Gender gap in computer science education: Experiences of women in Uganda

The purpose of this study is two-fold: to investigate the nature of the gender gap in computer science education in Uganda and to understand the factors that influence gender differences in computer science education in Uganda.; Data collection for the study was done in three stages. In the first stage all the 600 male and female undergraduate Bachelors of Sciences in computer science students at Makerere University were surveyed during a six week period from June 15th to July 30th 2004. 200 students responded to the survey yielding a 33.3 percent response rate. The second stage in data collection consisted of a series of qualitative interviews. Two participants each were selected based on purposeful sampling from Makerere University's office of Gender Mainstreaming, the Forum for African Women Educationalist, the Technology Committee of the Parliament of Uganda and Makerere University's Institute of Computer Science. The third stage in data collection consisted of focus group discussions. There were three focus groups: 5 male undergraduate students of computer science, 5 female undergraduate students of computer science and 5 female graduate students of computer science. Volunteers were asked from within the computer science student population. Data analysis involved quantitative and qualitative techniques.; The findings of the study indicate that there is a gender gap in computer science education. There were 511 male students and 89 female students in the undergraduate program. The reasons for the gap were revealed in the interviews, survey and focus group discussions. The study concluded that several policy measures need to be taken to address the gender gap in computer science education in Uganda.