Gender Differences in Higher Education Aims between Computing and Psychology Students

Abstract

Academic fields are still highly gender segregated. Two fields, male dominated computer studies and female dominated psychology have received much attention. Both fields have changed radically in content and method over the last three to four decades. None of the attempts to explain gender segregation in terms of differences in cognitive abilities have been adequate and attention seems to be turning to interests and personality factors; what people want to do as distinct from what they can do. By means of a questionnaire, the present study looked at first year students in computer studies and in psychology in four universities, one Irish, one Scottish, and two English. Are students in the minority gender in each of these fields behaviourally more like the majority gender than the mean for the minority gender in the student population, and if so, in what respects? The results are interpreted to show that they are and tend to confirm that a distinction needs to be made between two factors here identified as (1) personal development and social relationships and (2) cognitive skills, which correspond respectively to ‘people‐oriented’ and ‘thing‐oriented’.