ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the ways that constructions of gender shaped the choices and expectations of women doctoral students in computer science. Women who engage in graduate work in computer science still operate in an environment where they are in the minority. Ten women from four different institutions of higher education were recruited to participate in this qualitative study. The goal was to examine what constructions of computer science and of gender—including participants’ own understanding of what it meant to be a woman, as well as the messages they received from their environment—contributed to their success as graduate students in afield where women are still greatly outnumbered by men.
