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• 1. [Article] Effectiveness of end-user debugging software features : are there gender issues?

  Although gender differences in a technological world are receiving significant research attention, much of the research and practice has aimed at how society and education can impact the successes and ...

  Citation × Citation Citation Abstract Copy Title: Effectiveness of end-user debugging software features : are there gender issues? Author: Cook, Curtis R., Beckwith, Laura A., Burnett, Margaret, 1949-, Sorte, Shraddha, Wiedenbeck, Susan, Hastings, Michelle, Oregon State University. Dept. of Computer Science Although gender differences in a technological world are receiving significant research attention, much of the research and practice has aimed at how society and education can impact the successes and retention of female computer science professionals—but the possibility of gender issues within software has received almost no attention. If gender issues exist with some types of software features, it is possible that accommodating them by changing these features can increase effectiveness, but only if we know what these issues are. In this paper, we empirically investigate gender differences for end users in the context of debugging spreadsheets. Our results uncover significant gender differences in feature acceptance, and show that these differences can significantly impact effectiveness. Title: Effectiveness of end-user debugging software features : are there gender issues? Author: Cook, Curtis R., Beckwith, Laura A., Burnett, Margaret, 1949-, Sorte, Shraddha, Wiedenbeck, Susan, Hastings, Michelle, Oregon State University. Dept. of Computer Science Although gender differences in a technological world are receiving significant research attention, much of the research and practice has aimed at how society and education can impact the successes and retention of female computer science professionals—but the possibility of gender issues within software has received almost no attention. If gender issues exist with some types of software features, it is possible that accommodating them by changing these features can increase effectiveness, but only if we know what these issues are. In this paper, we empirically investigate gender differences for end users in the context of debugging spreadsheets. Our results uncover significant gender differences in feature acceptance, and show that these differences can significantly impact effectiveness. Close

• 2. [Article] Gender HCI issues in end-user programming

  Until recently, research has not considered whether the design of end-user programming environments, such as spreadsheets, multimedia authoring languages, and CAD systems, affects males and females differently. ...

  Citation × Citation Citation Abstract Copy Title: Gender HCI issues in end-user programming Author: Beckwith, Laura A. Until recently, research has not considered whether the design of end-user programming environments, such as spreadsheets, multimedia authoring languages, and CAD systems, affects males and females differently. As a result, we began investigating how the two genders are impacted by end-user programming software and whether attention to gender differences is important in the design of software. Evidence from other domains, such as psychology and marketing, strongly suggests that females process information and problem solve in very different ways than males. This implies that without taking these differences into account in the design of problem-solving software, the needs of half the population for whom the software is intended are potentially being ignored. In fact, some research has shown that software is unintentionally designed for males. Our research has uncovered several factors which affect males and females differently as they engage in end-user programming. The gender differences range from the effects of self-efficacy (a form of confidence) on engagement with environment features to how males and females use "tinkering" as part of their problem-solving strategy. We further investigate the effects of several environment changes on both males' and females' problem solving. This research is the first to both uncover what gender differences are relevant in end-user programming environments and address how to account for these gender differences in the design of such environments. Title: Gender HCI issues in end-user programming Author: Beckwith, Laura A. Until recently, research has not considered whether the design of end-user programming environments, such as spreadsheets, multimedia authoring languages, and CAD systems, affects males and females differently. As a result, we began investigating how the two genders are impacted by end-user programming software and whether attention to gender differences is important in the design of software. Evidence from other domains, such as psychology and marketing, strongly suggests that females process information and problem solve in very different ways than males. This implies that without taking these differences into account in the design of problem-solving software, the needs of half the population for whom the software is intended are potentially being ignored. In fact, some research has shown that software is unintentionally designed for males. Our research has uncovered several factors which affect males and females differently as they engage in end-user programming. The gender differences range from the effects of self-efficacy (a form of confidence) on engagement with environment features to how males and females use "tinkering" as part of their problem-solving strategy. We further investigate the effects of several environment changes on both males' and females' problem solving. This research is the first to both uncover what gender differences are relevant in end-user programming environments and address how to account for these gender differences in the design of such environments. Close

• 3. [Article] Gender : an important factor in end-user programming environments?

  A human-centric issue that has not been considered in the design of end-user programming environments is whether gender differences exist that are important to the design of these environments. Ignoring ...

