Women in Computing: How can gender and diversity enable digital innovation?

为了充分理解我希望进行的研究的程度，必须检查现有的论文，并选择一条道路。因此，我列出了三个主要的调查领域。以前的研究表明，不同性别的群体在编程任务的方法上存在差异。主要的区别是，由于完成方案的时间限制，它们对可伸缩性的处理方法。女性群体以一种意味着游戏规模扩大的方式接近任务，而男性以一种低效的方式接近任务，以便在给定的时间内完成任务（Ashcroft，2018）。这种与性别有关的方法上的差异可能表明，如果管理的是一个男女混合的小组，就会在这两个问题上达成妥协，多样性可能会导致更有凝聚力的结果。在2018年，女性仅占STEM劳动力的22%（WISE Campaign，2019），只有16%的IT专业人员是女性。此外，STEM学徒中的女性人数正在缓慢增加，但完成率继续下降（WISE Campaign，2019）。工作场所中的性别比例与他们所针对的受众有很大的不同。然而，同样重要的是要记住，虽然性别是大多数研究的重点，当涉及到计算机科学的多样性，性别不是考虑多样性的唯一因素。数据显示，在2009/10年度，白色学生占罗素集团大学学生总数的80%”（种族，2019年），这可以说与英国人口相当，英国人口的86%是白色（统计局，2018年）。比较男性和女性参与STEM的情况，数据显示，在2009/10年度，来自黑非洲少数民族群体的女性比男性更多地参与了STEM相关科目（种族，2019年）。这表明，有关种族和性别的多样性问题的重叠是没有联系的，但都是有问题的。种族和性别当然不是人们的唯一定义特征，考虑一个人的其他因素也很重要，特别是人们认为给他们造成困难的因素，或受到不同待遇的原因。正如我以前的研究中所显示的那样，男性和女性处理任务的方式不同。这种观点的差异以前被证明可以创造更强大的产品。研究表明，高管团队中性别多样性排名前25个百分点的公司获得高于平均水平利润的可能性高出15%（Forbes.com，2019）。在创新方面，通过构思产生有意义的变化的过程，同样可以说是正确的，但在多大程度上？多样性已被证明可以增加公司的潜在收益（Forbes.com，2019），创新也是如此（亚马逊网络服务，2019）。因此，也许可以假设多样性和创新可以携手改善数字服务和团队的工作实践。这项研究的目的是推断性别和多样性在多大程度上影响数字创新。在第一种情况下，这将通过聚集参与者群体来完成，每个群体都有不同程度的多样性，并要求他们完成一项任务。然后，将把他们在工作中的效率和创造力与小组的多样性水平进行比较。

To fully understand the extent of the research I wish to undertake, existing papers must be examined and a path must be chosen. Therefore I have outlined 3 main areas to investigate. Previous research shows the difference in approach to a programming task that groups of different genders took. The main difference was their approach to scalability due to the time constraints given to complete the programme. The female groups approached the task in a way which would have meant the game scaled, and the men approached the task in an inefficient way in order to complete it within the time given (Ashcroft, 2018). This difference in approach, which correlated with gender, could suggest that had a mixed gender group been run, that a compromise on both would have been reached and that diversity could have led to a more cohesive outcome. In 2018, women made up just 22% of the STEM workforce (WISE Campaign , 2019), with just 16% of the workforce of IT professionals being female. Furthermore, women in STEM apprenticeships are slowly increasing in numbers, but completion is continuing to drop (WISE Campaign, 2019). The proportion of gender in the workplace is significantly different from the audience they are building for. However, it is also important to remember that although gender is the focus of most studies when it comes to diversity in Computer Science, gender is not the only factor when considering diversity. Data shows that White students made up 80% of the total student population at Russell Group universities during 2009/10"(Race, 2019), which could be argued to be comparable to the UK population where 86% of the population was white (Office of Statistics, 2018). Comparing male and female participation in STEM, the data revealed that more women than men from the Black African ethnic minority group undertook STEM-related subjects in 2009/10 (Race, 2019). This suggests that the overlap of diversity problems regarding race and gender are not linked but both problematic. Race and gender are of course not the only defining characteristics of people, and it will also be important to consider other elements of a person, particularly those that people believe to have caused them difficulties, or reasons why have been treated differently. As was shown with the separate gender groups in my previous research, men and women approach tasks differently. This difference of opinion has previously been shown to create a stronger product. Research shows that companies in the top 25th percentile for gender diversity on their executive teams were 15% more likely to experience above-average profits (Forbes.com, 2019). In terms of Innovation, the process of generating meaningful change through ideation, the same could be said to be true, but to what extent? Diversity has been proven to increase a company's potential earnings (Forbes.com, 2019), as has Innovation (Amazon Web Services, 2019). Therefore, perhaps it can be assumed that diversity and innovation could work hand in hand to improve digital services and the working practices of teams. The aim of this research is to deduce to what extent gender and diversity influences digital innovation. In the first instance, this will be done by gathering groups of participants, each with varying levels of diversity, and asking them to complete a task. Their effectiveness in their task and the creativity they bring to it will then be compared to the levels of diversity in the groups.