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The Second Round: Diverse Paths Towards Software Engineering

Sonja Hyrynsalmi, Ella Peltonen, Fanny Vainionpää, Sami Hyrynsalmi

TL;DR

This study investigates why Finnish university students choose software engineering and how they decide to apply, with a focus on gender differences. Using a mixed-method, cross-university online survey (N=78) in Finland, the authors identify two entry paths—a Linear Educational Path and an Adult Career Change Path—and show that women tend to decide later and respond differently to marketing cues than men. Key findings reveal that women benefit more from personal guidance and live events, while men are more influenced by teachers and social media, underscoring the need for gender-tailored outreach and flexible study options. The work introduces a Diverse Paths to IT model, highlighting how marketing and program design should accommodate both youthful entrants and adult career changers to improve female participation in software engineering.

Abstract

In the extant literature, there has been discussion on the drivers and motivations of minorities to enter the software industry. For example, universities have invested in more diverse imagery for years to attract a more diverse pool of students. However, in our research, we consider whether we understand why students choose their current major and how they did in the beginning decided to apply to study software engineering. We were also interested in learning if there could be some signs that would help us in marketing to get more women into tech. We approached the topic via an online survey (N = 78) sent to the university students of software engineering in Finland. Our results show that, on average, women apply later to software engineering studies than men, with statistically significant differences between genders. Additionally, we found that marketing actions have different impacts based on gender: personal guidance in live events or platforms is most influential for women, whereas teachers and social media have a more significant impact on men. The results also indicate two main paths into the field: the traditional linear educational pathway and the adult career change pathway, each significantly varying by gender

The Second Round: Diverse Paths Towards Software Engineering

TL;DR

This study investigates why Finnish university students choose software engineering and how they decide to apply, with a focus on gender differences. Using a mixed-method, cross-university online survey (N=78) in Finland, the authors identify two entry paths—a Linear Educational Path and an Adult Career Change Path—and show that women tend to decide later and respond differently to marketing cues than men. Key findings reveal that women benefit more from personal guidance and live events, while men are more influenced by teachers and social media, underscoring the need for gender-tailored outreach and flexible study options. The work introduces a Diverse Paths to IT model, highlighting how marketing and program design should accommodate both youthful entrants and adult career changers to improve female participation in software engineering.

Abstract

In the extant literature, there has been discussion on the drivers and motivations of minorities to enter the software industry. For example, universities have invested in more diverse imagery for years to attract a more diverse pool of students. However, in our research, we consider whether we understand why students choose their current major and how they did in the beginning decided to apply to study software engineering. We were also interested in learning if there could be some signs that would help us in marketing to get more women into tech. We approached the topic via an online survey (N = 78) sent to the university students of software engineering in Finland. Our results show that, on average, women apply later to software engineering studies than men, with statistically significant differences between genders. Additionally, we found that marketing actions have different impacts based on gender: personal guidance in live events or platforms is most influential for women, whereas teachers and social media have a more significant impact on men. The results also indicate two main paths into the field: the traditional linear educational pathway and the adult career change pathway, each significantly varying by gender
Paper Structure (20 sections, 5 figures, 1 table)

This paper contains 20 sections, 5 figures, 1 table.

Table of Contents

  1. Introduction
  2. Background
  3. Women studying STEM
  4. Software Engineering in diversity crisis
  5. Where to find the female software engineers
  6. Research approach
  7. Research process
  8. Survey design
  9. Participant recruitment
  10. Analysis
  11. Results
  12. Demographic distribution
  13. When do they apply for the software engineering studies?
  14. What influences on the decision to apply?
  15. What was the influence of university marketing on application decisions?
  16. ...and 5 more sections

Figures (5)

  • Figure 1: Some example pictures used to market software engineering (or ICT field as a whole) for BSc degree studies. Pictures are quoted from the Universities' online materials and StudyInfo, the governmental application website.
  • Figure 2: Answer distribution to the question "Do you remember when you decided to apply to study computer science?" (p = 4.3248e-23)
  • Figure 3: Answer distribution to the question "What influenced you to apply to your university?" (p = 0.0073)
  • Figure 4: Answer distribution to the question "Where did you find out about the programme you got into?" (p = 0.0137)
  • Figure 5: Diverse Paths to IT: Linear Educational Pathway and Adult Career Change Path identified in thematic analysis