Borhani, Zahra, authorOrtega, Francisco R., advisorBeveridge, J. Ross, committee memberClegg, Benjamin A., committee member2020-09-072021-09-022020https://hdl.handle.net/10217/212072The stereotypes associated with women in computer science are potential barriers that prevent female students from developing an interest in this field. This problem persists when attempting to establish a career after graduating. This project shows a tool that potentially increases empathy using avatar gender-swap in a virtual reality setting that simulates a job interview experience. The virtual environment includes two avatars, one for the interviewee and one for the interviewer. The objective is to understand the effects of virtual embodiment and the potential to increase empathy towards the opposite sex by participating in a job interview task simulated in virtual reality when the avatar gender is swapped. The participants should perform a job interview task under three different conditions, microaggression stereotype threat, direct stereotype threat, and no threat. This thesis will showcase all the necessary tools required to accomplish this goal and provide a path forward for a user experiment.born digitalmasters thesesengCopyright and other restrictions may apply. User is responsible for compliance with all applicable laws. For information about copyright law, please see https://libguides.colostate.edu/copyright.gender stereotype threatvirtual realityincreasing empathyavatar gender swapText