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ICSE 2023
Sun 14 - Sat 20 May 2023 Melbourne, Australia
Thu 18 May 2023 12:00 - 12:15 at Meeting Room 101 - Studies on gender in SE Chair(s): Ita Richardson

Context: Gender gap affects particularly the software engineering community, with both academia and industry being male dominated. Literature reports how the lack of women is a consequence of gender stereotypes around certain figures that begin in early stages of education, affecting children’s perception of the role they can play across scientific fields.

Objective: In this study, we asked children to draw a software engineer in order to collect their perceptions and let us check whether gender stereotypes still persist.

Methods: We asked a total of 371 children to draw a person who works in the software engineering field. We analyzed the drawings based on a set of parameters extracted from literature, and inspected the results through a cross-sectional study.

Results: Kids agreed on their representations of a software engineer: 51% drew a male software engineer and 44% of the children drew a female one, with a 5% of not recognizable representation. The main differences emerged when the data were grouped by age and gender: only 23% of eleven-year-olds girls drew a female software engineer, while 54% drew a male, and in 23% the gender was non-recognizable.

Conclusion: The findings revealed a favorable gender balance in children’s perception of software engineering. They seem more willing to recognize diversity, an improvement compared with what reported in previous studies. Children’s perception of technology has become more accessible, as a result of the COVID-19 situation. The findings may draw positive comparisons with the current gender gap in software engineering, encouraging future developments.

Thu 18 May

Displayed time zone: Hobart change

11:00 - 12:30
Studies on gender in SESEIS - Software Engineering in Society / Technical Track / SEET - Software Engineering Education and Training at Meeting Room 101
Chair(s): Ita Richardson Lero - The Irish Software Research Centre and University of Limerick
11:00
15m
Talk
“STILL AROUND”: Experiences and Survival Strategies of Veteran Women Software DevelopersDistinguished Paper Award
Technical Track
Sterre van Breukelen Eindhoven University of Technology, Ann Barcomb Department of Electrical and Software Engineering, Schulich School of Engineering, University of Calgary, Sebastian Baltes SAP SE & University of Adelaide, Alexander Serebrenik Eindhoven University of Technology
Pre-print
11:15
15m
Talk
The ABC of Pair Programming: Gender-dependent Attitude, Behavior and Code of Young Learners
SEET - Software Engineering Education and Training
Isabella Graßl University of Passau, Gordon Fraser University of Passau
Pre-print
11:30
15m
Talk
Engaging Girls in Computer Science: Do Single-Gender Interdisciplinary Classes Help?
SEET - Software Engineering Education and Training
Kai Marquardt Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Lucia Happe Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Ingo Wagner Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT)
Pre-print
11:45
15m
Paper
Fundamentalists, Integrationists, & Transformationists: An Empirical Theory of Men Software Engineers' Orientations in Gender Inequalities
SEIS - Software Engineering in Society
Yi Wang Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications, Xinyue Zhang Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications, Wei Wang Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications
12:00
15m
Paper
Draw a Software Engineer Test - An Investigation into Children's Perception of Software Engineering Profession
SEIS - Software Engineering in Society
Claudia Maria Cutrupi Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), Irene Zanardi USI Università della Svizzera italiana, Letizia Jaccheri Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), Monica Landoni USI Università della Svizzera italiana
12:15
15m
Full-paper
Benefits and Limitations of Remote Work to LGBTQIA+ Software Professionals
SEIS - Software Engineering in Society
Ronnie de Souza Santos Cape Breton University, Cleyton V. C. de Magalhaes CESAR School, Paul Ralph Dalhousie University
Pre-print