Female Under-Representation in Computing Education and Industry - A Survey of Issues and Interventions <s> 1) Confidence and motivation: <s> Abstract This study surveys attitudes about computers among 375 Iranian undergraduate students (155 males and 220 females). We found significant gender differences with respect to confidence about computers and stereotypic views of computer users. Women showed stronger beliefs in equal gender ability and competence in use of computers, but expressed low confidence in their own ability to work with computers. There were no significant gender differences in respondents' liking for computers or their perceptions of the usefulness of computers. Male and female students believed equally in the positive effects of computers on individuals and society. Results also are discussed in terms of parents' perceived beliefs and behaviors, as well as their socioeconomic status (SES.) <s> BIB001 </s> Female Under-Representation in Computing Education and Industry - A Survey of Issues and Interventions <s> 1) Confidence and motivation: <s> Seventy-four female and 76 male Romanian university students, from a wide mixture of courses, completed a Computer Self Efficacy Scale, a Computer Anxiety Scale, an attitude to the Internet Scale and gave information about their use of the Internet. Significant zero order correlations were obtained with the relationships being between higher computer self efficacy, lower computer anxiety, more positive attitudes towards the Internet and longer reported use of the Internet. Significant gender effects were found throughout, with males tending to report greater computer self efficacy, lower computer anxiety, more positive attitudes towards the Internet and longer use of the Internet than females. However, regression analysis indicted that reported Internet experience (use) was the only variable independently linked to gender. It is argued that the results tend to support the contention that the literature on attitudes and anxiety towards computers is liable to extrapolate to the Internet. In particular this may apply to the gender dimension of this literature. It is also argued that the countries of Eastern Europe may now be manifesting the gender variations in relation to technology that are found in Western Europe. <s> BIB002 </s> Female Under-Representation in Computing Education and Industry - A Survey of Issues and Interventions <s> 1) Confidence and motivation: <s> In this article I flesh out support for observations that scientific accounts of social groups can influence the very groups and mental phenomena under investigation. The controversial hypothesis that there are hardwired differences between the brains of males and females that contribute to sex differences in gender-typed behaviour is common in both the scientific and popular media. Here I present evidence that such claims, quite independently of their scientific validity, have scope to sustain the very sex differences they seek to explain. I argue that, while further research is required, such claims can have self-fulfilling effects via their influence on social perception, behaviour and attitudes. The real effects of the products of scientists’ research on our minds and society, together with the fact that all scientific hypotheses are subject to dispute and disconfirmation, point to a need for scientists to consider the ethical implications of their work. <s> BIB003
There are significant differences in self-confidence exhibited by males and females in the computing environment. Studies suggest that females exhibit low self-confidence in the computing environment comparative to the males who are very confident BIB002 , BIB001 . In an academic setting females often become more motivated by striving for favorable judgments from colleagues of their competence as opposed to actually enhancing their competence. This is based on a common understanding between the genders that mathematics and computing are male domains  ,  . The psychological effects of both biological and socially engineered gender differences BIB003 create a stereotypic environment in both work and education. This consequently impacts female confidence and motivation to study the subject and career access. Behm-Morawitz and Mastro  further indicate that these stereotypic beliefs tend to be presented in popular media, thereby subconsciously affecting social perception of gender differences thus leading to implicit bias in computing education and workforce.