Images Of Computer Science - Google Search

Images of Computer Science: Perceptions Among Students, Parents and Educators in the U.S.among certain groups. Most students have access tocomputer technology, but Hispanic students have less accessto computers with Internet at home and use computersless often at school compared with White or Black students.Despite the prevalence of computer technology, manystudents do not have access to computer science learningopportunities at school, suggesting that the barriers extendbeyond simple access to hardware. Lower-income studentsand Black students have less access to computer sciencelearning opportunities in school than students from otherracial and income groups.Building on these findings, this report exploresparticipation in and perceptions of computer sciencelearning among males and females, across racial andethnic groups and among income levels. Understandingdemographic differences in involvement with computerscience can provide insight into strategies needed todiversify this field. The underrepresentation of females andcertain racial and ethnic minorities in computer science mayperpetuate certain stereotypes. This report also addressesthe prevalence of specific stereotypes associated withcomputer science, with the understanding that the image ofthe profession may influence the perspectives of students,parents, teachers and administrators.For this study, nationally representative samples of 1,673seventh- to 12th-grade students, 1,685 parents of seventh- to12th-grade students and 1,013 teachers of first through 12thgrades were interviewed via telephone in November andDecember 2014. In addition, samples of 9,693 K-12 principalsand 1,865 school district superintendents in the U.S. weresurveyed online. These groups are comprehensive but notrepresentative of all principals and superintendents in the U.S.Gallup researchers tested all differences noted betweensamples and demographic subgroups for statisticalsignificance and, in many cases, used models to ensuredifferences noted were still significant after controllingfor other factors. See Appendix A for more details onthe methodology.6To ensure that respondents werethinking only about computerscience — and not computersmore generally — respondentswere provided with a definition ofcomputer science after answeringinitial questions about computerscience activities. In addition,respondents were remindedmultiple times throughout thesurvey that computer scienceinvolves using programming/codingto create more advanced artifacts,such as software, apps, games,websites and electronics, and thatcomputer science is not equivalentto general computer use.

KNOWLEDGE ABOUTCOMPUTER SCIENCE

Images of Computer Science: Perceptions Among Students, Parents and Educators in the U.S.Many Don’t Distinguish BetweenComputer Science and ComputerLiteracyOpportunities exist to better educate students,parents, teachers and school administratorson what differentiates computer sciencefrom computer literacy. If these groups betterunderstand what computer science is, learningopportunities can branch beyond literacy anddelve deeper into computer science concepts,allowing students to acquire skills that are usefuland in demand across a growing number of fields.The Computer Science Teachers Association’s A Model Curriculumfor K-12 Computer Science report defines computer science as“the study of computers and algorithmic processes, includingtheir principles, their hardware and software designs, theirapplications and their impact on society.”9 To examine theextent to which various populations understand the differencebetween general computer use and computer science,respondents in this study were asked whether four specificcomputer-related activities were a part of computer science.9 Computer Science Teachers Association. (2003, October). A ModelCurriculum for K–12 Computer Science: Final Report of the ACM K–12 TaskForce Curriculum Committee. Retrieved from -12ModelCurr2ndEd.pdf.8Most students, parents, teachers and school principalssurveyed correctly identified “creating new software” and“programming and coding” as computer science activities.However, many also incorrectly identified “creatingdocuments or presentations” and, to a lesser extent,“searching the Internet” as part of computer science. Whilecomputer science knowledge may support users’ abilities tocreate documents and to use the Internet, respondents whoare highly knowledgeable about computer science wouldmost likely know that these two activities are not part ofcomputer science and would, therefore, have answered “no”to the last two activities, as listed in Figure 1.Grade level is a factor in awareness about computerscience activities among teachers and students. Elementaryschool teachers are somewhat less knowledgeable thanare teachers of seventh grade or higher. For example, threein four first- to sixth-grade teachers incorrectly classified“searching the Internet” as computer science, and 84% saidthe same about “creating documents and presentations,”compared with 56% and 69% of seventh- to 12th-gradeteachers, respectively (see Figure 2).Students in ninth to 12th grade are more likely thanseventh and eighth graders to understand that programming/coding and software creation are computer science, althoughlarge majorities in all grades understand this. Students in 11thand 12th grade are more likely than younger students to knowthat “searching the Internet” is not computer science. Morethan half (56%) of 11th and 12th graders say it is not, comparedwith 39% of ninth and 10th graders and 33% of seventh andeighth graders (see Figure 2).Figure 1.BASED ON WHAT YOU HAVE SEEN OR HEARD, WHICH OF THE FOLLOWING ACTIVITIES DO YOU CONSIDER PART OFCOMPUTER SCIENCE?Programming and coding*Creating new software*Creating documents or presentations on thecomputer**Searching the **42%50%36%44%*These activities are considered part of computer science. “Yes” responses shaded above are the “correct” answers.**These activities are generally not considered part of computer science. “No” responses shaded above are the “correct” answers.

