Running head: GENDER AND TECHNOLOGY
Gender and Technology in Elementary School Students
In 2003, 6,850 of high school students took the BC Advanced Placement examination in computer science (College Board, (n.d.)). Students who score greater than a three on this exam often receive college credit or placement in computer science. In 2003, the College Board reports that mean score for male test takers was a passing 3.51 and the mean score for females was 3.49. The College Board data for that year also shows that only 9% of these test-takers were females.
Despite the fact that a study by Hackbarth (2002) has shown no real gaps between the genders when third grade children are polled on their interest and ability with technology, by high school the College Board data indicates that over 90% of computer science students are male. This gap between male and female young adults does not only occur in advanced computer programming courses, but even when students describe their ability to perform everyday tasks with the computer. Hackbarth reports that in one college’s survey of incoming freshmen, “women are only half as likely to rate their computer skills as ‘above average’ or within the ‘top 10 percent’ [as men]” (Engle, as cited in Hackbarth, 2002, 46). At some point, the third grade girls who are equally likely as their male counterparts to rate themselves as proficient with computers become female college freshmen who are half as likely to think they are successful in performing everyday computer tasks. Does this gender gap occur because of the educational experiences of these young women?
Even young elementary school children who are equally interested in computers show gender differences in how they use and think about technology. Gilley (2002) refers to this as the “tool/toy” divide because girls show a tendency to use computers as communication tools, creating text documents and contacting others, while boys are more likely to view the computer as a toy, for playing games. Although girls may use computing tools (such as word processors) as often as boys, there is a still a large gap between the genders in the number of hours spent playing computer games at home. Agosto (2004) discusses the fact that most popular computer games are designed and marketed as ‘boy toys’ with male characters and themes designed to appeal to pre-adolescent and adolescent males. Because of this, Agosto suggests that most girls spend less time gaming, which means less time in front of a computer for them. Therefore, girls may be less comfortable with basic computer use – starting a program, saving a file, troubleshooting simple problems – from simple lack of use.
Many elementary school students routinely use word processing software, have internet access, and use educational software especially designed for children. Although boys and girls are usually provided with the same learning opportunities in technology, some research suggests that the learning styles emphasized in many elementary technology programs may not work well for as many girls as boys. Volman and vanEck (2001) discuss some of the existing research on children’s software. They, and other researchers, have found that attempts to create ‘gender neutral’ software that appeals equally to girls and boys has resulted in software that appeals to no one. Studies on girls’ learning style preferences have shown that they prefer to work in small groups, and are more likely to go to other students for assistance and offer assistance to others than boys. Volman and vanEck state that at the elementary level, girls are also more likely to prefer to plan out larger projects before starting to work than boys. Computer education in many schools may be working against certain kinds of learning styles, which in turn, may be affecting girls’ performance in technology.
Despite equal access to technology, sexism in the classrooms,
whether intentional or unintentional, affects the development of student’s
identities. Sonja Nieto (2004),
discussing a report by David and Myra Sadker, writes “Because boys are expected
to be more verbal and active and are both praised and reproached more often by
their teachers, girls become invisible in the classroom.” (Nieto, 2004,
p.40). When technology resources are
limited in the classroom, this ‘invisibility’ may keep girls from utilizing
computers. Furger (1998) describes the
consequences of this in her book Does
Jane Compute:
Unequal access has profound implications for all students, but it has a particularly acute effect on girls. When equipment is in short supply – whether it’s Bunsen burners, microscopes, or personal computers – the less assertive students are most often the least likely to get their turn. They sit back and let the most aggressive students – most often the boys – grab the tools. (Furger, 1998, pp 86-87).
As when girls fail to find software that they find enjoyable, this lack of access leaves girls one more step behind in logging hours at a keyboard that will give them familiarity and skill with computers later in life.
Another factor in the way children learn to think about technology is the way the use of technology is modeled in the classroom. Hackbarth’s study (2002) actually suggests that simply being exposed to computers in the classroom at all may help prevent the gender gap. In his elementary school, when technology was used heavily in the classroom during the school day a study found that 64% of boys and 61% of girls considered themselves ‘skilled’ with computers. The following school year, changes in budgeting and curriculum caused the amount of in school computer use to drop considerably. Hackbarth found that the same children, a year older, now showed a significant gender divide – 54% of girls and 79% of boys reported that they were ‘skilled’ with computers. Although the children’s changing ages may have been a factor in this change, another explanation is that the boys, being more likely to use computers for games outside of school continued to gain confidence in their technological skills while the girls comfort level dropped once they were no longer required to use computers during the school day. For the girls in this study, being in a classroom environment where computer use was commonplace was essential.
Despite these arguments that the technology gender divide is due to a difference in ‘wiring’ between boys and girls, other studies suggest the cause is societal. Rather than falling behind in technology because they prefer different types of software or have different learning styles, girls may be learning not to use computers from their teachers.
A study by Wiens et al. (2003) of university biology students shows that female students ranked the influence of their high school teachers in their decision to become scientists higher than male students. The female students also reported developing their interest in science later in their educations than the male students – at an average of 12.4 years, rather than 10.5 years for males (Wiens, 2003, pp 33-34). If we make the assumption that an interest in technology develops in a similar way to an interest in biology, the role of teachers in elementary and intermediate grades in introducing girls to technology is clearly very crucial.
