Fewer women in top U.S. tech jobs since 2010: Only half of survey respondents think it’s a problem

Despite all the efforts of NSF BPC programs, the number of women graduating with undergraduate degrees in computing is not rising. Now, Reuters reports that the number of women in top technology positions has dropped for the second year in a row, despite the efforts of groups like the Anita Borg Institute and NCWIT.

There’s no direct causal relationship between those two sentences — it takes too many years for undergraduates to reach the top technology positions.  But I do wonder if there are similar external variables influencing each.  Is our society saying loudly and clearly to women, “don’t go into computing”?  And that message is showing results at both the undergraduate and executive levels?

That last sentence in the quote below is perhaps the most confusing.  Only 9% of top positions are held by women, 30% of respondents say that they have no women in upper-level positions — but only half of respondents think that women are under-represented in IT?  Perhaps no one pointed out to the respondents that women are half the population?  I can understand the argument that talent, perhaps especially executive talent, is not distributed evenly.  But why should anyone believe that such talent is only in the men?  And how can one believe no women have such talent in 30% of the respondents’ companies?

The number of women in senior technology positions at U.S. companies is down for the second year in a row, according to a survey published on Monday.

Nine percent of U.S. chief information officers (CIOs) are female, down from 11 percent last year and 12 percent in 2010, according to the survey by the U.S. arm of British technology outsourcing and recruitment company Harvey Nash Group.

About 30 percent of those polled said their information technology (IT) organization has no women at all in management. Yet only about half of survey respondents consider women to be under-represented in the IT department.

via Fewer women in top U.S. tech jobs since 2010: survey | Reuters.

K-12 CS education events: Professional Development and Research Workshop

I’ve been asked to pass on two announcements that are related to computing education, and since both are events I vigorously support, I’m passing them on here:

K-12 CS Education Professional Development Opportunity

Do you know a computer science educator? If so, please share with them this low cost, high quality professional development opportunity.

The Computer Science & Information Technology (CS&IT) Conference is the only conference specifically developed for K-12 computer science educators. This year the conference will be held at the Hyatt Regency Irvine on July 9th and 10th, 2012, in Irvine, CA. To see the agenda, register for the conference, or reserve your reduced housing rate at the Hyatt, visit www.cstaconference.org.

K-12 CS Education Research Workshop

Dear colleagues,

We would like to remind you to submit a paper for the 7th Workshop in Primary and Secondary Computing Education (WiPSCE) and to join us in Hamburg (Germany), November 8-9th, 2012.

Submission deadline for abstracts: June 11th, 2012

Full submission deadline: June 24th, 2012

This gives you another 6 weeks for your contribution to WiPSCE 2012!

WiPSCE 2012 is organized in cooperation with ACM SIGCSE and aims for bringing together key researchers of primary and secondary computing education. The conference proceedings will be published in the ACM Digital Library.

We are pleased to announce that Judith Gal-Ezer (Open University of Israel) and Jan Vahrenhold (University of Münster) will give keynote speeches at WiPSCE 2012.

In addition, we were able to win the “Stiftung Weltweite Wissenschaft” for financial support which permits registration fees starting at just 70 EUR and being free for students without regular income!

For more information please refer to the below CFP or online at http://wipsce.org

Very best regards,

Maria Knobelsdorf and Ralf Romeike

(Chairs)

********************************************************************

CFP: The 7th Workshop in Primary and Secondary Computing Education

WiPSCE 2012

November 8-9, 2012, Hamburg, Germany

http://wipsce.org/

CALL FOR PAPERS AND PARTICIPATION

We invite you to submit a paper for the 7th Workshop in Primary and Secondary Computing Education (WiPSCE) and join us in Hamburg, Germany, in November 2012.

Research in primary and secondary computing education is a young field with strong ties to national educational systems. Nevertheless, its

theories, methods, and results are internationally applicable and of interest to both researchers and practitioners in this field. WiPSCE has

its roots in a long-running workshop of the German computing education community and now – based on this ten year tradition – aims at improving the exchange of research and practice relevant to teaching and learning in primary and secondary computing education, teacher training, and related research.

The 2012 workshop will be located in the exciting city of Hamburg – Germany’s so-called “Gateway to the World”. It is organized by the University of Hamburg in collaboration with the University of Potsdam.

WORKSHOP FORMAT

WiPSCE is the workshop of the special interest group in Secondary Computing Education of the German Association of Informatics (GI) and originates from the German “Workshop der GI-Fachgruppe Didaktik der Informatik”. WiPSCE aims to publish high quality research that is theoretically and empirically anchored and involves innovative teaching and learning approaches in primary and secondary computing education. WiPSCE is a single track workshop with research, practice, and systems presentations as well as keynote speeches. The workshop language is English. The workshop is known for its moderate size and lively discussions, consequently a limited number of submissions will be accepted.

