Computing and STEM in Greek tertiary education: gender representation of faculty members during the decade 2003–2013

ABSTRACT

This study focuses on the investigation of gender representation of faculty members of all ranks (professors, associate professors, assistant professors and lecturers) of Computing and STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) in Greek tertiary education during the decade 2003–2013. To this end, a quantitative study was conducted, taking into account appropriate data derived from the Hellenic Statistical Authority. The data analysis shows that during the said decade, (a) faculty members in Computing and in each discipline of STEM constituted a small part of the total number of Greek faculty members; (b) for every single year of the decade, females were less prevalent than males in all ranks of faculty members in Computing and Engineering; (c) the situation for females in the Computing faculty appears to have been even worse, as the percentage of them in every rank was the lowest among the STEM disciplines studied for all or most of the years of the decade under study; and (d) although females were better represented in the position of lecturer, which constituted the fewest faculty members in the aforementioned disciplines, highly populated ranks of faculty members were dominated by males.

KEYWORDS:

• Computing
• STEM
• gender representation
• university faculty members