Elementary Students’ Attitude Towards Programming in the Republic of Croatia

Regardless of the fact that the demand for jobs requiring the knowledge and skills associated to computers has constantly outpaced the growth in the supply all over the world, satisfactory solution to the problem has not been found, resulting in continuous (gap between supply and demand) negative trend. The problem mentioned is particularly highlighted in the programming field. People in most cases, regardless of race, gender, age, national origin, creed, or educational level, have accepted stereotype portraying a programmer as computer geek, a brilliant but socially-awkward male keeping the programming field overwhelming male. Taking all mentioned in the account it is not a surprise that women are less likely to pursue careers in a field where feel they won’t fit in. This study explores dimensions of gender relations perceived by elementary schools pupils in the programming field in Croatia, and examines how this perceived gender inequity fits into global gender inequity attitude towards programming. More than 1462 final year elementary school pupils from seven counties all over Croatia participated by answering the questionnaire related to attitude towards programming. Regardless of the fact that the number of male and female participants is comparable, attitude toward programming is not alike.