Making Gender-Inclusive Practices Actionable: Evaluating a Research-Informed Computing Education Toolkit

Abstract

The persistent gender imbalance in computing remains a global concern, and universities offer a key part of the pipeline to address it. Although research has identified practices that support under-represented student groups, translating this evidence into actionable guidance remains challenging. This paper first presents a novel web‑based toolkit (TechMate) designed to address this gap by helping computing educators implement gender‑inclusive initiatives through practical research-informed guidance. The toolkit defines over 25 actions, ranging from operational to strategic, and provides case studies and implementation resources. Second, this work reports on the evaluation of TechMate, capturing educators’ first impressions of its usefulness and usability through authentic tasks, and eliciting unanticipated insights about structural barriers to gender-inclusive practice in computing higher education. Eighteen computing educators of varying seniority from eight universities in Ireland assessed the toolkit using nine research‑driven attributes: four usefulness measures (novelty, relevance, trustworthiness, actionability) and five usability measures (effectiveness, aesthetics, navigation, terminology, user satisfaction). Data was analysed using mixed methods: deductive coding, quantitative sentiment scoring, and inductive thematic analysis. Educators rated TechMate highly for user satisfaction and praised its novelty and trustworthiness, with over 60% of participants reporting positively on all attributes, suggesting that research‑informed tools can be designed for real‑world use. Thematic analysis highlighted other challenges, including women students’ isolation, institutional resistance to change, and the scarcity of women role models, while also surfacing proposed solutions such as leveraging student ambassadors and fostering supportive learning environments. This work contributes to the broader question of how open-access digital tools can support equitable participation in computing, with implications for design and governance in education and social good contexts.