Facts
Technology
Computer science course enrollment, test scores, and computer-use
figures indicate a disparity between boys and girls in technology. Research
indicates that girls are more likely to take lower-end computing classes
(e.g., data entry or word processing), less likely to identify computer
science as a possible college major, and less likely to use computers on
a weekly basis.
Girls display what one researcher calls "computer
reticence," in part because culture and stereotypes steer them away
from machines.
More personal computers were purchased for
homes with boys than for homes with girls. This results in boys getting
more experience with computers and thus being more comfortable with them.
A 1994 study of high school students found that the lack
of knowledge of technological careers, the failure to connect what students
were doing in class with future careers, and the lack of a sense of economic
realities were particularly discouraging to girls, because they had less
information about technology from experiences outside school.
There is a major difference in attitude between girls who
chose to take technology education and those who did not; only a few girls
were willing to be "pathbreakers" and challenge stereotypes about
nontraditional careers for women. Most girls could not picture themselves
in technological jobs and were reluctant to be in classes where they were
one of the few girls.
Girls represent 17 percent of the Computer
Science "AP" test takers, and less than 1 in 10 of the higher
level Computer Science "AB" test takers.
Women are roughly 20 percent of IT professionals.
Women receive less than 28 percent of the computer
science bachelor's degrees, down from a high of 37 percent in 1984.
Computer science is the only field in which women's participation has
actually decreased over time.
Women make up just 9 percent of the recipients of engineering-related
bachelor's degrees.
Occupations which did not exist at the beginning
of the 20th Century, computer scientists and analysts, for example, have
become increasingly important in the information technology revolution.
Yet, women's employment in this important field is actually falling
behind, widening the occupational gap between women and men.
Nearly 75% of tomorrow's jobs will require
use of computers; fewer than 33% of participants in computer courses and
related activities are girls.
Sixteen percent fewer girls than boys reported ever talking
to their parents about science and technology issues.
Computers and computer games are marketed almost exclusively
to boys, and even those games purportedly for both sexes, such as elementary
math software, reflect sexist attitudes: only 12 percent of the characters
in such games are female, even then they are generally portrayed as either
a mother or a princess.
More personal computers were purchased for homes
with boys than for homes with girls. This results in boys getting
more experience with computers and thus being more comfortable
with them.
A 1994 study of high school students found that
the lack of knowledge of technological careers, the failure to
connect what students were doing in class with future careers,
and the lack of a sense of economic realities were particularly
discouraging to girls, because they had less information about
technology from experiences outside school.
There is a major difference in attitude between
girls who chose to take technology education and those who did
not; only a few girls were willing to be "pathbreakers" and
challenge stereotypes about nontraditional careers for women.
Most girls could not picture themselves in technological jobs
and were reluctant to be in classes where they were one of the
few girls.
Females score slightly higher in computation,
males slightly higher in complex problem solving, and there are
no differences in math concepts.
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