Images of Computer Science: Perceptions Among Students, Parents and Educators in the U.S.9Figure 2.KNOWLEDGE OF COMPUTER SCIENCE, BY GRADE LEVELSTUDENTSTEACHERSGRADE LEVELProgramming and coding*Creating new software*Creating documents or presentations on the computer**Searching the e activities are considered part of computer science. “Yes” responses shaded above are the “correct” answers.**These activities are generally not considered part of computer science. “No” responses shaded above are the “correct” answers.Similar to the student group, age may also be a factor forteachers. Those younger than age 50, who may have grownup with computers and computer science as part of theirK-12 education, are slightly more likely than older teachersto correctly identify computer science activities. For example,40% of teachers younger than age 50 know that searchingthe Internet is not a computer science activity, comparedwith 30% of older teachers (see Figure 3).It is reasonable to assume that over time, teachers willcontinue to become more knowledgeable about computerscience as their exposure to it increases. Nonetheless, thehigh percentages in all age groups who incorrectly identifycomputer science activities point to the need for additionaltraining and education for everyone.There are notable gender differences in understandingwhich activities constitute computer science. As shown inFigure 4, females generally are more likely to incorrectlyidentify “searching the Internet” and “creating documents andpresentations” as computer science. However, large majoritiesof both males and females in all groups understand thatsoftware development and programming/coding arecomputer science activities.Figure 3.KNOWLEDGE OF COMPUTER SCIENCE, BY TEACHER AGE% TEACHERSAGEProgramming and coding*Creating new software*Creating documents or presentations on the computer**Searching the Internet**49 or younger50 or No**28%21%Yes59%70%No**40%30%*These activities are considered part of computer science. “Yes” responses shaded above are the “correct” answers.**These activities are generally not considered part of computer science. “No” responses shaded above are the “correct” answers.

Images of Computer Science: Perceptions Among Students, Parents and Educators in the U.S.In general, White students are slightly moreknowledgeable than Black and Hispanic students aboutwhich activities can be considered computer science, butthis is not the case on all items (see Figure 5). At least sevenin 10 students from each racial and ethnic group correctlyidentify computer programming/coding and softwaredevelopment as computer science, but as many from eachgroup also incorrectly classify document and presentationcreation as computer science. In other words, there is stillconfusion surrounding computer science, regardless of raceor ethnicity.10Explanations for racial and ethnic differences arecomplex and reflect a variety of influences, including family,cultural, economic and school-resource factors. For example,students with at least one parent who does not have acollege degree and students from lower-income householdsare generally less knowledgeable about what computerscience is, as measured by the four questions. These studentsare also less likely to say they have opportunities to learncomputer science in school, which will be discussed ingreater detail later in this report.Figure 4.KNOWLEDGE OF COMPUTER SCIENCE, BY GENDERSTUDENTSCreating documents or presentationson the computer*Searching the 6%58%44%54%55%67%No*44%40%56%45%45%32%*These activities are generally not considered part of computer science. “No” responses shaded above are the “correct” answers.Figure 5.KNOWLEDGE OF COMPUTER SCIENCE, BY RACE/ETHNICITY% STUDENTSRACE/ETHNICITYProgramming and coding*Creating new software*Creating documents or presentations on the computer**Searching the %Yes53%63%64%No**46%37%35%*These activities are considered part of computer science. “Yes” responses shaded above are the “correct” answers.**These activities are generally not considered part of computer science. “No” responses shaded above are the “correct” answers.