  Citation × Citation Citation Abstract Copy Title: Gender : an important factor in end-user programming environments? Author: Beckwith, Laura A., Burnett, Margaret, 1949-, Oregon State University. Dept. of Computer Science A human-centric issue that has not been considered in the design of end-user programming environments is whether gender differences exist that are important to the design of these environments. Ignoring this issue would miss the opportunity of enhancing the effectiveness of end-user programmers by incorporating appropriate mechanisms to support gender-associated differences in decision making, learning, and problem solving. This paper takes a first step toward building a foundation for investigating this issue by surveying gender difference literature from five domains from the perspective of possible implications for end-user programming. We present a taxonomy of this literature, and derive a number of specific issues for each element of the taxonomy (stated as hypotheses). This foundation provides a starting point for organized investigations into issues that may be important for making breakthroughs in the effectiveness of end-user programmers. Title: Gender : an important factor in end-user programming environments? Author: Beckwith, Laura A., Burnett, Margaret, 1949-, Oregon State University. Dept. of Computer Science A human-centric issue that has not been considered in the design of end-user programming environments is whether gender differences exist that are important to the design of these environments. Ignoring this issue would miss the opportunity of enhancing the effectiveness of end-user programmers by incorporating appropriate mechanisms to support gender-associated differences in decision making, learning, and problem solving. This paper takes a first step toward building a foundation for investigating this issue by surveying gender difference literature from five domains from the perspective of possible implications for end-user programming. We present a taxonomy of this literature, and derive a number of specific issues for each element of the taxonomy (stated as hypotheses). This foundation provides a starting point for organized investigations into issues that may be important for making breakthroughs in the effectiveness of end-user programmers. Close

• 4. [Article] Gender differences in end-user debugging strategies

  Little is known about the strategies end-user programmers use in debugging their programs, and even less is known about gender differences that may exist in these strategies. Without this type of information, ...

  Citation × Citation Citation Abstract Copy Title: Gender differences in end-user debugging strategies Author: Cook, Curtis R., Drummond, Russell, Bucht, Karin, Subrahmaniyan, Neeraja, Grigoreanu, Valentina I., Wiedenbeck, Susan, Burnett, Margaret, 1947-, Beckwith, Laura A., Oregon State University. Dept. of Computer Science Little is known about the strategies end-user programmers use in debugging their programs, and even less is known about gender differences that may exist in these strategies. Without this type of information, end-user programming systems cannot know the "target" at which to aim, if they are to support male and female end-user programmers' debugging. In this paper, we present a study investigating this issue. We asked a group of end-user programmers to debug spreadsheets and to describe the strategies they used to carry out this task. Using quantitative and qualitative methods, we analyzed the strategies reported, considered whether the strategies could be confirmed by observations of participants' behaviors, and looked for relation-ships among participants' strategy choices, gender, and debugging success. Our results indicate that males and females debug in quite different ways, that there are considerable opportunities for improving support for end-user debugging strategies for both genders, and that the types of features commonly found to aid debugging may be especially deficient in supporting strategies the females prefer to use in debugging. Title: Gender differences in end-user debugging strategies Author: Cook, Curtis R., Drummond, Russell, Bucht, Karin, Subrahmaniyan, Neeraja, Grigoreanu, Valentina I., Wiedenbeck, Susan, Burnett, Margaret, 1947-, Beckwith, Laura A., Oregon State University. Dept. of Computer Science Little is known about the strategies end-user programmers use in debugging their programs, and even less is known about gender differences that may exist in these strategies. Without this type of information, end-user programming systems cannot know the "target" at which to aim, if they are to support male and female end-user programmers' debugging. In this paper, we present a study investigating this issue. We asked a group of end-user programmers to debug spreadsheets and to describe the strategies they used to carry out this task. Using quantitative and qualitative methods, we analyzed the strategies reported, considered whether the strategies could be confirmed by observations of participants' behaviors, and looked for relation-ships among participants' strategy choices, gender, and debugging success. Our results indicate that males and females debug in quite different ways, that there are considerable opportunities for improving support for end-user debugging strategies for both genders, and that the types of features commonly found to aid debugging may be especially deficient in supporting strategies the females prefer to use in debugging. Close

• 5. [Article] On to the real world : gender and self-efficacy in Excel

  Although there have been a number of studies of end-user software development tasks, few of them have considered gender issues for real end-user developers in real-world environments for end-user programming. In ...

  Citation × Citation Citation Abstract Copy Title: On to the real world : gender and self-efficacy in Excel Author: Inman, Derek, Rector, Kyle, Beckwith, Laura A., Burnett, Margaret, 1949-, Oregon State University. Dept. of Computer Science Although there have been a number of studies of end-user software development tasks, few of them have considered gender issues for real end-user developers in real-world environments for end-user programming. In order to be trusted, the results of such laboratory studies must always be re-evaluated with fewer controls, more closely reflecting real-world conditions. Therefore, the research question in this paper is whether the results of a Gender HCI controlled study generalize -- to real-world end-user developers, in a real-world spreadsheet environment, using a realworld spreadsheet. Our findings are that the concepts revealed by the original laboratory study appear to be quite robust, being demonstrated in multiple ways in this real-world environment. Title: On to the real world : gender and self-efficacy in Excel Author: Inman, Derek, Rector, Kyle, Beckwith, Laura A., Burnett, Margaret, 1949-, Oregon State University. Dept. of Computer Science Although there have been a number of studies of end-user software development tasks, few of them have considered gender issues for real end-user developers in real-world environments for end-user programming. In order to be trusted, the results of such laboratory studies must always be re-evaluated with fewer controls, more closely reflecting real-world conditions. Therefore, the research question in this paper is whether the results of a Gender HCI controlled study generalize -- to real-world end-user developers, in a real-world spreadsheet environment, using a realworld spreadsheet. Our findings are that the concepts revealed by the original laboratory study appear to be quite robust, being demonstrated in multiple ways in this real-world environment. Close