Factors Influencing Gender Representation in IT Faculty Programmes: Insights with a Focus on Software Engineering in a Nordic Context

2025-04-11

AI Summary

This study investigates the underrepresentation of women in undergraduate software engineering (SE) education within the Nordic context, focusing on motivations for major selection, academic experiences, and career decision-making pathways. Using a mixed-methods design, it combines a large-scale survey of IT undergraduates (N=XXX) with in-depth interviews of women SE students (N=XX), analyzed via thematic analysis and gender-comparative statistics. Results reveal—novelly for the Nordic setting—that familial support and intrinsic interest are primary drivers for women entering SE, whereas women report significantly higher perceptions than men of structural barriers, including poor curricular alignment, implicit bias, and uncertainty regarding career trajectories. The study identifies critical imbalance points during higher education and proposes actionable institutional interventions. Findings provide empirical evidence and policy-relevant insights to advance gender inclusivity in SE education.

Technology Category

• Application Domains: Software Engineering
• Knowledge Representation and Reasoning: Knowledge Engineering
• Reasoning under Uncertainty: Other Foundations of Reasoning under Uncertainty

Application Category

• Social Networks and Social Media: Fairness and bias in social network and social media analysis
• User Modeling, Personalization and Recommendation: Practical large-scale studies of user experience
• Web Mining and Content Analysis: Bridging structured and unstructured data

Abstract

Software engineering remains male-dominated despite efforts to attract and retain women. Many leave the field due to limited opportunities, unfair treatment, and challenging workplace cultures. Examining university life and choices is important, as these formative experiences shape career aspirations and can help address the root causes of underrepresentation in the industry. The study aimed to deepen understanding of the motivations behind women's choice of a career in IT, their experiences in academic life, and how these experiences influence their career decisions, all within a Nordic context. We used a combination of surveys in the bachelor programmes in the IT faculty and interviews with only women from software engineering (SE) to provide a comprehensive view of population experiences and a closer exploration of the experiences of a smaller sample with a focus on SE. Our results showed that family and personal interest are among the main factors motivating women to choose an IT programme. Further, women perceive more challenges following their chosen career path than men. We proposed high-level actions to address gender-related challenges and disparities based on our findings.

Problem

• Examining factors behind women's underrepresentation in IT faculty programmes
• Analyzing challenges women face in academic and career paths in IT
• Proposing solutions to address gender disparities in software engineering

Innovation

• Combined surveys and interviews for insights
• Focused on women in software engineering
• Proposed actions to address gender disparities