COMPUTER SCIENCESTEREOTYPES

Images of Computer Science: Perceptions Among Students, Parents and Educators in the U.S.12TV, Film Often Reinforce StereotypesAbout Computer ScienceFigure 6.Students’ and parents’ perceptions tend tosupport the idea that TV and film mediaoften present a stereotypical image of peoplein computer science. Such images couldnegatively influence the likelihood that girls andunderrepresented racial minorities imaginethemselves engaging in computer science.% MOST OF THE TIMEPERCEPTIONS OF COMPUTER SCIENCE IN TV/FILMHow often do you see people who do computer science in moviesor TV shows who are .STUDENTS10 Bach, D. (2015, February 11). How to interest girls in computer scienceand engineering? Shift the stereotypes. Retrieved from hift-the-stereotypes/.58%WhiteBlack orAfrican-AmericanHispanic/LatinoRole models influence young people, so it’s important tounderstand the extent to which students see people fromdiverse backgrounds engaging in computer science — both inthe media and in their own lives. According to Google’s report,Women Who Choose Computer Science — What Really Matters,young women who are unfamiliar with computer science andits broad applications have a particularly hard time visualizingit outside the narrow scope often presented in popular media.Recent University of Washington research10 suggests thatbroadening perceptions about who engages in computerscience is key to attracting more women to the field.Although there are clear problems with diversity in thetech industry as a whole, the effect that media exposureto diverse computer science role models has on studentattitudes and behaviors is unclear from the data. However,the data do provide some evidence that enduring stereotypesmight hinder the inclusion of underrepresented groups.Students and parents surveyed in this study were givena list of six types of people and asked to indicate how oftenthey see each type performing computer science tasks inmovies or on TV. Both groups were most likely to say thatthey see Whites and “people wearing glasses” performingcomputer science tasks, followed by Asians. Few in eithergroup reported frequently seeing women, Blacks or Hispanicsin a computer science role on TV or in films. Figure 6presents differences in perceptions of computer sciencein TV or film within the groups of students and parents.About half of students and parents see Whites and peoplewearing glasses performing computer science tasks “mostPARENTS48%7%4%7%4%34%AsianWomenWearing glasses28%15%8%55%46%of the time” on TV or in film, and at least three in 10 in eachgroup see Asians equally often. A scant few (7% of studentsand 4% of parents) see Hispanics or Blacks engaging incomputer science in these types of media most of the time.Only 15% of students and 8% of parents say they see womenperforming computer science tasks most of the time on TVor in the movies, and about 35% in each group do not seewomen doing this in the media very often or ever.Some of these observations reflect the distribution ofthese groups in the population and, therefore, in the media– there are more Whites than Blacks or Hispanics. Still, thepercentage of Asians in the population is lower than Blacksor Hispanics, yet students and parents are more likely toreport seeing Asians engaging in computer science. Thissuggests that TV and film producers are more often fillingthose roles with individuals who fit a certain stereotype– one that is generally reflected in the field of computerscience as well. More than half of the population is female,yet relatively few students and parents report seeing womenin computer science roles. The large number of respondents

