Gender and Technology in Education A Research Revi

GenderandTechnologyinEducation:AResearchReviewJoSandersJune,2005AnabbreviatedversionofthispaperwillbepublishedintheHandbookofGenderinEducation,ChrisSkelton,BeckyFrancis,andLisaSmulyan,editors,SagePublications,London,in2006Amoreextensivebibliographyongenderandtechnologyineducation,preparedforthispaperandinsearchableandannotatedformatwithkeywords,canbefoundbeginningsummerorfall2005at“researchreview.”JoSandersisaninternationallyrecognizedauthorityongenderequity,specializinginworkshopsforeducators,programdevelopment,[e-mail]:AResearchReviewJoSandersIn1982,JamesJohnson,afreelancewriterfromNewJersey,publishedanarticleaboutinequalitiesinAmericansocietyanditsschools,optimisticallyentitled“CanComputersClosetheEducationalEquityGap?”(Johnson,1982).Hisconcernwascaused,inlargepart,bywomen’slowrepresentationinthesciences.Thenewfieldofcomputerscience(CS),though,heldpromiseforwomen.In1982womenearnedagreatershareofBachelor’sdegreesinCSthaninengineering,physics,orchemistry.CS,unliketheotherfields,didn’thavethecenturies-oldburdenofmalehistory,soperhapswomenwouldbeabletoenterthisnewfieldmoreeasily.(Grant&Snyder,1986)Asitturnedout,Johnsoncouldnothavebeenmorewrong.Twentyyearslater,womenhaveindeedmadeprogressinengineering,physics,andchemistry.Computerscience,however,hasbeenanotherstory.(Snyder,Tan&Hoffman,2004)PercentageofBachelor'sDegreestoWomen,1982and200223%49%11%21%13%32%25%34%0%10%20%30%40%50%60%1219822002PercentageEngineeringPhysicsChemistryComputerScienceWhilewomen’srepresentationintheothersciencesrosesteadily,theirshareofCSdegreesinthoseyearsdroppedbynearlyathird.Unfortunately,thissorrystateofaffairsisnotlimitedtotheUnitedStates.Womenaresignificantlyunderrepresentedininformationandcommunicationtechnologies(ICT)inmostcountriesforwhichdataareavailable,downtoalevelof10percentorless.(Charles&Bradley,2005;ENWISE,2004)Infact,inananalysisofdatafrom21countries,researchersnoteda“strikingcross-nationaluniformityinthesex-typingofcomputerscienceprograms.”(Charles&Bradley,2005)Galpin,inherreviewofdatafrom37countriesworldwide,concludesthatwhilewomenareunderrepresentedinCSinmostcountries,thereisnot“aclearpatternthatcanhelptoexplainwhythedifferencesbetweenmenandwomenwithrespecttocomputingoccurinsomecountriesandcultures,andnotinothers.”(Galpin,2002),p.95)HuyercitesaNigerianstudybyAjayiandAhborinwhichwomenopposedICTstudybecauseitoverexposedyoungwomentoaWesternlifestyle,thusendangeringtheirchancesformarriage.(Huyer,2003)Technologythereforeearnsitsplaceasananomalyoverthepastgenerationortwo:anareainwhichwomen’sprofessionalachievementhasactuallyregressed,as4contrastedwithvirtuallyallotherareasofimportancetowomen.Inviewofthegrowingroleoftechnologyintheworldatthebeginningofthe21stcentury—ineducation,communications,occupations,andentertainment,andasatoolforsolvingtheworld’sproblems—women’slowanddecreasingrepresentationisamajorworry.Thischapterwillexplorewhatwehavelearnedabouttheintersectionofgender,technology,andeducation:insociety;age,stageandpipelineissues;experience,attitudes,andusepatterns;intheclassroom;andspecialeffortstoremedytheimbalances.Asweembarkuponanexaminationoftheresearchongenderandtechnology,firstawordonmethodology.Severalresearchershavepointedoutdeficienciesinmethodsusedtocollectdataongenderdifferencesincomputer-relatedbehavior,resultingininconsistentfindingsthatmaybemoreapparentthanreal.Statisticallysignificantgenderdifferencesmaynothaveanypracticalvalue,unstudiedvariablesmayinfluencestudents’computer-relatedbehavior,andstudents’self-ratingsmaybeespeciallyproblematicduetoboys’frequentlyobservedtendencytooverestimate,andgirlstounderestimate,theirabilities.(Bannert&Arbinger,1996;Cooper&Stone,1996).Inreviewsoftheliteratureongenderdifferencesincomputer-relatedbehaviorandattitudes,Kayandothershavepointedoutmethodologicalandconstructinconsistenciesthatreducecomparabilityofstudies.(Kay,1992;Morse&Daiute,1992)Itisbeyondthescopeofthischaptertoaddressthesemethodologicalissuesindetailbut,dearreader,consideryourselfwarned.EarlyworkongenderandInformationandCommunicationTechnologies(ICT)ineducationfocusedonafewissuesthatarenowlessrelevant.Concernsaboutgirl