The study found relatively few differences between men and women in terms of overall technological fluency.Has this been the experience in your own life?
I have found that no matter the gender, technological fluency comes from influences whether they be the surrounding environment (school, home, community) or a specific teacher who helped the student understand technology. I know when I was learning about computers both males and females were excited but as time went on some became more interested in other things while others continued to work with computers. I still believe that what influences males and females the most when it comes to technology is the person teaching about it or the environment the student is in and does that environment support the use of technology.
I think both male and female students have comparable computer literacy skills, but I think that the way technology skills are taught to boys and girls is unequal. I think teachers unconsciously spend more time calling on guys and responding to their questions. I think in a lab setting men would focus on their technogogy taks in isolation, whereas women are more communal and want to get up and share ideas with friends. So maybe men and women have the same skills, but we (women) use technology in different social, physical, and cognivitive spaces.
I know that I, being a guy, know next to nothing about computers/technology type things so I do not feel I have any kind of advantage over women. I know plenty of girls that are just as, if not significantly more technologically fluent than me, so I would have to say I agree. I think the culture we have grown up in makes girls just as likely as guys to have computer skills and literacy. Growing up in the school system I did, there was no more influence for guys than girls when it came to technology. Every seemed to have an equal shot and an equal share with computer and technological fluency.
I noticed that, no matter in China or United States, male are the majority in computer science programs both at university or at work. Even for people who are not in this major, male are still considered to be better than female in computer skills and technologies. Many times I and my female friends encountered computer abnormities or updating issues, we asked our male friends for help. They really did well to solve our problems. I don’t know when I take the notion “typically, male are better than female in computer/engineering technologies” for granted. Female tend to be more proficient in technologies or skills in areas as languages, literacy that require more carefulness, patience instead of calculation, operation. I think, to some extent, there are some natural characters leading to such divide. Brains and structures in male and female are born differently based on different set of chromosomes. Moreover, different social responsibilities between male and female may also facilitate such divide.
Above are just my subjective opinions that are very likely to be false and inaccurate.
Absolutely. My mom and dad work well together when it comes to computers and technology. Both of them deal with different types of programs on the computer and therefore they help each other when they come across a problem. It has never been proven by them that either is more or less compatible with computers.
My sister on the other hand is way better with computers than I am. She has all the latest technology and downloads on her computer and helps me understand how they work when I want to upload something similar on mine. She has never been weary of computers and proves to me at least that gender had nothing to do with literacy of computers and technology.
Doing high school I felt like it was the same for males and females because it seemed like we all didn't know much about computers, but after coming to college I feel like males are more knowledgeable about technology/computers. In high school, I think no one really gave much thought to computers and that was only like four years ago. Nowadays, I hear from my nephews that they are getting their own computers and such and they are only 11 and 14. Growing up, I did not have a computer at my house, until I came to college, because I was the only one that really knew how to work one. My family is just now coming around to buying computers, but they only know how to play games or use word on it. So they are still developing.
I think it varies between generations. Between my two parents, my father is much more technologically fluent. My mother was a stay-at-home mom for most of my childhood. Thus, when we first got a computer, she didn't have much use for it, whereas my father used it for work-related applications quite a bit. She has become more fluent over the years, but I think that 'jumpstart' my father got early on has continued to keep him ahead of her.
In my generation, however, I see very little difference in technological fluency at most levels. For everyday use, men and women are virtually equal. The only exception I would make is for the highest levels of technology, such as programming. Based on my anecdotal observations, there do seem to be more men involved in highly specialized technology.
I, like many of the previous respondents, have found that technological fluency has more to do with your enviroment and expeireinces than with your gender. For instance, my mother was first exposed to computers as a secretary at Tech and is now a technical support person here. She helps anyone she knows with computer issues, male or female. If there is a technological fluency divide in gender it probably has more to do with which gender has had more exposure to technology. I supose that some technological occupations/activities, computer programing in particular, tend to be seen as male jobs.
it should come as no surprise that men and women are equal in their knowledge of how to work technology. we all know how to work facebook and get online. but i think the divide does come to how much we use computers. women tend to do more of the communication and social stuff. guys tend to want to know how it works. i cant think of putting it any simpler than that.
