Visualising and making women's work visible

Objectives

The main activity of this project is to carry out a study on the current situation of female researchers in Computer Science that will be translated into a digital product (interactive audiovisual web map). To this end, different researchers from Computer Science Schools in Spain will analyse enrolment by gender, study the perception of their students in relation to gender and identify, analyse and share the initiatives that are being developed to attract female talent to computer science studies from the different participating institutions. A web portal will therefore be created that concentrates the know-how of the different associations in order to provide the different decision-making bodies with a better knowledge of the situation and recommendations for action. On the other hand, different dissemination actions will be carried out throughout Spain and internationally, through the presence that will be given to this audiovisual map in traditional media and social networks.

Women in computing

The lack of women in computer science is a problem that affects universities and companies worldwide. According to the UNESCO Science Report 2021, women account for only 28% of engineering graduates and 40% of computer science graduates, although these figures vary by region or country. In the European context, according to the European Union's Women in Digital Scoreboard 2020 report, only 18% of information and communication technology professionals are women. These figures are replicated in the Spanish context, where the number of women in computer science studies represents around 13% of the total enrolment.

The lack of women in engineering and technology is exacerbated when looking at the scientific field, where women researchers represent 12%. In addition, they face a number of problems such as the lack of female principal investigators in research projects or the glass ceiling.

The Sociedad Científica Informática de España (SCIE) is aware of the importance of reducing the gender gap in the areas of computer science, with particular attention to increasing the number of women in computer science studies and subsequently in scientific careers. Likewise, the societies that make up the SCIE have been working in this area through various projects, chairs and activities.

The aim of the Women in Computer Science Commission is to analyse the current situation of women in computer engineering and the actions that are being developed by the different schools of computer science and scientific societies in order to establish synergies and seek measures at national level to reduce the existing gender gap.