The purpose of this blog is to facilitate discussion on the "digital divide." This week we will be considering issues of gender and technology. We will examine a study which analyzed high school students' experiences and attitudes about technology. We will also be drawing on your past experiences and perceptions about how men and women differ in their relationships to technology.
The discussions are based on the issues raised in the article written by B. Barron entitled "Learning ecologies for technological fluency: Gender and Experience differences". This article is the first one on the "Potential Book Club Readings" posted by Dr Brill on the Blackboard. As suggested in class please consider reading the introduction, the summary and findings.
In order to facilitate the discussions, three questions will be posted on different days. The first question is here below. The second one will be posted on Friday (03/20) and the third one will be posted on Monday (03/23). We are therefore kicking off the online discussions by asking this question:
Question 1:
The research indicated that regardless of experience with technology, females were far less likely to have participated in computer programming activities. What is your reaction to this finding? What is your reaction based on – e.g. personal experience? Other information you have read?
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ReplyDeleteI can reply now
ReplyDeleteI think the reason females are less likely to participate in computer program activities is because the activities aren't "abvertised" to females. You heard or see programs or classes teaching computer programming the lead character is male. Or if someone comes to talk to you about computers, the speaker is male. I think the problem is females are not shown that they should be programmers. I took a computer programming class in high school and their were very few woman. If this gets corrected maybe we will see an increase in female computer programmers.
ReplyDeleteI actually took a class in undergrad about women and technology and it was first about how women were not allowed to or expected to do anything with technology, it was thought of as a mans domain. But later on in the class it just showed how women overcame this idea and began applying themselves to technology. In high school, there were more males in my computer classes but we all had to take a computer class in order to graduate. Therefore, it was forced on the females to take a computer class.
ReplyDeleteWhile I am agree that there are differences between females and males on the use of technology, my view is that issues on females ability are always clouded by myths. I think that the differences are also informed by the cultural beliefs, where males are attributed to have better intelligence with regard technology equipment. I think that is a myth that females are not into technology. As long as societies continue to hold myths that females are not good in fields such as sciences and engineering, technology would not be an exception. Given the same conditions and contexts, females would acquire the highest levels of technology skills. I am curious to find out how the females could utilize their high technology skills in comparison to males
ReplyDeleteI do not know why this divide exists, but I have defenently seen this in my own school career. I took a few computer related classes in high school (particularly having to do with networking and drafting)and there were always more males than females. Prehaps more importantly, there were virtually no females that went on to take the more advanced levels of these courses. My only thought is that this must be related to traditional stereotypes about what males and females are supposed to do.
ReplyDeleteI would have to say I agree with these findings as well. Although it seems surprising to me in this day and age, it still seems to be the case. When I think of a person programming a computer, a male image definitely pops up in my mind. This could be one of those fields where it just takes time to equalize as far as gender though. I think we all know teaching started out as completely male dominated before switching over to nearly all females. Maybe some day we will see a similar pattern with computer programming?
ReplyDeleteI agree with that finding based on my personal experiences. Normally women are not good at certain subjects as math, computer sciences, physics, and other engineering courses. I don’t know how to explain this phenomena, probably because of natural characteristics. In elementary or middle schools, this divide is not very obvious. But from undergraduate, graduate to work, women do have a lower chance to choose subject as computer science/engineering as their major than men do. I took computer programming classes which was really hard for me in my undergraduate. If that was not a mandatory course for all undergraduates, I wouldn’t take that one for sure. I want to learn how investigators interpreted such divide from this article.
ReplyDeleteWow, I've really enjoyed reading the posts so far - so many thought-provoking comments!
ReplyDeleteJust this morning, I sat in on a research presentation during which the presenter talked about a new project focused on helping young girls in Southwest VA to connect with technological learning experiences. Not that all of these girls are going to go into an IT field but that, at least, they, their parents, and their teachers have opportunities to explore.
The project is in the early stages but, the presenter shared that, already, they are experiencing a big challenge - not with the girls but with the adults. Many of the adults in the community are having a hard time buying into the project - not because they don't love and support their kids and want the best for them but because, culturally, girls and computers just don't go together.
Culture is complex, so many things are at play here including the economic history of the area, longstanding social-cultural images (like Dre pointed out - advertising, etc.), traditional gender roles, etc.
In this particular instance (and others around the country), it is not only about getting more women into technology fields. it is also about addressing the growing lack of IT professionals for IT jobs (a growth sector) and about supporting industry and job growth in struggling areas in our nation. (Recently, some large IT-related companies have been incentivized to settle in southwest VA. And, a major goal is not so much to move strangers into the area as it is to hire locally. But, if the companies cannot fill positions for the long haul, they may be discouraged and leave.)
Okay, this post is a little long-winded for a Friday afternoon...signing off for now...Jen Brill
I'm not really surprised because I think men and women approach and use technology and especially the web in different ways. Although I think both men and women use the web for specific purposes, I think women use the web more for strategic purposes, like seeking out knowledge, networking or job hunting. I think men are more likely to play games, download music/movies, or prowl chat rooms.
ReplyDeleteAlso I feel as if computers are perceived as "masculine' and therefore women may view computer interaction in a negative way. Even computer games are biased toward wome\en given the immense amount of male violence and depiction of women as weak, slender, big breasted with no clothes on. No wonder the majority of video gamers are male?
honestly, i would contend that video games have a heavy amount of influence on it too. the majority of girls are not interested in video games, but boys are. i think that has a heavy influence on it.
ReplyDeleteI feel like girls our age and younger are interest and very fluent with computers. It is the baby boomer generation where you might find more females who are less literate with computers. The reason I think this is that computer are a new thing for their time and not all people growing up then finished high school or went to college. Computers are automatically associated with education so especially for those stay at home moms and women who never really got out into the job market, technology and computers may seem like something that is unnecessary and intimidating.
ReplyDeleteIn my experience girls are quite fluent in computers, but they engage in different types of activities. I'm stereotyping here, but as far as recreational use goes, I've found that guys are more interested in gaming and surfing the web. Girls, on the other hand, don't seem as interested in gaming. In my experience, they tend to use computers more often for their social applications (Facebook, AIM, etc.).
ReplyDeleteHowever, I must say that I haven't encountered nearly as many females involved in intense computer-related activities such as programming, web design, and building computers. I don't think it has anything to do with ability, but rather the stereotype of men dominating those activities.