I have found that no matter the gender, technological fluency comes from influences whether they be the surrounding environment (school, home, community) or a specific teacher who helped the student understand technology. I know when I was learning about computers both males and females were excited but as time went on some became more interested in other things while others continued to work with computers. I still believe that what influences males and females the most when it comes to technology is the person teaching about it or the environment the student is in and does that environment support the use of technology.
ReplyDeleteI think both male and female students have comparable computer literacy skills, but I think that the way technology skills are taught to boys and girls is unequal. I think teachers unconsciously spend more time calling on guys and responding to their questions. I think in a lab setting men would focus on their technogogy taks in isolation, whereas women are more communal and want to get up and share ideas with friends. So maybe men and women have the same skills, but we (women) use technology in different social, physical, and cognivitive spaces.
ReplyDeleteI know that I, being a guy, know next to nothing about computers/technology type things so I do not feel I have any kind of advantage over women. I know plenty of girls that are just as, if not significantly more technologically fluent than me, so I would have to say I agree. I think the culture we have grown up in makes girls just as likely as guys to have computer skills and literacy. Growing up in the school system I did, there was no more influence for guys than girls when it came to technology. Every seemed to have an equal shot and an equal share with computer and technological fluency.
ReplyDeleteI noticed that, no matter in China or United States, male are the majority in computer science programs both at university or at work. Even for people who are not in this major, male are still considered to be better than female in computer skills and technologies. Many times I and my female friends encountered computer abnormities or updating issues, we asked our male friends for help. They really did well to solve our problems. I don’t know when I take the notion “typically, male are better than female in computer/engineering technologies” for granted.
ReplyDeleteFemale tend to be more proficient in technologies or skills in areas as languages, literacy that require more carefulness, patience instead of calculation, operation.
I think, to some extent, there are some natural characters leading to such divide. Brains and structures in male and female are born differently based on different set of chromosomes. Moreover, different social responsibilities between male and female may also facilitate such divide.
Above are just my subjective opinions that are very likely to be false and inaccurate.
Absolutely. My mom and dad work well together when it comes to computers and technology. Both of them deal with different types of programs on the computer and therefore they help each other when they come across a problem. It has never been proven by them that either is more or less compatible with computers.
ReplyDeleteMy sister on the other hand is way better with computers than I am. She has all the latest technology and downloads on her computer and helps me understand how they work when I want to upload something similar on mine. She has never been weary of computers and proves to me at least that gender had nothing to do with literacy of computers and technology.
Doing high school I felt like it was the same for males and females because it seemed like we all didn't know much about computers, but after coming to college I feel like males are more knowledgeable about technology/computers. In high school, I think no one really gave much thought to computers and that was only like four years ago. Nowadays, I hear from my nephews that they are getting their own computers and such and they are only 11 and 14. Growing up, I did not have a computer at my house, until I came to college, because I was the only one that really knew how to work one. My family is just now coming around to buying computers, but they only know how to play games or use word on it. So they are still developing.
ReplyDeleteI think it varies between generations. Between my two parents, my father is much more technologically fluent. My mother was a stay-at-home mom for most of my childhood. Thus, when we first got a computer, she didn't have much use for it, whereas my father used it for work-related applications quite a bit. She has become more fluent over the years, but I think that 'jumpstart' my father got early on has continued to keep him ahead of her.
ReplyDeleteIn my generation, however, I see very little difference in technological fluency at most levels. For everyday use, men and women are virtually equal. The only exception I would make is for the highest levels of technology, such as programming. Based on my anecdotal observations, there do seem to be more men involved in highly specialized technology.
I, like many of the previous respondents, have found that technological fluency has more to do with your enviroment and expeireinces than with your gender. For instance, my mother was first exposed to computers as a secretary at Tech and is now a technical support person here. She helps anyone she knows with computer issues, male or female. If there is a technological fluency divide in gender it probably has more to do with which gender has had more exposure to technology. I supose that some technological occupations/activities, computer programing in particular, tend to be seen as male jobs.
ReplyDeleteit should come as no surprise that men and women are equal in their knowledge of how to work technology. we all know how to work facebook and get online. but i think the divide does come to how much we use computers. women tend to do more of the communication and social stuff. guys tend to want to know how it works. i cant think of putting it any simpler than that.
ReplyDelete