Closing the gap: women education and information technology courses in Australia

The first Women in Computing Symposium was hosted by University of Tasmania, in February 1992. Out of this grew the Australian Woman in Computing group. This and subsequent conferences have provided a forum for women and a few interested men to meet, exchange ideas and present their research. A major focus of the group has been on how to better promote, support and retain female computing students. This paper will firstly report on a number of initiatives taken by Victoria University of Technology and secondly describe research results and strategies employed by other Australian Universities to provide support and encouragement for female students in the computing discipline.