Participation rate in CS: one international issue or multiplicity of national ones?

The proportion of female students studying Computing related subjects at undergraduate-degree level is decreasing. This decline in the number of female applicants for Computer Science (CS) degree programs is undoubtedly worrying. In the early 1980s some 35% of applicants for CS degrees at UK Universities were women, but now the figure is closer to 10%; this statistic is not confined to one country. Some countries such as Ireland and India do buck the trend, but is there a commonality between the decreases seen in many countries? As individuals, we undertake work based upon our own students, or students from our own country but rarely if ever seek international comparisons. If we are to work effectively together across nationalities we need to determine whether we are all suffering the same problem or different problems with the same symptom. This paper presents the results of an international comparison of student interviews.