​Boxplots and Interquartile Range

​The Hour of Code

Launched in 2013, Code.org® is a non-profit dedicated to expanding participation in computer science by making it available in more schools, and increasing participation by women and underrepresented students of color. Our vision is that every student in every school should have the opportunity to learn computer science. We believe computer science and computer programming should be part of the core curriculum in education, alongside other science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) courses, such as biology, physics, chemistry and algebra.

✔ Reflection 1
Write about your experience participating in the Hour of Code.

Diversity in Top Tech Companies

✔ Table 1
Explore the following tech companies' diversity reports. Record the percentages for each company for Females in Tech, Males in Tech, Females in Non-Tech, Males in Non-Tech, Total Females, and Total Males.

Boxplots

✔ Notes 1

A boxplot splits a dataset into quarters, or quartiles.

1. Find the median of the dataset to divide it into two sections.
2. The median of the lower half is the lower quartile, or Q1.
3. The median of the upper half is the upper quartile, or Q3.
4. The smallest value is the minimum.
5. The largest value is the maximum.
6. Plot each value on a number line to construct a boxplot. Each quartile of the boxplot contains 25% of the dataset.

Now you try!

For Figures 1, 2, and 3, pick either the female datasets or the male datasets to construct boxplots.

✔ Figure 1
Construct a boxplot for the percents of females or males in tech. Make sure to label the number line.

✔ Figure 2
Construct a boxplot for the percents of females or males in non-tech. Make sure to label the number line.

✔ Figure 3
Construct a boxplot for the percents of females or males total. Make sure to label the number line.

✔ Discussion 1
Compare boxplots with a classmate who picked the opposite gender category. How are your boxplots similar or different?

Interquartile Range

✔ Notes 2

A measure of spread tells us how far away the values of a dataset are from the center. Interquartile range is a measure of spread.

The middle half of a dataset lies in the interquartile range, or the IQR. The IQR is computed by subtracting the first quartile from the third quartile (Q3 - Q1). 50% of the data lies in the interquartile range.

Now you try!

✔ Calculation 1
Find the interquartile range of the total female dataset.

✔ Calculation 2
Find the interquartile range of the total male dataset.

✔ Analysis 1
Interquartile range is a measure of spread, or how varied a dataset is. How do the spreads of these datasets compare?

The Gender Gap

The following graph shows boxplots for all 6 data sets you gathered. It's obvious that at these 10 tech companies, there are significantly fewer women than men in the workplace.
The following episode from NPR's Planet Money discusses when women stopped pursuing computer science and programming.