Better Balance in Informatics 2.0: The First-Year Students
This addresses gender imbalance and dropout issues for first-year female computer science students, but it is incremental as effects on dropout and study experience require long-term measures.
The project tackled the low female representation (13%) and high dropout rates in introductory computer science courses at UiT The Arctic University of Norway by implementing a seminar series to strengthen basic programming skills and expose students to broader career paths, resulting in improvements in technical areas like file systems and debugging from 2024 to 2025.
Diversity among computer scientists and technologists is necessary for the sustainable development of society through technological innovation. At UiT The Arctic University of Norway, only 13% of computer science students are women. Many find the learning curve in introductory computer science courses to be very steep, and thus, they drop out. Female students tend to be overrepresented in this group. The goal of this project was to improve the gender balance among computer science students at UiT by focusing on female first-year students and ensuring that they do not drop out of the study programs in the first year of study. The project established a seminar series for strengthening the basic programming-technical skills that many first-year students lack, and exposing them to different aspects and career paths within the computer science subject beyond the focus area of the study program. Results show positive developments, particularly related to the students' perceived introduction to basic technical topics. A comparison between 2024 and 2025 shows improvements in several of the areas addressed in the technical workshops, including use of file systems, terminals, debugging and the code development process. However, effects on dropout and study experience require more long-term measures.