A new study presented by a team of EUGAIN researchers explores why few women continue to PhD studies in Computer Science and how to better support them. Survey results reveal gender-based differences in confidence, career perceptions, and motivations.
To address barriers, the authors propose a program and provide a multilingual discussion guide for supervisors. The findings offer practical insights for universities and policymakers to encourage more women to pursue research careers in CS.
Full citation: Ábrahám, E., Goulão, M., Janičić, M. V., Delany, S. J., Mersni, A., Yeremenko, O., Büyükdağlı, Ö., Boudaoud, K., Oehlhorn, C., Schmid, U., Büsing, C., Bolke-Hermanns, H., Köhnle, K., Pato, M., Cerci, D. S., & Schmid, L. (2026). Why do women pursue a Ph.D. in Computer Science? Journal of Systems and Software, 231, 112586. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jss.2025.112586