"RISE IT for Social Good": An Experimental Investigation of Context to Improve Programming Skills

Abstract

Despite increases in female labor force participation, Information Technology (IT) remains heavily male-dominated field. Given the rapid growth in IT career opportunities, it is important find ways to increase the IT female talent pipeline. As a solution that might help mitigate the problem, we proposed the "RISE IT for Social Good" project to examine possible pedagogical interventions to improve the experience female students have in programming. Specifically, this paper uses experimental method to examine whether context plays a role on enhancing female students' performance in IT related tasks.