TOPICS

Original submissions in all areas related to primary and secondary computing education are invited. Topics of interest include, but are not limited to:

* Learning: attitudes, beliefs, motivation, misconceptions, learning difficulties, student engagement with educational technology (e.g. visualization), conceptualization of computing

* Teaching: teaching approaches, teaching methods, teaching with educational technology

* Content: curricular aspects, learning standards, tools, didactical approaches, context relevant teaching, assessment

* Institutional aspects: establishing and enhancing computing education, professional development

SPECIAL TOPIC

“Grand Challenges in Primary and Secondary Computing Education”

What are the grand challenges in primary and secondary education within the next decade? Which issues will unfold, persist or dominate in the near future? Which research questions need to be addressed? Which obstacles need to be overcome? Well explained analyses, theories, and opinions are highly welcome for this special session at WiPSCE 2012.

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES

Submissions are invited for the following categories:

Full Paper (6-12 pages)

Full papers are expected to meet one of the two categories:

* Empirical Research Paper: Unpublished, original, theoretically anchored research relevant to the topics of the workshop. Empirical research papers are expected to be of high quality and present novel arguments, syntheses, results, methods or tools.

* Theoretical and Philosophical Research Paper: Unpublished, original, theoretically anchored research which includes dissemination and discussion of new ideas, theoretical analyses, or the proposition of an original theory relevant to the topics of the workshop.

Short Paper (3-4 pages)

Short papers are expected to present unpublished, original work in progress related to empirical or theoretical research relevant to the topics of the workshop.

Practical or Working Group Report (6-12 pages)

Reports are expected to present unpublished, original on-going work undertaken by larger groups as part of long-term, cooperative research projects.

Demo/Poster Abstract (2 pages)

Demo/Poster abstracts should present emerging ideas for future research, teaching practice, or tools.

Submissions are required to follow the standard ACM two-column format with a 9-point font. The review process will be double-blind, so authors are requested not to include their names and affiliations when submitting and to cite their prior work appropriately. Detailed submission information is available at http://wipsce.org/.

REVIEW PROCESS AND PUBLICATION

To ensure selection of high quality contributions, submissions for Full Papers are reviewed by at least three members of the international Program Committee. Short Paper submissions and Demo/Poster Abstracts are reviewed by at least two members of the Program Committee. The WiPSCE Program Committee takes pride in considering submissions thoroughly and providing constructive feedback.

All accepted contributions will be available as electronic pre-proceedings prior to the workshop. The papers from the workshop will be indexed and available through the ACM Digital Library. A printed volume of the proceedings can be ordered after the workshop.

At least one author must register and present accepted papers in order for the paper to be included in the workshop proceedings.

IMPORTANT DATES

Submission deadline: June 11, 2012

Re-submission deadline (*): June 24, 2012

Notification of acceptance: August 30, 2012

Submission of revised manuscripts: October 1, 2012

Early Registration deadline: October 15, 2012

Registration and Welcome reception:

Evening of November 7, 2012

Workshop: November 8-9, 2012

(*) We offer a re-submission slack. This means that title and abstract of papers must be submitted by the June 11 deadline, but it will be possible to upload the full versions of papers until June 24. Paper abstracts that are not submitted by the June 11 deadline will not be considered.

CONFERENCE CHAIRS

Maria Knobelsdorf (University of Potsdam, Germany)

Ralf Romeike (University of Potsdam, Germany)

PROGRAM COMMITTEE

Michal Armoni (Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel)

Tim Bell (University of Canterbury, New Zealand)

Roger Boyle (University of Leeds, UK)

Torsten Brinda (University of Erlangen-Nürnberg, Germany)

Michael E. Caspersen (University of Aarhus, Denmark)

Paul Curzon (Queen Mary University of London, UK)

Ira Diethelm (University of Oldenburg, Germany)

Judith Gal-Ezer (The Open University of Israel, Israel)

Mark Guzdial (Georgia Institute of Technology, USA)

Peter Hubwieser (University of Technology, Munich, Germany)

Michael Kölling (University of Kent, UK)

Yifat Ben-David Kolikant (The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel)

Johannes Magenheim (University of Paderborn, Germany)

Ulrik Schroeder (RWTH Aachen University, Germany)

Carsten Schulte (Freie Universität Berlin, Germany)

Peer Stechert (RBZ Technik Kiel, Germany)

Chris Stephenson (CSTA, USA)

Jan Vahrenhold (University of Münster, Germany)

LOCAL ARRANGEMENTS

Detlef Rick (University of Hamburg, Germany)

Axel Schmolitzky (University of Hamburg, Germany)

CONTACT

For more information please visit the WiPSCE website http://wipsce.org/

or contact

Maria Knobelsdorf (knobelsdorf@cs.uni-potsdam.de),

Ralf Romeike (romeike@cs.uni-potsdam.de), or

Detlef Rick (rick@informatik.uni-hamburg.de).