Understanding Women and Asian American Disparities in Computer Science Professions
Open Access
- Author:
- Muhunthan, Aranya
- Area of Honors:
- Computer Science
- Degree:
- Bachelor of Science
- Document Type:
- Thesis
- Thesis Supervisors:
- Sarah A Damaske, Thesis Supervisor
John Joseph Hannan, Thesis Honors Advisor - Keywords:
- aapi
gender gap
STEM
computer science - Abstract:
- This study analyzes gender and/or racial differences in reporting obstacles in the technology field and other computer science related professionals. Women are underrepresented in computer science professions, and many different theories and frameworks have been offered as an explanation for this underrepresentation. While Asian Americans may have the largest representation in computer science professions, relative to the fraction of the overall population they make up, they may contend with the intersection of the model minority myth and the forever foreigner image. This thesis compares the reporting challenges between different genders and different races to identify gendered and/or racialized challenges that might exist in the technology field. These identified gendered and/or racial challenges can provide technology companies with an insight on creating policies and programs to eliminate these challenges. With respect to the gender gap, the results indicated that men are more likely to report career transitions and financial issues as an obstacle. The results also supplied evidence that women were more likely to report work-life related conflicts than men. In contradiction of the model minority myth, Asian /Pacific Islander computer scientists were more likely to report problems with technology and interpersonal communications and their qualitative responses suggests that they received less support than their peers when facing such challenges. Asian/Pacific Islander American participants were more also likely to report issues related to financial issues than White participants and were more likely to mention interpersonal communication as a challenge in their response than any other racial groups. With the identification of such gendered and racialized challenges, companies can create policies and programs to eliminate such challenges.