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Abstract

Despite great effort in research and teaching as well as in raising women's quotas in the public sector and in enterprises, a gender gap in computer science can still be observed. The reasons are manifold, including the lack of interest of girls because of existing stereotypes of male nerds, misconceptions in the field of computer science, and concrete differences in students' self-concept and performance. Girls do not choose schools or studies in the field of computer science because working on computers or coding is unattractive to them. Research shows poorer performance, missing interest, and lower self-concept for girls in secondary computing education as well as a high dropout rate of female students in computer science courses at the bachelor's level. Software development exams contribute to those high dropout rates, and women often choose a different subject or even stop their university education altogether. This leads to fewer female employees in the field of computer science, and this situation calls for special measures at several levels. The current paper provides an overview of the initiatives of our university that aim to address several aspects of the gender gap. The programs offered aim to (1) increase interest in computer science and recruit (highly) gifted girls for our talent programs, (2) recruit and support female bachelor's and master's students in computer science, and (3) redesign programming courses and teaching materials to reduce the gender gap in performance and support, especially for female students. This study also describes a "cyber tutoring" program in which highly gifted girls between 13 and 16 years collaborate with and are supervised by female role models in higher positions in STEM. The evaluation results gained in the first year of this case study are promising and suggest that the extension and further development of the program would be advantageous.

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... Gender-specific recommendations Outreach activities [10,12,16,24,28,39,48,50,60,63,65,70,71,73,79,80] [2, 6,11,32,37,74,77] Promotion of computing through engagement: school visits, workshops, hackathons, summer camps, etc. Building female community [35,45,63,64,76,86,87] [ 2,5,7,32,36,37,47,58,78,84] Arranging networking opportunities for female students outside of classes Female-focused marketing [28,75] [2, 58,59] Including female-inclusivity in marketing activities and materials Gender talks [24,75] [ 27,32,34,58,84] Acknowledging gender issues in and outside of the class and presenting successful female speakers Diverse teaching staff [75] [ 4,34,36,47] Ensuring faculty diversity Female-only environment [50,87] Making female-only courses, events, and programs Targeted recruitment [38] [ 6,36] Having quotas for women Gender-inclusive materials [1,62] [ 37,52,69] Ensuring that educational materials are free from stereotypes and biases Inclusive environment [56,76] [ 4,8,13,36,58,81,84] Ensuring that the university has diversitysupporting policies, zero tolerance for discrimination; covering female needs, etc. Creation of a diversityfocused action group [7] Creating separate department responsible for diversity Faculty training [7,8,18,19,34,36,53,59,69] Educating teaching staff about genderinclusive tactics and principles in education Gender-neutral recommendations Industry collaboration [15,86] [ 27,37,47,59,77] Involving industry in education Gamification [3,38,44,66,67] [ 27,29] Using gamification in educational processes Mentoring [10,23,38,44,45,63,64,76,79,86] [ 4,7,8,19,27,32,36,37,52,53,58,77,78,84] ...
... Gender-specific recommendations Outreach activities [10,12,16,24,28,39,48,50,60,63,65,70,71,73,79,80] [2, 6,11,32,37,74,77] Promotion of computing through engagement: school visits, workshops, hackathons, summer camps, etc. Building female community [35,45,63,64,76,86,87] [ 2,5,7,32,36,37,47,58,78,84] Arranging networking opportunities for female students outside of classes Female-focused marketing [28,75] [2, 58,59] Including female-inclusivity in marketing activities and materials Gender talks [24,75] [ 27,32,34,58,84] Acknowledging gender issues in and outside of the class and presenting successful female speakers Diverse teaching staff [75] [ 4,34,36,47] Ensuring faculty diversity Female-only environment [50,87] Making female-only courses, events, and programs Targeted recruitment [38] [ 6,36] Having quotas for women Gender-inclusive materials [1,62] [ 37,52,69] Ensuring that educational materials are free from stereotypes and biases Inclusive environment [56,76] [ 4,8,13,36,58,81,84] Ensuring that the university has diversitysupporting policies, zero tolerance for discrimination; covering female needs, etc. Creation of a diversityfocused action group [7] Creating separate department responsible for diversity Faculty training [7,8,18,19,34,36,53,59,69] Educating teaching staff about genderinclusive tactics and principles in education Gender-neutral recommendations Industry collaboration [15,86] [ 27,37,47,59,77] Involving industry in education Gamification [3,38,44,66,67] [ 27,29] Using gamification in educational processes Mentoring [10,23,38,44,45,63,64,76,79,86] [ 4,7,8,19,27,32,36,37,52,53,58,77,78,84] ...
... Combining in-class and self-learning Focus on impact [1,38,57,63,67,70] [ 5,20,82,84] Demonstrating social effect of computing Collaboration with parents and high-school teachers [28,64,70] [ 6,8] Educating parents and high school teachers about computing Real-life focus [12,17,30,35,38,41,44,67] [ 36,84] Providing relatable examples and tasks Use of social media [41] Using social media in education Storytelling [67] Creating learning based on narrative Interdisciplinarity [65] [37, 59,84] Making cross-disciplinary tasks, courses, and programs Professional orientation [2,5,6,37,47,77,84] Educating students about their career prospects; supporting their employment Project/problem-based learning [31,35,45,50] [ 27,37,81,84] Engaging students in problem and projectbased tasks ...
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... Gender talks [138], [162], [171] and community-building [153], [163], [175] activities help make the entire university environment more gender friendly. Meanwhile, departments can organize mentoring or tutoring for students who need support [152], [177] and preliminary training that ensures all students have an equal knowledge base to start their studies [133], [138], [163] as well as provide opportunities to attain practical experience through internships, industry visits, and case studies [146], [150], [172], [177]. These initiatives help women feel confident and increase their sense of belonging, and educators may improve their learning materials to increase female interest in the subjects. ...
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Chapter
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