Unfortunately, many teachers at this level, especially the female
teachers who are more common in the lower grades, are not able to provide this
technology example to girls. In a
Malaysian study, Hong and Koh (2002) studied “technology anxiety” among rural
teachers. Although males and females in
the rural schools studied showed equal levels of overall anxiety about using
computers, female teacher were substantially more likely to be concerned about
using the physical computer hardware – the potential of breaking the equipment
or unplugging a cable. Gilley (2002) cites
research by Bauer that shows female teachers in the
A study by Rhonda Christensen (2002) shows that this trend can be reversed, given appropriate teacher education. In this study of three K-5 schools, teachers at one school received a year of “needs-based instruction in the integration of computers into the classroom” (Christensen, 2002, p9). Researchers found that “positive teacher attitudes toward information technology foster positive attitudes in their students” (Christensen, 2002, p18) and concluded that “funding ongoing technology integration for education for teachers is a crucial component for having technology make a difference in the education of our students” (Christensen, 2002, p 20). Given the importance of technology education for girls in the age group studied, technology education for their teachers may prove crucial in reducing the gender gap in technology.
In reviewing the literature on gender and technology in education, I found no arguments denying the existence of a gender gap in either skill or interest in technology. It seems clear from studies like that of Hackbarth (2002) that this gap develops during the elementary years. What is less clear is the cause of this gap and the best method for remedying it. Some research suggests that the learning styles, natural interests, or classroom behavior of girls leads to their declining interest in technology, while other research suggests that apprehension about using technology is learned behavior that girls pick up from their teachers.
The data from the College Board on the gender breakdown of AP score in Computer Science indicates that females are no less able to perform the critical thinking tasks required of a computer scientist than males. The research on computer interest in elementary school students by Hackbarth (2002) indicates that young girls are just as interested in computers as their male counterparts. This leads me to believe that the gender gap is a direct result of the way we are educating children about technology, rather than a fundamental difference between the genders.
Most of today’s elementary and intermediate students are educated by predominantly female teachers who are responsible for teaching a number of subject areas, including some, like technology, that are outside their own educational backgrounds. With so many demands on their time, it is unsurprising that they do not have the comfort levels with computers that they need to successfully teach with computers and model confident technology usage.
Despite some learning differences between the genders, all students can become confident users of technology. Both boys and girls can be prepared for careers in computer science. Student success with technology is dependant on several factors, possibly more so for girls than for boys. The key factor in the research presented here is that students need elementary teachers with access to sufficient technology, who are confident technology users themselves and who integrate the use of technology tools into the curriculum.
The primary need for change to address this issue is in the preparation of teachers. The research suggests that the best way to resolve the technology gender gap is to provide strong technology use in the elementary years and to give children access to female role models who are confident with and enjoy technology. In order to do this, teachers much have access to sufficient technology resources to use them in their curriculum, and they must have training in the use of these resources and in ways to integrate them into the curriculum.
As the technology specialist for grades K-6 in an independent K-12 school, my opportunity to bring about change is to provide access to that training to my colleagues. Although our school has more than adequate access to computers, digital cameras, SmartBoards and other technological resources, much of this technology goes unused or underused because of a lack of confidence or knowledge on the part of the classroom teachers.
Last year, we surveyed our classrooms teachers, asking them to rate their ability and interest in performing about 25 common technology tasks. Included in these tasks were sending an email, taking a digital photograph, creating a PowerPoint presentation, finding resources on the web, and creating a classroom newsletter. The results show that teachers are intensely interested in being able to perform these tasks, but many teachers rate their ability as very poor in most of these categories.
In order to remedy this, I am going to propose a series of 20 minute technology workshops during our weekly faculty meeting time, on the topics that teachers have indicated are the most of interest to them. For the smaller group of teachers who are already fairly confident with technology, I am going to suggest we make funding available for outside technical training, since the level of the weekly workshops will be inappropriate for these teachers.
At the end of the year, we will repeat the survey process and look for change. I plan to include the students in the survey process as well, and look for connections between teacher ability and student comfort with technology, to make sure we are reaching those who need training the most.
In order for my plan for change at my school to be effective, teachers will need to understand the need for change. Many of them will be interested in technology training for its own sake, but understanding the reason why this is so important to our students will be an important part of any change that takes place.
To accomplish this, I will share my findings with my colleagues in a brief presentation. I will present the research from this paper, pointing out some of the learning style differences that some researchers suggest may be why girls shy away from technology. Hackbarth’s (2002) findings on the changes in the technology gender divide will be presented in detail, because of the similarities in age group studied. Hong and Koh’s (2002) research will also be presented in detail, and we will discuss similarities and differences in the comfort levels of the teachers in the schools studied and in our school.
The final step in this presentation is to involve my colleagues in my plan for change. Rather than offering technology training in a vacuum, the training and resources offered must be selected based on the interests of the teachers and the needs of the curriculum. The final part of this presentation will include an explanation of what I hope to accomplish by making training available, and allow teachers to provide feedback on how technology could best be integrated into their curriculum.
At the time that I selected this topic, I was aware that there was a gender gap in college level computer science. In my undergraduate computer science program I was one of two women and 18 men to graduate in 1999. Five years later, in starting to research this topic, I imagined that I would find signs of a decreasing gender gap, especially in our elementary schools.
I was very surprised to find how prevalent this problem still is, and how much research has been done on why this is. At the same time that I was researching this paper, I was beginning to talk to my new colleagues about our elementary technology program, and I was very surprised to find that many of the female teachers that I work with express the same concerns about their technical ability that are outlined in the research. These bright, talented teachers, who would never dream of telling a child that a math problem was too hard, feel uncomfortable using a computer in front of their students. Added to this, I found in a survey of our teachers from last spring that the only four to rank themselves as ‘competent’ with most forms of technology were our only four male teachers.
In researching and analyzing this topic, I have continually been amazed by how much more work there is to be done in this area. Even though no one is consciously keeping girls away from technology, the climate of our schools is still creating an inequitable environment for learning with computers.
The research also points to a successful outcome to any plan for change in this situation. I believe that confident, well trained teachers with access to the technological resources they need can solve this problem and close the technology gender gap.
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