Overcome the gender gap: analyzing massive open online courses through the lens of stereotype threat theory

IF 2.3 4区 管理学 Q3 BUSINESS
Daniel Stattkus, Lorena Göritz, Katharina-Maria Illgen, Jan Heinrich Beinke, Oliver Thomas
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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Despite ongoing progress towards gender equality in education, women remain significantly underrepresented in computer science—a field still shaped by stereotypical expectations in our society. This gap is evident in both traditional classroom settings and online learning platforms such as MOOCs, where women face psychological barriers that hinder their learning success. As MOOCs increase accessibility and democratize education, it’s particularly important to address the barriers women face in these platforms. By analyzing 338,459 negative reviews from 8,067 IT and software courses offered by the MOOC provider Udemy, we explored the differences in how men and women experience these online learning environments. Our analysis was complemented by ten expert interviews, which helped us develop key propositions to explain these gender-based differences and derive guidelines to overcome them. Our results reveal that men and women criticize similar topics in IT courses, demonstrating that they do not belong to different user groups. However, differences between male and female reviews emerge within each topic. These differences are reflected in different communication styles, demands and areas of emphasis, shaped by gender-specific backgrounds, socialization processes and stereotypes. To overcome these differences, we propose seven guidelines drawing form Stereotype Threat Theory for designing gender-inclusive online courses that focus on inclusive communication and representation, creating supportive learning environments, and implementing high-quality, bias-aware educational practices. Aiming to foster greater participation and success for women in computer science.

克服性别差距:从刻板印象威胁理论的视角分析大规模在线公开课程
尽管在教育领域性别平等方面不断取得进展,但女性在计算机科学领域的代表性仍然明显不足——这一领域仍然受到我们社会中刻板印象的影响。这一差距在传统的课堂环境和mooc等在线学习平台上都很明显,在这些平台上,女性面临着阻碍她们学习成功的心理障碍。随着mooc的普及和教育的民主化,解决女性在这些平台上面临的障碍尤为重要。通过分析MOOC提供商Udemy提供的8067门IT和软件课程中的338,459条差评,我们探讨了男性和女性在这些在线学习环境中的差异。我们的分析得到了十次专家访谈的补充,这帮助我们提出了解释这些基于性别的差异的关键主张,并得出了克服这些差异的指导方针。我们的研究结果显示,男性和女性在IT课程中批评类似的话题,表明他们不属于不同的用户群体。然而,在每个主题中,男性和女性评论之间存在差异。这些差异反映在不同的沟通方式、需求和重点领域,这些都是由特定性别的背景、社会化进程和陈规定型观念形成的。为了克服这些差异,我们根据刻板印象威胁理论提出了七项指导原则,用于设计性别包容性的在线课程,重点是包容性的沟通和表达,创造支持性的学习环境,以及实施高质量的、有意识偏见的教育实践。旨在促进女性在计算机科学领域的更多参与和成功。
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来源期刊
CiteScore
6.20
自引率
11.10%
发文量
18
期刊介绍: Nowadays, in the age of information technology and the internet, the creation and maintenance of business models has to consider the latest developments in information technology to ensure competitiveness and long-term success of the enterprise. The aim of Information Systems Management (ISM) is to integrate information technology into business models and business processes to explore its potential to meet the business goals. Many international journals in the field of information systems (IS) or information management (IM) focus primarily on the quantitative analysis of information systems phenomena, especially through the use of empirical studies. However, research on qualitative analysis, development, and deployment of information systems is not covered sufficiently by the existing international IS journals. Therefore, the journal Information Systems and e-Business Management (ISeB) focuses on the core tasks of Information Systems Management, the conceptual analysis, design, and deployment of information systems, as well as on all e-business related topics. 1. Editorial objective The central aim of the journal ISeB is to publish original, well-written, self-contained contributions that elucidate novel research and innovation in information systems management and e-business which advance the field fundamentally and significantly. Published quarterly, the journal will: - Provide a vibrant forum for both academicians and industry specialists to explore the information systems and e-business management field - Bring innovative research on all aspects of information systems management from analytical, behavioral and technological perspectives - Enable rapid dissemination of latest research and innovation, supported with a double-blind peer review process. 2. Nature of topics The function of information systems management is the use of information technology (IT) to meet the information requirements of a company. Core tasks of ISM are the generation of project ideas (e.g. identification of business opportunities enabled by new information technologies), conceptual analysis, design, and integration of information systems. Submissions to ISeB should have a clear business focus and use appropriate information systems methodologies. They should either be founded on theory or should have proven their value based on prototypes and their beneficial application in the field. The general applicability of the concepts presented is strictly required. Case studies are welcome, if the insights presented allow general applicability. Moreover, empirical studies are welcome if clear research questions with relevance to the field of information systems and e-business management are given and the studies are carried out correctly. ISeB topics focus on (but are not restricted to) the following areas: - Information Modeling: The central task of information systems modeling is the conceptual specification of information systems from the business point of view. Information modeling includes the development or the application of high-level modeling techniques used for conceptual modeling, e.g. event-driven process chain (EPC) for process modeling, entity-relationship model (ERM) for data modeling, and object-oriented methods like the unified modeling language (UML). - Domain-Specific Information Systems: Different industry domains (e.g. manufacturing, retailing, or finance) are characterized by different requirements to information systems that are reflected in different IS architectures for specific domains. The development and maintenance of information systems in an industry domain can be supported by these architectures. Either the development of generalizable domain-specific architectures or the employment of such architectures in practice can be discussed. - E-Business Management (intra-organization al and inter-organizational information systems): Possible sub-topics include the development and deployment of IS for electronic commerce and supply chain management, market places, new business scenarios enabled through new technologies. Based on a business strategy, submissions have to clearly state how the strategy can be operationalized using IS. - Information Systems Development: The development and deployment of large-scale IS (e.g. enterprise resource planning software) requires the use of appropriate software engineering methodologies, procedure models, and project management. Possible research areas are the development of software engineering methodologies, procedure models, and the design of project management methods. Empirical studies on IS development may focus on the application of well-founded methods in practice. - Information Technology Management: The function of information technology management is the provision and operation of the technical infrastructure and the planning of the technical orientation of information systems in an enterprise. An important aspect is the impact of changing information systems on organizational structures and processes – and vice versa. In this context, the use of information technology to realize a business strategy efficiently can be analyzed. - Latest Information Technology Developments: Latest developments in information technology have to be evaluated to explore potentials to generate new business strategies. Current topics and trends to be evaluated for business use are e.g. business intelligence systems, agent technology, and workflow management systems. Officially cited as: Inf Syst E-Bus Manage
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