Mapping the Academic Profile of the Computer Science Student from School to University: Pathway Tracing and Gender Analysis

Technology has transformed the world and is one of the fastest-growing sectors in the global economy. However, women are underrepresented in this sector. Attracting, retaining, and developing female talent in Information Technology is a business imperative. This thesis aims to analyze how to increase girls’ interest in choosing Computer Science as their higher education degree and profession. For this, it proposed research questions to understand what factors lead a student to choose Computer Science as a higher education course and to know the chances of a high school student to choose Computer Science from the analysis of their profile. The thesis’ methodology intends to apply surveys to trace the Computer Science student profiles (female and male) since their secondary school. Subsequently, it will develop a recommendation system that compares the profile of secondary education students with the Computer Science student profiles to form the pathway until the choice of the course. The thesis’ contributions include the identification of similarities and differences between the Computer Science student profiles in Portugal and Brazil; the development of a recommendation system that helps students pursue a pathway that leads them to the choice of a computing course, and allows teachers to choose the best practices for teaching programming.