Interviewer:
So, Professor Kankanhalli, why did you take up IT or computer science as a career choice?

Professor Atreyi Kankanhalli:
Ok, I think this was back when I finished my 12th grade and I was actually debating whether to take up Economics or engineering and at that point, I did manage to get through into IIT and in that case the choice was quite natural, to go into IIT rather than go for an economics career. Then, when I started out, I actually started out with chemical engineering. But after a year, based on my grades etc., I found that I was able to move to Electrical engineering and I really didn't regret making that move and since then, I've found it very interesting to work in this area, a lot of developments. Subsequently, actually, I did do some work in Biomedical engineering as well, and I went to the US as well. So, I've tried out a number of disciplines and then I did decide to come back to IT because I first did research in image processing and then I also wanted to look at the business aspects of IT which is how I ended up in Information Systems. So, I think it's a very exciting field with a lot of developments and did try out various options and ended up here.

Interviewer:
So, what are trends that you have seen over the years in the number of female students taking up computer science as a professor in this particular university?

Professor Atreyi Kankanhalli:
As far as NUS goes, I think it has been a problem that we have lesser female students. We've had our ups and downs in terms of enrolment and in terms of the kind of grades the students get, who are coming in. We are trying more, to get more women in. We're trying to do more outreach, and to show role models and do that kind of stuff. So, I think the ratios have been fairly stable but with the ups and downs in the overall IT demand we've had those changes.

Interviewer:
So, is there any drastic difference in the rations between say, the proportion of men and women who are studying computer science in NUS?

Professor Atreyi Kankanhalli:
Definitely, there is an imbalance and we're trying to do a lot more. In information systems, it is a bit better than computer science, because I'm in Information systems and we have a much better ratio but computer science suffers more from that problem.

Interviewer:
The female student that you have taught or interacted with, have you seen any trends in the kind of jobs that they are taking up. As in, have you seen them move out of IT after studying say computer science or Information Systems and taking up different jobs and not choosing IT for their career?

Professor Atreyi Kankanhalli:
I don't think there's a difference between males and females in that respect. We do see students moving out anyway, which is not really to do with them being male or female. So many take up careers in other industries or they may later on do an MBA or go into financial engineering, risk management or various other areas. So, I wouldn't say that there is a difference in terms of male or female, in that respect. I've always had of HYP students who are females. 3 of my PhD students are females. So, I think IS is slightly better in this respect that computer science.

Interviewer:
And, is there any kind of gender divide in terms of the academic performance of the students?

Professor Atreyi Kankanhalli:
I wouldn't be able to tell you across the board but probably yes, the guys tend to perform better. At least, the ones that I have seen. The women are a bit quieter in their class. Even during my master of computing, they don't really come forward except one or two. So, the males do dominate in terms of taking part. yes, there seems to be a bit more hesitation. And when they have to do a presentation or something they come out well but the rest of the time they tend not to voluntarily or spontaneously participate as much. Grades, yes, I think there tends to be a bit less in the top performers, in the courses that I've taught.

Interviewer:
You've said that you see guys getting better grades than girls in computer science. While researching we found that there is some research being done in the US where they have stated that the male brain is more suited to processing technical information than the female brain. What do you say to that?

Professor Atreyi Kankanhalli:
No, I think that's rubbish, if you really want to know my opinion. I think it's more society and norms and habits and family and influence and things like that. I don't personally think that there's any difference in terms of male and female.

Interviewer:
Thank you, Prof. Atreyi.