Gender Imbalance in Undergraduate IT Programs – A Vietnamese Perspective

Abstract The issue of gender imbalance in computing professions and higher education programs is well documented. The specific contextual reasons for the observed disparity are less well documented and in Vietnam are until now unrealized. There are a number of social, political, personal and historical factors that influence female enrollment into IT programs at university and there is no single global scenario. This paper discusses the trends and barriers around the world and examines the gender imbalance in an undergraduate IT course at a Vietnamese campus of an Australian university. A number of initiatives and key success factors for closing the gender gap are presented.