Presentation at the EDUCON2019 – IEEE Global Engineering Education Conference Authors: Alicia García-Holgado, Andrea Vázquez-Ingelmo, Sonia Verdugo-Castro, Carina González, Mª Cruz Sánchez-Gómez, Francisco J. García-Peñalvo

1. Actions to promote diversity in engineering studies:
a case study in a Computer Science Degree
Carina González
University of La Laguna, San Cristóbal de La Laguna, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain
cjgonza@ull.edu.es
Alicia García-Holgado, Andrea Vázquez-Ingelmo, Sonia Verdugo-Castro
Mª Cruz Sánchez-Gómez, Francisco J. García-Peñalvo
GRIAL Research Group, University of Salamanca, Salamanca, Spain
{aliciagh, andreavazquez, soniavercas, mcsago, fgarcia } @usal.es

2. Motivation
It is essential to work from and for the promotion of diversity in the
educational framework
It is possible to identify inequalities for equal representation in STEM
sector, both educational and professional context

3. Diversity
Attract representative students from
all sectors of society, different ethnic
groups, cultures, disabilities, etc
Inclusion
Some groups may be excluded if their
needs are not adequately addressed,
therefore we also speak of inclusion

4. One of the
groups with less
representation in
engineering is
women, although
they represent
50% of society

5. Objective
Promote the diversity and
inclusion among engineering
students and, specifically,
among computer engineering
students

6. Context
Degree in Computer Engineering at the
University of Salamanca (Spain)
The area of Software Engineering is
composed by 3 compulsory courses:
Software Engineering I and II, and Projects
Management
The case study is carried out in Software
Engineering I:
• It gives an overview of software
engineering,
• and it addresses the first activities of the
software development process

7. Starting point
• Methodological change
to increase the success
rate -> PBL
• The final project
establishes the
organization of the
subject
2016-17
• Introduction of the
gender perspective
• Definition of the
GENder perspective in
Computer Engineering
questionnaire
(GENCE)
2016-17 • Validation of the
GENCE questionnaire
• Improvement of the
active learning
approach based on
PBL
2017-18

8. Participants

9. Final project
To design a software system given a series of
requirements, to reach the different milestones
that can be found in real-world software
developments
The client role will be portrayed by the coach
figure
Theme: to conceptualize and design an
application that supports diversity and inclusion
policies in the business context
The students has freedom to design any software
solution that they feel might be beneficial and
valuable for promoting diversity in the businesses
scope

10. Coach figure
External expert is introduced to
contribute to the definition of the problem
to be solved through software
development
It guides the students and will play the
client role, with special emphasis on
issues concerning diversity and ethics
Most of the students are men and there
are not enough women to be involved in
all teams, so the expert is a woman to
introduce some gender balance in the
teams

11. Occasional Talks
The use of agile
methodologies in order
to show how
companies develop
software nowadays and
how these
methodologies can
help to promote
inclusion and equity in
teamwork
Tools and
techniques to
work remotely
during the
break
Experiences
related to
human
resources
processes
This talk is scheduled at the beginning of the subject
and the speaker is a young woman both is developer
in a company and teaches in a university
Last talk, the speakers are a man, director of a
software company, and a foreign woman, scrum
master in the same software company
The planification of the final project
does not stop during the holidays, so
students have to continue working in
the distance. The speaker is a young
man that works remotely as developer
and researcher in an international
company

12. Gamification
Motivate students and achieve a higher
impact regarding the experience
A set of badges that are associated with
different challenges along the course
The main badges related to award
diversity and inclusion are:
Diversity
first
Inclusion
policies
Q&A
Inclusive
UML

13. Evaluation
Three differentiated phases:
• Participant observation of the different technological, inclusive and ethical
solutions proposed by the external coach in the software development sessions
- GENCE questionnaire to determine if the activities presented have been
effective https://repositorio.grial.eu/handle/grial/14
- Analyse the content of the badges or visual representations that are associated
with the challenges posed in the activities of gamification

14. The most
relevant
meanings will be
delved into using
the focus group
technique at the
end of the course

15. Preliminary results
Low number of participants in the first application:
20 students participated but only 13 answers are
valid because the other 7 are incomplete
2 women (15.38%) and 11 men (84.62%) participated
12 are heterosexual (92.31%) and 1 is bisexual
(7.69%)

16. Preliminary results
84.62% agree with the statement “Gender equality is
an important issue that must be addressed from all
areas (family, educational, social and labour)”,
92.31% disagree with the statement “Gender
influences to finish computer science studies”
69.23% neither agree nor disagree with the statement
“More women are needed to perform jobs in the
technological field”

17. Conclusions
➤ Technology is part of the daily life for
most of the population, so the different
sectors should be represented in the
processes to define and develop
technology
➤ The actions to promote diversity should
be part of the curricula of any degree
related to Computer Engineering or
Computer Science
➤ The purpose is to introduce the diversity
concept at every stage carried out within
the software engineering field: from the
problem definition to management tasks
(focusing on the end users of the final
product)

18. Questions?
Contact:
@carina211
cjgonza@ull.edu.es

19. Actions to promote diversity in engineering studies:
a case study in a Computer Science Degree
Carina González
University of La Laguna, San Cristóbal de La Laguna, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain
cjgonza@ull.edu.es
Alicia García-Holgado, Andrea Vázquez-Ingelmo, Sonia Verdugo-Castro
Mª Cruz Sánchez-Gómez, Francisco J. García-Peñalvo
GRIAL Research Group, University of Salamanca, Salamanca, Spain
{aliciagh, andreavazquez, soniavercas, mcsago, fgarcia } @usal.es