Women into Computing: Selected Papers 1988–1990

440 Pages·1991·16.47 MB·English

by  Joanna Foster (auth.), Gillian Lovegrove MA, PhD, MBCS, Barbara Segal BSc (eds.)

WORKSHOPS IN COMPUTING
Series edited by C. J. van Rijsbergen
Also in this series
AI and Cognitive Science '89, Dublin City University, Eire,
14-15 September 1989
A. F. Smeaton and G. McDermott (Eds.)
Specification and Verification of Concurrent Systems, University of
Stirling, Scotland, 6-8 July 1988
C. Rattray (Ed.)
Semantics for Concurrency, Proceedings of the International
BCS-FACS Workshop, Sponsored by Logic for IT (S.E.R.C.), University
of Leicester, UK, 23-25 July 1990
M. Z. Kwiatkowska, M. W. Shields and R. M. Thomas (Eds.)
Functional Programming, Proceedings of the 1989 Glasgow
Workshop, Fraserburgh, Scotland, 21-23 August 1989
K. Davis and J. Hughes (Eds.)
Persistent Object Systems, Proceedings of the Third Intemational
Workshop, Newcastle, Australia, 10-13 January 1989
J. Rosenberg and D. Koch (Eds.)
Z User Workshop, Proceedings of the Fourth Annual Z User Meeting,
Oxford, 15 December 1989
J. E. Nicholls (Ed.)
Formal Methods for Trustworthy Computer Systems (FM89), Halifax,
Canada, 23-27 July 1989
Dan Craigen (Editor) and Karen Summerskill (Assistant Editor)
Security and Persistence, Proceedings of the International Workshop
on Computer Architectures to Support Security and Persistence of
Information, Bremen, West Germany, 8--11 May 1990
John Rosenberg and J. Leslie Keedy (Eds.)
3rd Refinement Workshop, Organised by the Programming Research
Group, Oxford and IBM UK Laboratories, Hursley Park, 9-11 January
1990
Carroll Morgan and J. C. P. Woodcock
Gillian Lovegrove and Barbara Segal (Eds.)
~Women
into Computing:
WöC
Selected Papers 1988-1990
Springer-Verlag Landan Ud.
Gillian Lovegrove, MA, PhD, MBCS
Department of Electronics and Computer Science
University of Southampton
Southampton, S09 5NH
Barbara Segal, BSc
Department of Computer Science
University College London
Gower Street, London, WC1
ISBN 978-3-540-19648-8
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
Women into computing: selected papers, 1988--1990 - (Workshops in
computing)
1 . Great Britain computer industries & services. Women personnel
2. Great Britain. Education. Curriculum subjects. Computer systems.
I. Lovegrove, Gillian 1942- 11. Segal, Barbara 1944-- 111. British
Computer Society IV. Se ries
004.07041
ISBN 978-3-540-19648-8 ISBN 978-1-4471-3875-4 (eBook)
DOI 10.1007/978-1-4471-3875-4
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Women into computing: selected papers, 1988--1990/Gillian Lovegrove and
Barbara Segal. eds.
p. cm. - (Workshops in computing)
"Published in collaboration with the British Computer Society." Includes
bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-3-540-19648-8
1. Women electronic data processing personnel-Congresses.
2. Women electronic data processing personnel-Training of-Congresses.
I. Lovegrove, Gillian, 1942- . 11. Segal, Barbara. 1944- . 111. British
Computer Society. IV. Series.
HD6073.D37W66 1991 90-22308
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Preface
This book contains the majority of the papers presented at the 1990
Women into Computing Conference, together with selected papers
from the 1989 and 1988 Conferences. In 1988, the main theme running
through the Conference was that of dismay at the low number of
women taking computing courses or following computing careers. The
1989 Conference was concerned solely with workshops for schoolgirls
and the 1990 Conference concentrated on strategies rather than an
assessment of the situation.
As editors, we set as our task to make a selection of papers
presenting the overall picture in 1990. We found that many of the issues
discussed in 1988 are still a cause for concern in 1990, but that
strategies to improve the situation are many and varied.
Section I contains speeches from the invited speakers and needs little
introduction. Section II contains papers covering so me attitudes and
issues of concern, ranging from the specific (Gill Russell on child care
and Laurie Keller on hacker mentality) through to broader aspects of
gender inequality (the papers of Flis Henwood, Margaret Bruce and
Alison Adam, and Lyn Bryant). Susan Jones takes a look at the reasons
why we should want to see more women in computing, whilst Gillian
Lovegrove and Wendy Hall present a more general paper on school and
higher education.
