, frustrations, and constraints of CS/SE students. Gender differences were used to construct preliminary male and female student personas. These personas were used in cognitive walkthroughs of software applications commonly used in education, and their performance compared to GenderMag’s Tim and Abi. While the student personas were less effective and lacked specificity compared to Abi, they were able to identify issues not detectable with GenderMag. Furthermore, the findings show the utility of persona development workshops as a data collection method and introduce a comprehensive list of CS/SE student qualities that may inspire future investigations. • Identified differences in learning styles, motivations, goals, and frustrations. • Developed male and female CS/SE student persona. • Successful application of GenderMag with new personas on education software. • New personas could detect issues that existing GenderMag personas overlooked. • New CS/SE student persona can complement GenderMag persona.

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2006Using thematic analysis in psychology 1966Generalized expectancies for internal versus external control of reinforcement.2016Thematic analysis 2012Science faculty’s subtle gender biases favor male students 2010NEO inventories for the NEO Personality Inventory-3 (NEO-PI-3), NEO Five-Factor Inventory-3 (NEO-FFI-3), NEO Personality Inventory-Revised (NEO PI-R) : professional manual 1999The good research guide for small-scale social research projects.2016Why are some STEM fields more gender balanced than others?2009Ambient belonging: How stereotypical cues impact gender participation in computer science.

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