Determine whether structural barriers prevent sustained TechMate implementation

Determine whether the structural and cultural barriers identified by computing educators—such as institutional resistance, workload constraints, and limited support—prevent implementation of TechMate’s gender-inclusive initiatives entirely, delay adoption, or diminish over time as educators accumulate evidence of effectiveness.

Background

TechMate is an open-access web-based toolkit that provides computing educators with research-informed actions, implementation guidance, and evaluation resources intended to support gender inclusion in higher education. The evaluation found that educators viewed the toolkit positively, but participants also described structural and cultural barriers, including institutional resistance to change, time and funding constraints, difficulties sustaining and evaluating initiatives, limited availability of women role models, and the isolation of women students.

The paper explicitly states that it remains unknown whether these barriers merely slow adoption, prevent implementation altogether, or become less consequential as educators gather evidence of effectiveness. The authors identify longitudinal research over one to two academic years as a way to examine progression from browsing to implementation, distinguish barriers addressable through toolkit resources from those requiring institutional intervention, and assess whether sustained use can produce broader cultural change.