Gender barriers in Computer Science (CS) are undeniable. The lack of girls and (young) women participating in CS is unacceptable in several ways. Reasons to explain this gap are given in the literature: First, CS has a reputation as a heavily technology-focused subject with no particular social or practical application references. But in particular, also computer scientists are highly stereotyped and these clichés often are at odds with girls’ and young women’s self-concepts. These causes yield targets for interventions through extracurricular activities that are presented in this paper. In total, 90 digital fabrication workshops were evaluated through pre-post-questionnaires to develop a richer understanding of the effect of digital fabrication workshops in smart environments designed to reduce biases and attract girls and young women aged 9 to 18 to CS. In particular, the change of the participants’ image of CS in general, their self-efficacy in dealing with technology, the perceived social relevance of CS, and the perceived relevance of CS for later professional life were investigated. Our results indicate that digital fabrication workshops can indeed contribute both to a richer understanding of what CS is and to a small increase in technic related self-efficacy. The findings also provide a basis for deriving implications for the realization of Informatics or CS as a subject matter in primary and secondary education.
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