ERIC Number: EJ898059
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2009-Jul
Pages: 7
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0816-9020
EISSN: N/A
Available Date: N/A
Reasons Why Female Students Choose to Study Senior IT or Not
Chao, Shu-Hua
Australian Educational Computing, v24 n1 p30-36 Jul 2009
Research has shown that girls do not participate as much as boys in Information Technology (IT) in the senior years of high school. Despite research in the 1990s which identified the under-representation of girls in IT, the same pattern still continues. In addition, the complex reasons for this gender divide, and how to counter it, remain unclear. This case study of a single secondary school further informs the growing body of research literature by reporting on the experiences and opinions of female students who did and did not choose to study senior IT. The participant responses were considered as a whole and related to the wider research and policy literature. The findings identify a number of reasons for non-participation including the "geeky" image of IT, lack of confidence, and lack of female role models. Other, more complex reasons are discussed along with suggestions for future research. (Contains 1 table.)
Descriptors: Role Models, Females, Gender Differences, Information Technology, High School Seniors, Student Attitudes, Course Selection (Students), Self Esteem, Foreign Countries, Computer Literacy, Computer Attitudes, Stereotypes, Social Attitudes
Australian Council for Computers in Education. P.O. Box 1255, Belconnen, ACT 2616, Australia. Tel: +61-3-9349-3733; Fax: +61-3-9349-5356; Web site: http://www.acce.edu.au
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Evaluative
Education Level: High Schools
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Australia
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: N/A