Girls, Technology and Education
"Although the numbers and percentages of science and engineering bachelor's degrees awarded to women in most fields are increasing, they have decreased drastically in computer science. Degrees awarded in computer science decreased among both men and women from 1985 to 1995, and women went from earning 36% of those degrees in 1985 to only 28% in 1995. A full report on these statistics was published by the National Science Foundation. "
Source: http://math.rice.edu/~lanius/club/girls.html"Technology threatens to become a chasm rather than a gap [between the sexes] in the coming years," said Dr. Pamela Haag, a senior research associate with the American Association of University Women's Educational Foundation. "Girls are enrolling in more data-entry and word-processing courses -- the 1990s version of typing -- but they're not taking the same sorts of computer-design courses and programming as the boys are."
The AAUW study, called "Where Schools Still Fail Our Children," reported that, while high school girls have made significant inroads into science and math studies since the AAUW published How SchoolsShortchange Girls in 1992, their interest in computer design and programming courses still lags behind."
Source:http://www.wired.com/news/topstories/0,1287,15610,00.htmlResources
Links To Women and Girls in Technology
http://math.rice.edu/~lanius/club/girls.html#LinksEquity and Technology- From Girl to Cybergrrl: How to interest girls in
computer related careers:
http://www.nku.edu/~frilling/Gentech is an applied research project whose mandate is to
create conditions within which girls and women have
maximum access to, and confidence in, a wide range
of new information technologies.
http://www.educ.sfu.ca/gentech/Getting Girls Interested in Computer Science
http://math.rice.edu/~lanius/club/girls.htmlThe first programmers were women:
http://www.wired.com//news/culture/0,1284,3711,00.htmlDo Girls Truly Hate Computers?
http://www.wired.com//news/culture/0,1284,13371,00.html"The Internet for Girls:
Connecting Girls With Math, Science and Technology" (An online book) http://www.sdsc.edu/~woodka/donna.html
Tips for Involving Girls in Technology http://www.ncgs.org/Pages/scitek1.htm ...In The Classroom
Connect mathematics, science, and technology to the
real world, real people, and their historical, philosophical, and
functional context. Illustrate how these subjects contribute to
the good of the world.Choose metaphors that reflect the experiences of both
girls and boys. Balance the use of words like master,
command, or tackle, with ones like connect, choose, or
embrace.Monitor which students are at the computer most often,
have their hands on the equipment, and are leading the
experiments. Be sure the girls in your class are as active as the
boys. Require equal time on the computer as part of your
assignments. Don't let only the boys act as experts in the
computer class.Brainstorm with students about the breadth of careers
that use technology. Help them develop a more inclusive
definition of who will need to be computer literate. Develop a
list of the many occupations that use technology: architects,
fashion designers, teachers, artists, musicians, choreographers,
home design consultants, athletes, business people, librarians,
etc.Foster an atmosphere of true collaboration. Many
teachers insist that a true group project is one in which no
single group member could complete the project without the
group's help.Encourage girls to act as experts. When the teacher has all
the answers, students rarely exhibit self-confidence. As
students critique their own work and that of their peers, they
begin to see themselves as scientists. The technique of the
teacher refusing to act as an expert is a powerful learning
prompt for students.Experiment with alternatives to note taking. Girls often
get so absorbed in taking down every bit of information that
they miss out on discussions. Set aside some classes where no
note taking is allowed, hand out lecture notes ahead of time, or
rotate the note-taking responsibility, with notes shared
afterward.
Ten Tips on Getting Girls Interested in Computers
http://math.rice.edu/~lanius/club/girls.html1. Girls like to join clubs and take classes with their
friends. A lone girl, who likes computers, is unlikely
to join a computer club by herself. So if you sponsor
a computer club, or teach computer science, invite
girls to join clubs or classes as a group.2. Girls need role models; they need to see women
using computers competently and confidently.
Check out computing magazines - almost all of the
photographs are of men. On high school campuses,
being a computer geek raises a male student's
coolness factor; it doesn't have the same effect for
girls. To offset this, when you invite speakers to
classes or clubs, make sure you include women.
Share information about women who are leaders in
the field.3. Make a conscious effort to encourage girls. Make
them lab assistants. In class, call on girls more often,
even if they don't volunteer. Ask them difficult
questions that require higher order thinking. Try to
find time for girls to be on machines when the boys
are not around. (Then they won't be tempted to ask
the gurus for help.) Choose a girl to help set up new
hardware or software. Start a club designed to
appeal to girls. Make sure they take the highest level
of computing offered. Personally invite them to go to
a computing contest. Don't let anyone deter them.4. Inform them of what computer science as a career
is really like. Girls may perceive it as a job spent all
day in a cubicle with nothing but a machine.5. When they ask, don't tell. Girls tend to ask for
assistance when something won't work. Boys tend to
try to figure it out. Encourage them to be daring
with the machine. It's a real confidence booster
when they succeed. Only step in if you really need
to, and then try just a hint or help them to read the
manual.6. For young girls, purchase games that appeal to
them. The more time a young child can spend on a
computer, the more confident she will become with
the machine.7. In class, collaborate more; compete less. (I need to
add a disclaimer here because I am so competitive
myself.) In general, girls respond better to
collaborative projects rather than competitive.
Encourage collaborations, but be alert to boys
dominating the group.8. Girls like to see what computers can do for them.
They see computers more as a tool and less as a toy.
(Maybe that's a good thing, huh?) Let them type their
papers on the computers, show them how to write
web pages, or teach them to make a graph using a
spreadsheet.9. Put the home computer in a centralized location
and give girls equal access with their brothers. Is it
any wonder that girls aren't using the computer at
home if it's in the boy's room?10. Find out what percentage of the students in the
highest level of computer science taught at your
school (Computer Science II or AP Computer
Science) is girls. If it's not at least 50%, make the
school aware of the problem. Talk to counselors,
parents, and other teachers to enlist their help in
encouraging the girls in your school into the highest
levels of computer science.
