Analysis of a Simple, Low-cost Intervention's Impact on Retention of Women in Computer Science

该项目旨在通过研究旨在提高妇女在计算机科学领域的持久力的干预措施，服务于高质量STEM教育的国家利益。让所有人都参与学习STEM，特别是计算机科学，对于创新、全球竞争力和为未来日益依赖计算的职业做好准备非常重要。女性只占STEM工作的28%，在计算机科学专业和工程学专业分别只占17%和21%。职业选择上的差异部分是由STEM能力自我评估的性别差异造成的。该项目将测试教育机构是否可以通过简单的干预来提高女性在计算机科学领域的持久度。这种干预包括在计算机科学入门课程中向学生发送电子邮件。这些信息包含关于学生在课堂上的表现的上下文信息，以及关于他们努力和潜力的鼓励。例如，一条消息可能显示该学生在课程中表现最好，并建议该学生应该尝试参与本科生的计算机科学研究。一项初步研究发现，改变一封电子邮件的措辞可能会使女性留在计算机科学领域的意向增加18%。该项目旨在更大范围内评估干预的有效性，并确定如何最大限度地发挥其有效性。如果成功，该项目将为教育机构提供一个简单、易于实施的工具，以增加计算机科学领域的女性人数。这种干预可能会对其他群体产生积极影响，这些群体面临着对他们的智力能力和在计算机科学领域取得成功的能力的负面刻板印象，也可能适用于其他STEM学科。该项目将同时使用现场实验和在线实验来测试干预措施。现场实验将在一所大型研究型大学的所有计算机科学入门课程中进行。将进行多变量分析，以确定干预对自我评估的计算机科学能力和对计算机科学持久力的直接和纵向影响。在实地实验中，将对一些学生进行定性访谈，以获得有关学生干预经验的细微差别数据。这项在线实验将使用简短的编程活动，并将探索哪些上下文信息最有效。这些知识对于制定可大规模使用的有效信息，以及确定机构可以通过哪些方法提高学生在计算机科学方面的自我评估和毅力(不包括电子邮件)至关重要。将在实地和在线实验中使用中介分析，以阐明干预影响自我评估的计算机科学能力，进而影响坚持性的过程。预计这项研究将有助于从理论上和实践上了解各机构如何进行干预，以促进两性平等，并增加关于自我评估能力和职业选择的社会心理过程的知识，这些过程再现了现有的性别不平等现象。该项目得到了NSF改善本科生STEM教育计划：教育和人力资源计划的支持，该计划支持研究和开发项目，以提高所有学生的STEM教育效率。通过参与的学生学习路径，该计划支持有前景的实践和工具的创建、探索和实施。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This project aims to serve the national interest in high-quality STEM education by studying an intervention designed to improve persistence of women in computer science. Engaging all people in learning about STEM, particularly computer science, is important for innovation, global competitiveness, and preparation for future careers that increasingly rely on computing. Women occupy just 28% of STEM jobs and account for only 17% of computer science majors and 21% of engineering majors. These differences in career choices arise partially from gender differences in self-assessment of STEM ability. This project will test whether educational institutions can use a simple intervention to increase the persistence of women in computer science. This intervention consists of email messages to students in introductory computer science courses. The messages contain contextual information about the student’s performance in class and encouragement regarding their effort and potential. For example, a message might reveal that the student is a top performer in the course and suggest that the student should explore getting involved in undergraduate computer science research. A pilot study found that changing the wording of a single email could increase women's intentions to stay in computer science by 18%. This project aims to evaluate the effectiveness of the intervention on a larger scale, and determine how to maximize its efficacy. If successful, the project will provide educational institutions with a simple, easily implemented tool to increase the number of women in computer science fields. This intervention could have positive effects on other groups that face negative stereotypes about their intellectual capacity and ability to succeed in computer sciences, and might be applicable to other STEM disciplines, as well. This project will use both a field experiment and an online experiment to test the intervention. The field experiment will be conducted across all the introductory computer science courses at a large research-based university. Multivariate analysis will be conducted to determine both the immediate and longitudinal effects of the intervention on self-assessed computer science ability and on persistence in computer science. Qualitative interviews will be conducted with some students in the field experiment to obtain nuanced data about students’ experience with the intervention. The online experiment will use short programming activities and will explore which pieces of contextual information are most effective. This knowledge will be critical for crafting efficient messages that can be used at scale, and for determining methods (other than emails) through which institutions can boost students’ self-assessment and persistence in computer science. Mediation analyses will be used in both the field and online experiments to illuminate the process through which the intervention impacts self-assessed computer science ability, and in turn, persistence. This research is expected to contribute to theoretical and practical knowledge of how institutions can intervene to promote gender equity and to increase knowledge about the social-psychological processes around self-assessments of ability and career choice that reproduce existing gender inequalities. This project is supported by the NSF Improving Undergraduate STEM Education Program: Education and Human Resources Program, which supports research and development projects to improve the effectiveness of STEM education for all students. Through the Engaged Student Learning track, the program supports the creation, exploration, and implementation of promising practices and tools.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.