Capstone Outline
Capstone Outline
Capstone Outline
Caroline Fagan
Purpose: to bring more women into the computer science field by proving capability in the
subject
I.
II.
III.
Introduction
a. Lack of women in computer science
b. Juxtaposition of a lot of jobs and few people to fill them
c. Society plays a big role
i. Women feel discouraged/incapable
d. Thesis: Women share new perspectives that could be invaluable to the computer
science industry. However, these ideas can only be harnessed if society starts to
nurture females into the belief that they are just as good at math and science as
boys are.
Gender Stereotypes
a. Men are best at math and science while women are best at English and history
b. Stereotypical career paths by gender
i. Women go into nursing and teaching
ii. Many have the desire to help others ** (connect later in motivation)
c. Social identity threat: women want to stick to the norm and follow the path of
other women in their careers and lifestyles
i. Lack of self-esteem lowers their career goals (Becoming a Computer
Scientist)
ii. Social identity threat is defined as a threat that occurs when people
recognize they may be devalued in a setting because of one of their social
identities (Murphy).
1. This is experienced when people feel they are being treated
negatively or [are] devalued in a setting simply because of a
particular social identity they hold (Murphy).
iii. Study: Men and women who were equally capable in math, science, and
engineering were separated to watch gender balanced and gender
unbalanced videos for a MSE conference. Afterwards, they were asked if
they felt they belonged at the conference. The men had no significant
difference in responses (expected) while the women who watched the
gender unbalanced videos had a much smaller sense of belonging than
those who watched the balanced video (Murphy).
d. Stay-at-home mom
i. Hard to balance family and career (Becoming a Computer Scientist)
e. Biased treatment in education (teachers)
f. Biased treatment at home (parents)
i. Mothers tend to underestimate the mathematical abilities of their sixthgrade daughters and overestimate the math abilities of their sons (Quinn)
Computer Science Stereotypes
a. Schema: geeky man with glasses no one thinks of women
IV.
V.