The Emerging Role of Self-Perception in Student Intentions

Recruitment and retention of women has been a persistent problem in the field of computer science. With a growing number of jobs that require a computer science degree, this problem does not only affect computer science departments with low enrollment, but also impacts industry. There is still no universally accepted explanation for the underrepresentation of women in the computing field. Various solutions have been implemented in an attempt to resolve this problem and yet gender imbalance in fields related to computer science persists. In this paper we study how perceptions held by students influence their intention to pursue computer science. Through a descriptive study, using a survey given out to first semester students in a computer science class, we measure perceptions, attitudes, self-efficacy, and identity, then we study the correlations between them and students' intentions to further pursue computer science. Our goal is to understand how determinative these constructs are to having students continue in the major. Interestingly, self-perception, in terms of self-efficacy (does the student feel they are able to use computer science techniques to solve a problem) and identity (does the student see themselves as a computer scientist), emerged as the primary driver for differences in intention. Many other aspects turned out not to exhibit statistically significant gender differences. Understanding at a detailed level what factors influence students to pursue computer science is critical in devising effective interventions that may increase participation in computer science.