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Here's just one example of how little moments in class can impact student's ideas of whether CS is interesting and whether they "belong" in it. It's easy for C

Here's just one example of how little moments in class can impact student's ideas of whether CS is interesting and whether they "belong" in it. It's easy for CS teachers to get boys excited by introducing a new topic with something like "these algorithms are important in VIDEO GAMES!" Boys are vastly more likely to play video games than girls, so this example will likely be much more motivating to boys than girls. Girls are often socialized to highly value a career that helps other people. An example like "these algorithms are important for helping doctors determine which patients have cancer" may be more inspiring to them.

tdkl 10y ago
So you're claiming men are more childish? As parent said, all it matters is writing code and if women aren't interested in that as much men typically aren't in professions usually filled by women, that's their choice.
- bonniemuffin 10y ago
  Nope. Examples involving whatever girls do for fun these days would also be fine. I'm just not hip to what teen girls are doing for fun. "This is how you make snapchat"?
VeejayRampay 10y ago
I think the male to female ratio in gaming at large is pretty much 1:1 now. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Women_and_video_games#Demographics_of_female_players https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Women_and_video_games#Demograp...
- Senji 10y ago
  Only if you conflate all genres AND age brackets together.
- bonniemuffin 10y ago
  Right there in your link: "While 48% of women in the United States report having played a video game, only 6% identify as gamers, compared to 15% of men who identify as gamers. This rises to 9% among women aged 18–29, compared to 33% of men in that age group." They might play a game now and then, but women are less likely to identify themselves as "gamers" or to think of gaming as a part of their identity. When we think about creating an inclusive environment where students can see themselves in the career, this is the sort of statistic to consider.

tdkl 10y ago

So you're claiming men are more childish? As parent said, all it matters is writing code and if women aren't interested in that as much men typically aren't in professions usually filled by women, that's their choice.

bonniemuffin 10y ago
Nope. Examples involving whatever girls do for fun these days would also be fine. I'm just not hip to what teen girls are doing for fun. "This is how you make snapchat"?

VeejayRampay 10y ago

I think the male to female ratio in gaming at large is pretty much 1:1 now. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Women_and_video_games#Demographics_of_female_players https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Women_and_video_games#Demograp...

Senji 10y ago
Only if you conflate all genres AND age brackets together.
bonniemuffin 10y ago
Right there in your link: "While 48% of women in the United States report having played a video game, only 6% identify as gamers, compared to 15% of men who identify as gamers. This rises to 9% among women aged 18–29, compared to 33% of men in that age group." They might play a game now and then, but women are less likely to identify themselves as "gamers" or to think of gaming as a part of their identity. When we think about creating an inclusive environment where students can see themselves in the career, this is the sort of statistic to consider.