Edinburgh Napier University

  According to HESA data, UK universities' computing departments continue to suffer from a gender imbalance, where at present only 21% of students are female. This imbalance can deter women and non-binary people from applying and also be challenging for female and non-binary students. It is also a problem for the tech industry and users of potentially biased technology. Many universities are working to break this cycle through initiatives to encourage women and girls to get involved in computing and consider it as a degree and future career. Our research aimed to identify effective ways to boost this mobility and inclusion, especially through using role models to encourage participants and combat stereotypes. The Participant-Centred Planning Framework is the outcome. The framework was successfully piloted and the pilot study further indicated that the framework is likely to be useful more widely for anyone planning activities to bring underrepresented groups into their subject. Paper