Women’s Confidence in CSE Doctoral Programs Women’s Confidence in CSE Doctoral Programs

J. McGrath Cohoon

Gender Diversity in Computing Workshop

Women’s ConfidenceWomen’s Confidence

I am confident in my ability to complete this program• Confidence depends on

conditions in department

Confidence Varies across DepartmentsConfidence Varies across Departments

5.004.504.003.503.002.502.00

Mean Confidence Rating

10

8

6

4

2

0

Fre

qu

en

cy

Mean =3.7592Std. Dev. =0.62703

N =41

Departmental Variation in Women's Confidence They Will Complete

Model Explains 54% of Variance in Women’s ConfidenceModel Explains 54% of Variance in Women’s Confidence

Program rank

Comfort asking questions

Faculty belief that diversity lowers quality

Confidence in ability to complete

-

-

+

Many Conditions Relate to Women’s ConfidenceMany Conditions Relate to Women’s Confidence

Comfortable asking questions in class .69**

Comfortable talking with advisor about future .52**

Satisfied with opportunities to do research .51**

Get adequate time with advisor .47**

Satisfied with advising quality .46**

Satisfied with faculty supportiveness .45**

Research advisor is mentor .45**

Satisfied with working relationship w professors .39**

Dept has person or office for student problems .35**

Readily accepted into research group .34**

Program Rank Affects Student ConfidenceProgram Rank Affects Student Confidence

Confidence in Ability to Complete

1

2

3

4

5

Top Ranked Other

men

women

Gendered Experiences in Top DepartmentsGendered Experiences in Top Departments

Women

I often feel I have to compete with other students for faculty attention

I rely on my fellow graduate students for advice or information about academic issues

Men

Faculty encourage me to publish research

Gendered Experiences in Other DepartmentsGendered Experiences in Other Departments

Men

Faculty are available for one-on-one advising

All the other students in my graduate program treat me respectfully

Faculty routinely publish papers with graduate students

Men and Women Have Different ExperiencesMen and Women Have Different Experiences

Agreement with "I am comfortable asking questions in class"

1

2

3

4

5

Top Ranked Other

men

women

Faculty Affect Women’s ConfidenceFaculty Affect Women’s Confidence

Belief that diversity lowers quality• Faculty expectations are too

high• Feel overwhelmed by pace

and workload• Consider leaving bc work is too

demanding

www.nijobs.com

Other Conditions Correlate with ComfortOther Conditions Correlate with Comfort

Comfort talking with advisor about plans for future

My advisor understands my needs as a grad student

Satisfied with relationship with professors

Important information is disseminated effectively

Model Explains 54% of Variance in Women’s ConfidenceModel Explains 54% of Variance in Women’s Confidence

Program rank

Comfort asking questions

Faculty belief that diversity lowers quality

Confidence in ability to complete

-

-

+

Questions?Questions?

For more information see

www.people.virginia.edu/~jlc6j/gradrr

This project is supported by the Computing Research Association and the National Science Foundation under grant number EIA-0203127. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation