Different Perceptions of Computer Science

This research project aims to investigate, how young men and women differ regarding (1) their perceptions of Computer Science (CS) as a scientific discipline respectively as a professional field and (2) the experiences that had influenced their choice of major subject. For that purpose, we conducted a biographical study of CS freshmen at university. In total, 217 students (54 female, 163 male) participated on the survey. The qualitative analysis showed that young men and women do have different viewpoints on computer science. While the male students tend to focus on technical aspects like hardware, mathematics, or logical issues, the female students are attracted rather by creativity, communication, or job opportunities. Furthermore, we investigated the differences between several courses of study. While students of core Computer Science are emphasizing technical issues and their personal experience with computers, the students of Games Engineering, Information Systems, or Bioinformatics mainly focus on the application fields and regard CS as a tool. All these differences seem to influence the selection of the major subject of the students. They might explain the problem of low enrollment rates in Computer Science and the decreasing number of students in core Computer Science in comparison to the more interdisciplinary courses of study.