Images of Computer Science: Perceptions Among Students, Parents and Educators in the U.S.who report seeing those performing computer sciencetasks wearing glasses suggests that computer science isassociated with intelligent and scholarly roles.Female, Black and Hispanic students could arguablybe less likely to seek out computer science training andcomputer science as a profession if they perceive that fewwith their backgrounds are in the field, although this studydoes not necessarily provide data on the influence of thesestereotypes. Previous research by Google does show thathigh school females who saw “students like me” engaged incomputer science classes were more likely to be interestedin pursuing computer science training. Additional evidencefrom this current study confirms that students perceivecomputer science as a field more occupied by males than byfemales.13Figure 7.CONFIDENCE AND LIKELIHOOD TO LEARN ANDWORK IN COMPUTER SCIENCEALL STUDENTSHow confident areyou that you couldlearn computerscience if youwanted to?(% Very confident)MALEHow likely are youto learn morecomputer science inthe future?(% Very likely)62%Male students are generally more confident thanfemale students in their ability to learn computerscience, and are more likely to think they willlearn computer science or have a job involvingcomputer science in the future. This adds to theconcern that females will not pursue computerscience and will miss opportunities to buildrelated skills.As shown in Figure 7, 62% of male students say they are“very confident” they could learn computer science if theywanted to, compared with just under half of female students(46%). Male students are also nearly twice as likely as femalestudents to say they are “very likely” to learn computerscience in the future; about one-third of males say this.Interestingly, only 18% of female students say they are “verylikely” to learn computer science in the future, yet a third offemale students expect to have a job someday for which theywould need to know computer science. Forty-two percent ofHow likely are youto have a jobsomeday where youwould need toknow somecomputer science?(% Very likely)54%46%42%38%35%Many See Computer Science as Morefor Males Than FemalesFEMALE33%27%18%male students expect to have a job someday for which theywould need to know some computer science.There is also a notable inclination among students,parents and teachers to say that boys are more interestedthan girls in learning computer science and – to a lesserdegree – that boys are more likely to be successful inlearning it. More than 60% in each group say boys are moreinterested than girls in learning computer science, and morethan a third say boys are more likely to be successful indoing so (see Figure 8).

Images of Computer Science: Perceptions Among Students, Parents and Educators in the U.S.14Figure 8.Figure 9.PERCEIVED GENDER DIFFERENCES IN INTEREST INAND SUCCESS IN LEARNING COMPUTER SCIENCEPERCEIVED GENDER DIFFERENCES IN INTEREST IN ANDSUCCESS IN LEARNING COMPUTER SCIENCE, BY GENDERGIRLSBOYSWho do you think is MOREINTERESTED in learningcomputer science?3%5%9%21%BOTH EQUALLYWho do you think is MORELIKELY TO BE SUCCESSFUL inlearning computer science?2%7%29%18%6%GENDERWho do you think isMORE INTERESTEDin learning computerscience?2%33%40%Who do you think isMORE LIKELY TO BESUCCESSFUL in learningcomputer science?44%74%64%37%63%30%14%% STUDENTSDON’T KNOW10%Students Parents19%4%TeachersStudents ParentsFemaleBoys75%72%Girls10%17%Both equally11%8%Don't know3%3%Boys43%45%Girls27%34%Both equally20%15%Don't know8%6%The majority of students and parents say boys are moreinterested than girls in learning computer science; however,Hispanic students and parents are less likely than Whiteand Black students and parents to say so (see Figure 10).Hispanic parents are also more likely (39%) than White (29%)and Black (17%) parents to say girls are more likely to besuccessful than boys in learning computer science.36%23%MaleTeachersImportantly, female students might be less likely topursue computer science if they think other girls won’tbe learning it with them, or if they don’t feel they cansuccessfully learn it. As shown in Figure 9, 72% of femalestudents think boys are more interested than girls incomputer science, and 45% of female students think boys aremore likely than girls to be successful in learning computerscience, although it is not evident from this study whatcontributes to this bias.Figure 10.PERCEIVED GENDER DIFFERENCES IN INTEREST IN AND SUCCESS IN LEARNING COMPUTER SCIENCE,BY teBlackHispanicWho do you think is MORE INTERESTED in learning Boyscomputer ys44%45%41%39%39%29%Girls25%41%38%17%29%39%Who do you think is MORE LIKELY TO BESUCCESSFUL in learning computer science?

Images of Computer Science: Perceptions Among Students, Parents and Educators in the U.S.Perceptions That Only SmartPeople Can Do Computer ScienceMay Prevent Some Students FromParticipatingAbout half o

the high school level, Advanced Placement (AP) Computer Science A participation is low overall, but drastically lower for Blacks and Hispanics. For instance, among the 49 . found a strong level of support for computer science education among