Section 111 concerns school education. So me of the papers here
reflect statistical surveys (Philippa Buckley and Barbara Smith on GCSE
choices, Judy Donnelly on the computer education of A-Ievel students,
Helen Watt on computing experience both at home and school, and
Peter Glissov on various attitudinal factors), whereas those of Audrey
Milner, Elaine Coleman and Janet Spavold are based on general
observations in the classroom. Linda Anderson presents a case study
of a single female pupil and Irene Pacitti describes some cooperative
schools/industry projects in the Govan district of Glasgow.
The section on Higher and Further Education starts with two papers
reporting students' attitude surveys (Alan Durndell and also Konrad
Morgan and his colleagues). The paper of Karen Shipp and Diane
Sutton and also that of Gill Kirkup and her colleagues discuss Open
University initiatives to make computing courses attractive to women
students. Jagdev Bansal discusses practical issues affecting women
who would like to take computing courses at Birmingham Polytechnic.
vi Preface
The paper by Nicky Gunson and Peter Fielder and that by Anne
Leeming arise from a critical look at management practices. Kathy
Buckner puts forward the argument that success on an IT course does
not relate to a maths background. Janet Johnson and Dave Arnold
describe initiatives for the recruitment of women undergraduates, whilst
Carol Whitesmith makes some interesting comments on industrial
placements and subsequent job ofters (or the lack of them).
With the exception of the paper by Philip Virgo and colleagues, which
is concerned with the WIT Campaign, all the papers in Section V
describe specific courses for women returners. It is encouraging to see
that such courses exist over a wide geographical area and are designed
for women from a range of educational backgrounds.
The careers section starts with a description of the UK Federation of
Business and Professional Women by Christi ne Arrowsmith and con
tinues with a description of career paths in the artificial intelligence
domain, followed by a paper by Valeria Edgar-Nevill on the general area
of careers in IT management.
WiC, with its roots in higher education, has placed a priority on
organising events intended to encourage schoolgirls to consider
computing as a possible area of study or employment. The papers in
Section VII, with three exceptions, describe workshops for schoolgirls
over the country. Each workshop has it own characteristics, with some
directed towards a younger age-group, some residential, so me large
and some small. Helen Watt provides a useful prescription for organis
ing a successful workshop, whilst Karen Shipp describes a workshop
aimed at exploring women's prejudices about computing. The paper by
Carole Goble and Caroline Moss describes the activity of the Greater
Manchester WiC group.
Section VIII begins with accounts by Gillian Lovegrove and Dalene
McShane of activities and initiatives in Europe concerned with techno
logy and gender equality. The papers from Lorna Uden and Alan
Durndell both describe societies where there appears to be no problem
in attracting women to technical occupations and discuss so me of the
factors involved. The section ends with an account by Colin Beardon of
measures taken at a university in New Zealand to increase the numbers
of under-represented groups in computing courses.
The topics discussed in these papers illustrate that the authors are
predominantly from education. The organisation called Women into
Computing (WiC) exists to coordinate and promote activities mainly in
the educational sector designed to make women aware of the oppor
tunities for worthwhile and fulfilling careers in computing. Other national
eftorts have similar aims: WISE (Women into Science and Engineering)
was launched in 1984 by the Equal Opportunities Commission and
Engineering Council and its aim was to encourage more women to take
up careers in science and engineering and to encourage industry to
consider positively the employment of women, particularly at higher
professional and technical levels of employment (see the paper by
Baroness Platt in Section I). The Women into Information Technology
Campaign (W1l), launched in 1988, paralleis that of WISE but concen-
Preface vii
trates specifically on the IT sector (see the paper by Philip Virgo in
Section V). WIT's Council of Directors is made up solely of representa
tives from major technical UK firms and professional organisations.
WITEC is the COMETT Programme for Women into Technology in the
European Community University Enterprise Training Partnership and
was established in 1988 as a European network of partners working for
the motivation, development and support of women in science,
technology and enterprise (see the paper by Dalene McShane in
Section VIII).
We take pride in the fact that this book represents the work of many
women and men in computing besides that of the authors of the
papers. We are grateful to DafTregear and Peggy Newton fortheirwork
on the 1988 papers and for the bibliography (see Appendix A). Gill
Kirkup and members of the Open University, Jennifer Stapleton at
Reading University, Hilary Buxton at Queen Mary College, Carol
Whitesmith and Lisa Payne at Coventry Polytechnic were very helpful
with their comments on the papers. Robin Ward also gave generously
of her time in proof-reading.
It is hard to single out certain universities and polytechnics when so
many contribute to WiC activities, but as regards this book, we are
especially grateful to University College London and Southampton
University for allowing us generous support inciuding our time, advice
from LaTeX experts (Sebastian Rahtz and Les Carr) and secretarial help
(Marie Turner, Julie Clarke and above all, Kiran Mistry).
