Gender & Diversity in Computing
CAS understands and champions that computing education is an essential part of the curriculum in the UK, and it is crucial to ensure that it is inclusive and diverse. The Royal Society has reported that gender balance is the most significant diversity issue in computing education and it is essential to address this issue and encourage wider participation in computing education to ensure that everyone has equal opportunities to pursue careers in computing and technology.
These resources and links explore the importance of gender and diversity to help you work towards an inclusive computing classroom.
Girls in Computing
The resources and webinars below offer tips, strategies and discussion to tackle the gender balance in computing:
Girls Into Computing
This resource offers tips from CAS teachers, parents and academics to those who are teaching or working in outreach to encourage girls to get involved with computing.
I Belong: Encouraging Girls into Computer Science
This programme from the National Centre for Computing Education (NCCE) combines training, resources and implementation support to help you address barriers to girls’ participation in GCSE computer science. Completion of the programme results in a certificate recognising your school’s commitment to improving girls’ participation in computer science.
Women in Computing lesson
This ready-to-use lesson introduces a diverse group of women in computing and helps challenge any misconceptions about those who choose this career path. Pupils are encouraged to think about the contribution that women can bring to computing and the reasons why less than 25% of the people working in computing in the UK today are women.
Computing Trips & Educational Visits
Educational visits are a great way of providing a 'hook' for girls to want to explore computing further and they provide a great opportunity for girls to see collaborative working environments and meet inspirational role models.
Girls in Computing Webinars
Hear from women in industry and education leadership roles as they discuss strategies to tackle the gender balance in Computing:
Hayley Leonard, Research Manager from RaspberryPi discusses how pyschological, social, cultural and other factors impact the gender balance in computing and presents practical ways to apply these findings in the classroom.
A panel of expert teachers discuss strategies to raise the profile of STEM in school, particularly with girls.
CAS Virtual Showcase 2021 – Encouraging Girls to Take Computing
Expert panellists from a range of industries including financial services, marketing and logistics discuss the gender issue in Computing
Diversity & Inclusion
The resources and webinars below offer tips, strategies and discussion to help you work towards an inclusive Computing classroom:
Programming in an engaging and inclusive curriculum
Download presentation resources from this session at the 2016 CAS Conference. This session suggested 6 ingredients to consider using when planning a project or schemes of work so that every student can enjoy making progress in computing regardless of gender, race, religion, ability or background.
Diversity and Inclusion Webinar
Join panellists from a range of higher education establishments, RaspberryPi and Microsoft as they discuss approaches to develop good practice and create an inclusive learning environment.
Diversity & Inclusion Resources
These resources specifically focus on how we can promote diversity and inclusion within our subject and the resources we use:
