THE IT GENDER GAP: Experience, Motivation and Differences in Undergraduate Studies of Computer Science

This paper reports on progress and conclusions of two-year research of gender issues in
studying computer science at Department of Mathematics and Informatics, Faculty of
Science, University of Novi Sad. Using statistics on data gathered by a survey, the work
presented here focused on identifying, understanding, and correlating both female and
male students’ performance, professional motivation, ambition, confidence level and
attitudes towards differences, learning quality and nature of the field. Results show
agreement with theoretical predictions and significant improvement over previous
efforts; providing profound implications for future studies of gender-sensitive IT
education in the region and beyond.