Abstracts of Published Work

Beyer, S. (2007). The evolution of research questions for a longitudinal study of gender differences in CS students. AREE (Annals of Research on Engineering Education), 3(1), np. Also available on http://www.areeonline.org/CMS/2951/3168/6909/6767/6859.aspx


Beyer, S., & Haller, S. (2006). Gender differences and intra-gender differences in Computer Science students: Are female CS majors more similar to male CS majors or female non-majors? Journal of Women and Minorities in Science and Engineering, 12, 337-365.

This paper presents the findings of a study investigating 1. Intra-gender differences i.e., differences between female Computer Science (CS) majors and female non-majors and 2. Gender differences in CS students. To this end, we compared female CS majors, female non-majors, male CS majors and male non-majors. We found evidence for substantial gender differences on social psychological variables such as values, interests, and computer self-efficacy. However, we also found that in many respects (e.g., attitudes towards CS, CS careers, and work-life balance) female majors were more similar to male majors than to female non-majors. We discuss the implications of these findings for women's underrepresentation in CS.

Beyer, S. (2006). Gender differences in Computer Science and MIS majors. In E. M. Trauth (ed.), Encyclopedia of Gender and Information Technology (pp. 109-115). Hershey, PA: Idea Publishing.

Why do so few women major in Computer Science (CS) or Management Information Systems (MIS)? Are the reasons for women's underrepresentation in these two disciplines the same? I will address these issues by reporting on my research on female and male undergraduates majoring in CS or MIS. I hypothesize that results from one area of Information Technology (IT), such as CS, do not necessarily generalize to other areas of IT, such as MIS.

• Beyer, S., & DeKeuster, M. (2006). Women majoring in Computer Science or Management Information Systems: A comparative analysis. In J. M. Cohoon & W. Aspray (eds.), Women and Information Technology: Research on under-representation (pp. 323-349). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

This chapter discusses our research on three issues related to women's representation in undergraduate Information Technology (IT) majors. First, we present our findings regarding gender differences in Computer Science (CS) and Management Information Systems (MIS) students. Second, we discuss predictors of female and male students' academic success in CS and MIS. Third, we compare our findings for CS and MIS students.

• Beyer, S., DeKeuster, M., Walter, K., Colar, M., & Holcomb, C. (2005). Changes in CS students' attitudes towards CS over time: An examination of gender differences. Proceedings of the Thirty-sixth SIGCSE Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education.

Few women major in Computer Science (CS), which creates a serious bottleneck of women qualified to enter into the CS workforce. To address this bottleneck, this study examines gender issues in CS education. We assessed whether gender differences in CS students' stereotypes of CS and attitudes towards CS classes and the CS program remain stable from one semester to the next. We found that gender differences in CS students are not temporally stable and conclude that one-time assessments of gender differences may lead to erroneous conclusions. We also found that concerns about future work-family conflicts and gender issues in the CS program (e.g., female CS students feeling that they are not being taken as seriously as male CS students) emerged as important concerns for female CS students. The implications of these findings for increasing the representation of women in CS are discussed.

• Beyer, S., DeKeuster, M., Rynes, K., & DeHeer, J. (2004). The temporal stability of gender differences in MIS students. Proceedings of the tenth annual meeting of the Americas Conference on Information Systems, 1197-1204.

Few women major in Management Information Systems (MIS), which creates a serious bottleneck of women qualified to enter into the MIS workforce. To address this bottleneck, this study examines gender issues in MIS education. We assessed whether gender differences in MIS students' educational goals, stereotypes of MIS, and attitudes towards MIS classes and instructors remain stable over time. In addition, we analyzed the differential effects of individual MIS instructors on female and male students. Finally, we examined whether attitudes toward MIS instructors and classes predict grades in future MIS courses. We found that gender differences in MIS students are not temporally stable. Some attitudes towards MIS courses and instructors revealed greater problems or less satisfaction with instruction for female MIS students. Another interesting finding was that female MIS students underestimated their ability to a greater extent than did male students.

• Beyer, S. (2004). Review of "The Psychology of Women: A lifespan perspective (2nd ed.)". Psychology of Women Quarterly, 28, 436-437.


• Beyer, S., Rynes, K., & Haller, S. (2004). Deterrents to women taking Computer Science courses. IEEE Society and Technology, 23, 21-28.

