Perceptions and Experiences of the Workplace among Canadian Computer Science and Engineering Students - A Gender Analysis

This paper presents an overview of selected results of a national survey on the career intentions of upper-year Canadian undergraduate students in computer science and engineering programs. The survey was conducted in spring and summer, 2010, by the regional Chairs for Women in Science and Engineering and included approximately 600 respondents. The paper offers gender and discipline-based analyses of the survey results, with particular attention paid to students’ perceptions and experiences of the workplace. In designing the study, it was hypothesized that a higher proportion of female students might choose not to pursue employment in the field after completing their undergraduate program because of negative educational experiences and/or workplace expectations. While survey results reveal some gender differentiation in terms of educational experiences, similarly high proportions of male and female students intend to either pursue employment (~69%) or graduate programs in their field of study (~20%). However, a significant proportion of female students (63.3%) expect to face gender-based discrimination in the workplace, while only 5% of male respondents indicated similar concerns. An analysis of survey responses paint a concerning picture of experiences and expectations of hiring practices and workplace climate, one which warrants attention.