September 1990 Gillian Lovegrove
Department of Electronics and Computer Science
University of Southampton
Barbara Segal
Department of Computer Science
University College London
Contents
Section 1: Invited Speakers
1. Women into Computing: The Need for Positive Action Now
Joanna Foster .................................................................... .
2. Beyond the Great Divide
Mrs Steve Shirley, OBE ....................................................... 8
3. Computing in Schools: the Same Old Story
Robin Ward ......................................................................... 14
4. Getting Women into Computing
John MacGregor ................................................................. 20
5. Attracting Women Returners in Computing
Baroness Platt of Writtle ...................................................... 22
6. Employer - Education Cooperation
Jean Irvine ........................................................................... 29
Section 11: Attitudes and Issues
7. Where Are the Girls Now?
Gillian Lovegrove, Wendy Hall ............................................. 33
8. Young Women and the Culture of Software Engineering
Flis Henwood ...................................................................... 45
9. Expert Systems - A Women's Perspective
Margaret Bruce, Alison Adam ............................................. 51
10. Removed From Power
Lyn Bryant ........................................................................... 56
11. Why Do We Want To See More Women in Computing?
Susan Jones ....................................................................... 59
12. Machismo and the Hacker Mentality
Laurie S. Keller .................................................................... 66
x Contents
13. Child Care Provision in Higher Education: A Case Study
Gill Russel/ .......................................................................... 72
Section 111: Young Wornen and Education
14. Opting Out Of Technology: A Study of Girls' GCSE Choices
Philippa Buckley, Barbara Smith ......................................... 80
15. Action Research: Primary Schoolgirls and New Technology
Audrey Milner ...................................................................... 87
16. IT Teaching in Schools - Gender Bias in the Secondary
School
E/aine Co/eman ................................................................... 96
17. Girls and Computing - A Case Study
Linda Anderson ................................................................... 100
18. Observations of Attitudes to IT in Database Use in Schools
Janet Spavo/d ..................................................................... 109
19. A Study of Computing Experiences of Female A-Level
Maths Students
Judy Oonnel/y ..................................................................... 119
20. Profile of Glasgow "WiC" Girls
Helen O. Watt ..................................................................... 124
21. The Gender Gap in Secondary School Computer Use
Peter Glissov ....................................................................... 130
22. School and Industry Links - An Example of Co-operation
/rene M. Pacitti .................................................................... 145
Section IV: Higher and Further Education
23. Choice and Image: Gender and Computer Studies in
Higher Education
A/an Ourndel/ ....................................................................... 152
24. Computer Attitudes, Interface Preference And Simple
Task Performance
Konrad Morgan, Shir/ey Gibbs, Hamish Mac/eod,
Robert Morris ...................................................................... 161
25. An Analysis of Attempts to Remember that Some
Students are Female
Karen Shipp, Oianne Sutton ................................................ 1 73
26. Home-based Computing for Women Students
Gill Kirkup, Ruth Garter, Laurie S. Kel/er, Jenny Lewis,
Chris Saxton, Oianne Sutton ............................................... 188
27. Making a Place for Women in Computing
J. K. Bansa/ ........................................................................ 196
Contents xi
28. Initiatives for Recruitment of Female Undergraduates
Janet Johnson, Dave Arnold ............................................... 201
29. Industrial Placements: Women's Experience
Carolyn Whitesmith ............................................................. 208
30. Does a Masculine Management Style Deter Women
Applicants?
Nicky Gunson, Peter Fielder ................................................ 211
31. IT: Issues including Role Models and Routes to
Promotion
Anne Leeming ..................................................................... 217
32. Information Technology - Art or Science?
Kathy Buckner .................................................................... 221
33. Women: The Hidden Users of Computers
Valerie Looney ..................................................................... 227
Sectian V: Warnen Returners
34. Encouraging Women Returners into Computing Courses in
Higher Education
E. C. P Sears ...................................................................... 233
35. Women Returners and Higher Education - Initiatives at
Sunderland Polytechnic
Mari/yn Ramshaw ................................................................ 240
36. Women Returners: New Initiatives and Experiences
Jacquie Powney, Janet Toland ........................................... 244
37. SWIM: Scottish Women Returners Study Information
T echnology Management
Helen D. Watt ..................................................................... 250
38. WISE UP: A New Course for Women Returners Run at
Reading
Jennifer Stapleton, Shirley Williams, Jane Goodwin ............. 257
39. Women Returners: Finding the Gaps
Cynthia McLain ................................................................... 264
40. 'Managing With Computers' at the Women and Work
Programme
Lisa Payne .......................................................................... 268
41. Why do Women Normally Re-enter the Work Force?
Sue Syson .......................................................................... 273
42. The Women into Information Technology (WIT)
Campaign
Phi/ip Virgo, Carol Beech, Pat Pearce ................................. 276