We present results from a study that examines the barriers that discourage undergraduates, especially women, from taking courses in computer science (CS). Women are seriously under-represented at this early juncture of the CS pipeline. If we are serious about making CS a more inclusive field, this early juncture is critical. We hypothesized that barriers to women's choice to take CS courses include negative stereotypes about CS; a lack of information about what work in CS is like; the belief that careers in CS conflict with stereotypically female values and gender roles; and women's low confidence in their computing ability. Our hypotheses were confirmed. The findings are reported in detail below. We conclude by suggesting ways of increasing the representation of women in CS classes.


• Beyer, S., Rynes, K., Perrault, J., Hay, K., & Haller, S. (2003). Gender differences in Computer Science students. Proceedings of the Thirty-fourth SIGCSE Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education, 49-53.

We examined gender differences and differences in Computer Science (CS) majors vs. non-majors in ability in quantitative areas, educational goals and interests, experience with computers, stereotypes and knowledge about CS, confidence, personality, support and encouragement, stress and financial issues, gender discrimination, and attitudes toward the academic environment in CS. What is unique to this investigation is its multivariate nature. While others have studied these variables in isolation, our study looks at them collectively to identify important interactions among variables. This will eventually allow us to identify a profile of women who pursue careers in CS. The findings are reported in detail below. Particularly noteworthy is that men had more confidence in using computers than did women even when statistically controlling quantitative ability. In fact, female CS majors had less computer confidence than did male non-majors!


• Beyer, S. (2002). The effects of gender, dysphoria, and performance feedback on the accuracy of self-evaluations. Sex Roles, 47, 453-464.

Two experiments tested hypotheses derived from previous research by Beyer (1990, 1998, 1999a; Beyer & Bowden, 1997) and research on depressive realism. It was predicted that gender differences in the accuracy of self-evaluations of performance will be found on a mathematics test (masculine task), but not on an English test (feminine task) or on history and geography tests (neutral tasks). Furthermore, it was hypothesized that dysphorics are not more accurate self-evaluators than nondysphorics and that the effect of gender on the accuracy of self-evaluations is moderated by dysphoria. Finally, it was predicted that the provision of performance feedback does not moderate the effect of gender on the accuracy of self-evaluations. These hypotheses were supported. The implications of these findings are discussed.

• Beyer, S. (1999). Gender differences in the accuracy of grade expectancies and evaluations. Sex Roles, 41, 279-296.

Participants were 131 (69 female, 62 male) students in Introductory Psychology, Social Psychology, and Computer Science courses. 86% of the sample was Caucasian. The goals of this study were to assess (1) how accurate students' pre-examination expectancies and post-examination grade evaluations are and whether gender differences in the accuracy of expectancies and grade evaluations on examinations exist, (2) whether expected grades predict post-examination grade evaluations even with actual grades controlled (self-consistency effect), and (3) whether students' grade expectations and evaluations become more accurate with experience. Throughout the course of a semester students estimated their grades for each of their examinations. Students overestimated their grades at all points in the semester although females in Introductory Psychology overestimated their grades less than males did. Students' expected grades were a better predictor of their post-examination grade evaluations than was their actual grade. For Introductory Psychology students expectancies and grade evaluations became more accurate as the semester progressed. The importance of accurate self-perceptions regarding academic performance is discussed.

• Beyer, S. (1999). The accuracy of academic gender stereotypes. Sex Roles, 40, 787-813.

This research assessed the accuracy of academic gender stereotypes. Participants' estimates of the percentage of female and male students and their GPAs were compared to the actual percentage of female and male students and their actual GPAs in 12 majors. Participants significantly underestimated the percentage of female students regardless of the gender-type of the major. Females and males made more accurate percentage estimates for gender-congruent majors. Participants overestimated the GPAs of male students significantly more than the GPAs of female students. This was especially pronounced for masculine majors. Although female participants estimated the GPAs of their in-group more accurately than the GPAs of the out-group, the reverse was true for male participants. The implications of this evidence for inaccurate gender stereotypes regarding academic competence are discussed.

• Beyer, S. (1998/1999). Gender differences in causal attributions by college students of performance on course examinations. Current Psychology, 17, 346-358.

