Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Culture In Computing: The Importance Of Developing Gender-Inclusive Software, Creighton France

Computer Science and Computer Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

The field of computing as we know it today exists because of the contributions of numerous female mathematicians, computer scientists, and programmers. While working with hardware was viewed as “a man’s job” during the mid-20th century, computing and programming was viewed as a noble and high-paying field for women to occupy. However, as time has progressed, the U.S. has seen a decrease in the number of women pursuing computer science. The idea that computing is a masculine discipline is common in the U.S. today for reasons such as male-centered marketing of electronics and gadgets, an inaccurate representation of what it …

Assessing And Expanding Extracurricular Cybersecurity Youth Activities' Impact On Career Interest, Michael H. Dunn

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis assesses and expands the potential of extracurricular activities to address the shortage of cybersecurity workers by increasing secondary school students’ interest in these careers. Competitions and badges, two forms of gamification often applied in extracurricular educational activities, have potential to improve motivation and increase interest in related careers, but are significantly understudied in the context of cybersecurity activities. CyberPatriot is the largest cybersecurity competition in the United States for secondary school students. Impact on participants’ career interests is assessed by analyzing responses to recent surveys conducted by the competition organizers. Analysis demonstrates significantly increased interest in cybersecurity in …

Perceptions Of Female Cybersecurity Professionals Toward Factors That Encourage Females To The Cybersecurity Field, Kembley Kay Lingelbach

CCE Theses and Dissertations

Despite multiple national, educational, and industry initiatives, women continue to be underrepresented in the cybersecurity field. Only 11% of cybersecurity professionals, globally, are female. This contributes to the growing overall shortage of workers in the field. This research addressed the significant underrepresentation of females in the cybersecurity workforce. There are many practitioner and industry studies that suggest self-efficacy, discrimination and organizational culture play important roles in the low rate of women in the cybersecurity field. A limited number of scholarly studies identify causal factors; however, there is not a general consensus or framework to explain the problem thoroughly. Moreover, there …

Behavioral Intention And Use Behavior Of Social Networking Websites Among Senior Adults, Andrew M. Berry

CCE Theses and Dissertations

Use of social networking websites has rapidly increased over the last decade. Online social environments are quickly changing to meet the demands of younger users however the needs of senior adults are often ignored on most websites today and underrepresented in many Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) studies. The study sought to close the gap in research by providing greater knowledge about the behavioral intention and use behavior of social networking websites among senior adults. Senior adults from several locations and organizations were asked to complete an online self-administered survey answering questions that tie directly into …

Gender And Ethnicity Classification Using Partial Face In Biometric Applications, Jamie Lyle

All Dissertations

As the number of biometric applications increases, the use of non-ideal information such as images which are not strictly controlled, images taken covertly, or images where the main interest is partially occluded, also increases. Face images are a specific example of this. In these non-ideal instances, other information, such as gender and ethnicity, can be determined to narrow the search space and/or improve the recognition results. Some research exists for gender classification using partial-face images, but there is little research involving ethnic classifications on such images. Few datasets have had the ethnic diversity needed and sufficient subjects for each ethnicity …

Investigating The Role Of The Internet In Women And Minority Stem Participation: A Case Study Of Two Florida Engineering Programs, Arland Nguema Ndong

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Despite our awareness of the fascination modern humans have with the Internet, little is known about how and why colleges and universities create and maintain Websites. At the most general level, in this case study, I hypothesize that university Websites serve as communication and marketing tools in attracting students. At the most specific level, I postulate that civil engineering programs with Web pages depicting images of women and minorities would be more successful in recruiting and retaining women and students of color than civil engineering programs with Web pages displaying fewer or no images of women and minorities. The primary …

A Qualitative Study To Explore The Low Number Of Women In Information Technology In The United States, William Baker

Regis University Student Publications (comprehensive collection)

The number of women in Information Technology in the United States has historically been lower than the number of men in the field. This study explores the reasons behind this disparity and recommends steps that can be taken to increase the number of women in the field. This qualitative study examines why women are not attracted to the Information Technology field and examines reasons why women leave the field. Surveys were conducted with two populations, (1) women who currently work in Information Technology and (2) Information Technology recruiters. The results of these surveys were analyzed to see if there were …

Investigating Student Gender And Grade Level Differences In Digital Citizenship Behavior, Robert Lyons

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The rapid rise of technology, which has become embedded in all facets of 21st century society during the past decade, has fostered a corresponding rise in its misuse. Digital citizenship abuse, a relatively new phenomenon of this electronic age, is a rapidly growing global problem. Parents, schools, and society play roles in supporting appropriate online behavior. Schools must take the lead role to assess and address digital citizenship issues. This ex post facto study investigated the online actions of students in a medium-sized K-12 school district and explored possible causal relationships between online misbehavior and student grade and gender based …

Usf's Coverage Of Women's Athletics: A Census Of The Usf Athletics Home Web Page, Laura Ann Lebeau

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study examines the coverage of women’s athletics at USF provided through photographic representations on the university’s Athletics Internet home web page during the 2009–2010 academic year. Findings from this census of five areas that comprise the USF Athletics Internet home web page revealed that, consistent with recent research on coverage of female athletes and women’s athletics on university web pages, women, compared to men, were underrepresented in the majority of the five areas of the home page analyzed. The difference in the number of overall total photographs of women and men was not that large—48% and 52%, respectively, not …

An Investigation Of The Contributions Of Gender, Shopping Orientation, Online Experience, And Website's Interactive Features To Consumers' Intentions To Engage In Apparel E-Commerce Shopping, Amanda Wynn

CCE Theses and Dissertations

E-commerce has experienced exponential growth within the last few years. The rapid growth of e-commerce has created a need to improve consumer acceptance and the consumer's intention to engage in e-commerce. Female consumers have yet to embrace e-commerce as readily as male consumers. Differences between male and female consumer shopping behavior were examined.

This study developed and empirically tested a model to predict the consumer's intention to engage in apparel e-commerce shopping based on the constructs of gender, shopping orientation, online experience, and Website's interactive features. Male and female U.S. consumers age 18 and older were surveyed to determine their …