Women and CS: Lessons Learned from Turkey

Turkish Women in Computing (TWIC) Three Founding Ph.Ds in CS

Ümit Yalçınalp, Gökçen Çilingir, Gülüstan Doğan

Turkish Women in Computing

An Anita Borg Institute Community

Global Presence Independent (not tied to government, school,

company, sponsorship, etc.) Has Sister community @Facebook:

Golden Girls of Computer Science, 1981-86 female grads of Comp Eng & Sci Middle East Technical University, Turkey

Turkish Women In Computing was born to

Conquer cultural differences: Find/help/support in community through career stages

Embrace Global Opportunities: Unite CS graduates abroad & in Turkey

Enable recognition of members

In 2014 women in tech continued to be in the news…

5

Women in Tech News categories

“Pipeline Problem”

Declining Interest

Disparity in Universities and College Admissions (Harvey Mudd’s gains!)

Equal Pay, Meritocracy & Cultural Factors

Debate about Abilities and Differences between men and women

Retention

6

$ Pillars 4 Pillars of Changing the game for Women in CS

Entering in the field

Getting hired in the field

Being Inspired/Having necessary tools

Staying in the field

Global Perspectives are necessary

News are global

State of affairs are local

Don’t blindly accept what you hear!

Learn and Compare!

Thank you Global Tech Women for this platform

in Turkey, girls

Do excel in High School Science & Math and have confidence

Are attracted to undergrad degrees in CS and beyond (MS., Ph.D)

and the trend is Increasing

Summary of Our Presentation at Voices Conference in 2014!

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Pipeline Problem in Turkey?

#sayWhat?

Proof? #checkitoutUS !!!

Why is it different?

Our Research on Getting into the Field

What is the status?

University admissions data

Why is it this way?

Prior Research

Our own survey in our community

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7452/10768099944_517989996c_d.jpg

Entering the Field

Nationwide Placement Exam

1.8 Million take the test in 2013!

Our Hypothesis were

National Exam as driver and equalizer

Economics and Hipness Factor

Prestige for Families/Community

Confidence is there in Women for pursuing the best

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Statistics from OSYM Placement Exam

0.00

0.08

0.16

0.24

0.32

0.40

1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013

Female ratio in new admissions at Computer Science departments in Turkey (undergraduate)

USA vs. Turkey !

0.0

8.0

16.0

24.0

32.0

40.0

1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010

Percentage of females pursuing CS undergraduate degrees

USA Turkey

Results from Last year…

Interest is increasing and steady

Applies to Grad degrees and Female Faculty too

More dropouts from men in grad degrees due to military service postponement

Encouraging Numbers for women in STEM

Mathematics and Statıstıcs ~60% !

Popularity(CS) > Popularity(Civil Eng.)

Popularity(CS) > Popularity(Mechanical Eng.)

Popularity(CS) < Popularity(Chemical Eng.)

Important Footnote

No extra intervention, school, advertisement, recruiting, mentoring tailored SPECIFICALLY toward women to achieve these results

How do we understand why?

Supporting Research*

Survey of 671 female students in top 6 Turkish universities

Investigates to find why women choose engineering

Covers STEM fields not only CS

* Smith, Alice E., and Berna Dengiz. "Women in engineering in Turkey–a large scale quantitative and qualitative examination." European Journal of Engineering Education 35.1 (2010): 45-57.

TwiCS survey

250+ Turkish women in CS

TWICs members + friends

Graduates of top universities

Small but indicative population of our own community

Art of Creating Surveys

Education researcher Hafize Sahin from Washington University was key

Short

Multilingual

Questions focused on

Interest and successes in high school

Influence of family, friends, environment

Choice of fields of study

Detailed profile and background (age, school, where you live)

Demographic

TWIC Survey Results support our hypothesis

Why did you decide to pursue a career in Computer Science?

I wasgood at

math andI was toldComputerSciencewould bea perfectcareer

choice forme.

Prestigious/credibledegree to

have.

I did notwant to

be adoctor.

It wasn't adeliberatechoice, I

chose themost

populardepartment that I

can get inwith myscore (at

theNationa…

Highprospectof finding

a wellpaying job

aftergraduatio

n

Myparentschose itfor me, Idid not.

Adviser/mentor

suggestion

Childhooddream

Provewomen

can workin thefield.

My parentsuggeste

d it, Iagreed.

Friendsuggestio

n

Participate in familybusiness

% 18.7 16.6 13.7 13.5 12.1 8.9 6.1 5.4 2.5 1.7 0.5 0.3

Favourite topics: Math & Science What were your favorite classes in high school?

MathChemistr

yPhysics Literature

Painting /Arts

History MusicGeograp

hy

PhysicalEducation (PE)

Biology

Ratios 32.1 20.1 14.6 8.8 5.8 4.3 4.3 3.7 3.7 2.5

0.0

5.0

10.0

15.0

20.0

25.0

30.0

35.0

Society Perception Impact

How does society see women computer engineers in Turkey?

It's a very prestigious

occupation for women.

36%

It is NOT a preferred

occupation for women.

12%

Women is considered inadequate

compared to man in this occupation.

47%

I don't know. 5%

Society Perception Impact It's a very

prestigious occupation for

women. 16%

It is NOT a preferred

occupation for women.

11%

Women is considered inadequate

compared to man in this occupation.

71%

I don't know. 2%

How does society see women computer engineers in Turkey? (age < 30)

It's a very prestigious

occupation for women.

53%

I don't know. 7%

Women is considered inadequate

compared to man in this occupation.

28%

It is NOT a preferred

occupation for women.

12% How does society see women computer engineers in Turkey? (age >= 30)

Childhood Perceptions Imposed by Society

Yes 13%

No 79%

I do not know / do not remember

8%

Do you think your parents or teachers believed that "boys are better at math/science subjects than girls" during your childhood?

Acceptance by Male Colleagues How often do you feel accepted by your male colleagues in the workplace or in school?

Sometimes 16%

Most of the time 50%

Rarely 6%

Always 25%

Never 3%

Feeling of Isolation How often do you feel lonely or isolated from other people at the workplace/school because of your gender?

Sometimes 21%

Rarely 35%

Most of the time 9%

Never 34%

Always 1%

Conclusion

Economics and Perceptions fuel the interest

Excelling in the national entrance exam encourages an Engineering or Medical School degree

No lack of confidence in Women

Positive reinforcement from high school fuels interest

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Last but not least Thanks!

Turkish Women In Computing community

OSYM for statistics

Dept. of Computer Engineering, Bilkent Uni Prof. Dr. Altay Guvenir & System Analyst Nazan Ceran Titrek

Dept. of Computer Engineering, METU Prof. Dr. Ferda Alpaslan

Golden Girls of Computer Science where a lot of these ideas have emerged via discussion