Gender issues and computers: college computer science education in Taiwan

This study investigated gender differences for college computer science majors in Taiwan. Subjects were college students enrolled in five universities offering computer science programs. A total of 940 valid questionnaires were collected, including 796 males (85%) and 144 females (15%). Significant gender differences were not found for most of the College Entrance Examination (CEE) scores, prior computer experience and the prediction models of college performance. However, female students achieved significantly higher scores in CEE language component. Females were also found to outperform males in academic achievement at both the high school and college levels, including math courses. The results seem to suggest that, in Taiwan, female students who decided to enroll in the computer science programs might be more confident in their ability to compete with males in this male-dominated field, due to appropriate amount of math discipline and computer experience they gained prior to entering college.