Gender differences in causal attributions and emotions for imagined success and failure on examinations were investigated. Males made stronger ability attributions for success than females, whereas females emphasized the importance of studying and paying attention. Males more than females attributed failure to a lack of studying and low interest, but females were more likely than males to blame an F on a lack of ability. Females experienced stronger emotions than did males. They felt happier than males did after success but felt more like a failure than did males after imagining receiving an F on an examination. Some of the gender differences in causal attributions, especially for ability attributions, depended on the gender-type of the subject matter of the examinations. The implications of these findings are discussed.

• Beyer, S. (1998). Gender differences in self-perception and negative recall biases. Sex Roles, 38, 103-133.

This study investigated gender differences in the accuracy of self-perceptions and whether self-perception biases are related to negative recall biases. Participants were 275 female and 213 male college students. Approximately 10% of the participants were minorities (mostly African American and Asian). On a masculine task, gender differences in self-perceptions were found for three measures of accuracy: The accuracy of self-evaluations, calibration, and response bias. Females underestimated their performance, were less well-calibrated, and showed a more conservative response bias than did males. As hypothesized, no gender differences in the accuracy of self-evaluations were found for feminine and neutral tasks. Participants' expectancies mediated the gender differences in post-task self-evaluations of performance. In addition, evidence for a negative recall bias was found. Females were more likely than males to recall their mistakes even with performance and accuracy of self-evaluations controlled. The implications of females' greater self-perception biases on masculine tasks are discussed and suggestions for future research are made.

• Beyer, S., & Bowden, E. M. (1997).em>Gender differences in self-perceptions: Convergent evidence from three measures of accuracy and bias. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 23, 157-172.

This research assessed gender differences in the accuracy of self-perceptions. Do males and females with equal ability have similar self-perceptions of their ability? Three measures of accuracy were employed: Accuracy of self-evaluations, calibration f or individual questions, and response bias. As hypothesized, for a masculine task significant gender differences were found for all three measures: Females' self-evaluations of performance were inaccurately low, their confidence statements for individual questions were less well-calibrated than males', and their response bias was more conservative than males'. None of these gender differences were found for feminine and neutral tasks. As hypothesized, strong self-consistency tendencies were found. Expectancies emerged as an important predictor of self-evaluations of performance for both genders and could account for females' inaccurately low self-evaluations on the masculine task. How females' inaccurate self-perceptions might negatively affect achievement behavior and curtail their participation in masculine domains is discussed.

• Beyer S. (1995). Maternal employment and children's academic achievement: Parenting style as mediating variable. Developmental Review, 15, 212-253.

This paper provides a review and an integration of findings on the effects of parenting styles and maternal employment on children's academic achievement. A model is presented in which it is argued that maternal employment status has little, if any, direct effect on children's academic achievement. Instead, maternal employment is hypothesized to affect parenting styles which in turn affect children's academic achievement. Parenting style is thus seen as mediating the effect of maternal employment on children's academic achievement. The parenting-styles-as-mediator approach can account for some of the inconsistencies in the maternal employment literature. It is concluded that researchers interested in the effect of maternal employment should pay more attention to parenting styles and employ multivariate designs to assess moderating variables.

• Beyer, S. (1990). Gender differences in the accuracy of self-evaluations of performance. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 59, 960-970.

Prior research has established that gender differences in self-perceptions exist but interpretational ambiguities make it impossible to determine whether these gender differences are due to the operation of biases. The present research attempted to establish whether gender differences in biases of performance evaluations exist by assessing the accuracy of post-task self-evaluations of performance. According to societal stereotypes men are viewed as more competent than women. Therefore, it was hypothesized that men hold liberal (self-serving) evaluation biases, whereas women hold conservative (self-derogatory) biases. In addition to demonstrating that such biases exist, it was tested whether self-evaluation biases are affected by the interaction between a situational variable such as the gender-typedness of a task and subject gender. It was hypothesized that men overestimate, whereas women underestimate performance on masculine gender-typed tasks. The results confirmed that subject gender and task gender-typedness interact; Men and women were accurate on feminine tasks but women underestimated their performance on masculine tasks. The results for men evaluating performance on masculine tasks were less consistent. In general, there was more evidence for the existence of a conservative bias in women than for a liberal bias in men. The findings were interpreted in terms of self-consistency theory. The implications of these findings for women's achievement behavior and self-confidence are discussed.