Computer Club for Girls: the problem with seeing girls as the problem
Computer Club for Girls: the problem with seeing girls as the problem
This paper presents findings from an evaluation of the Computer Clubs for Girls, an initiative originally delivered in the South East of England, designed to encourage more girls to take up information technology (IT) courses and careers. By targeting girls aged 10–14, the club aimed to provide members with a ‘gender relevant’ experience of IT, tackling issues of access, confidence and negative attitudes about IT. The evaluation, conducted over four years, included the collection of quantitative and qualitative data from members and non-members of the clubs. It included a longitudinal component in order to assess the longer-term impacts of the club. The findings support the critical view that initiatives based on assumptions about the relationship between girls and IT misinterpret ‘the problem’ about female under-representation in IT, and are unlikely to have a significant or sustained impact on what remains an occupational and subject area divided by gender typing. The paper argues for an approach which challenges the social and cultural discourses that maintain this gender divide.
gender stereotypes, information technology, policy initiative, computer clubs
499-514
Fuller, Alison
c6b47796-05b5-4548-b67e-2ca2f2010fef
Turbin, Jill
0cbac7a3-9b7a-4b02-b199-344e3ddb3f11
Johnston, Brenda
19367bd6-ac46-4e33-a352-ace08c2d4323
2013
Fuller, Alison
c6b47796-05b5-4548-b67e-2ca2f2010fef
Turbin, Jill
0cbac7a3-9b7a-4b02-b199-344e3ddb3f11
Johnston, Brenda
19367bd6-ac46-4e33-a352-ace08c2d4323
Fuller, Alison, Turbin, Jill and Johnston, Brenda
(2013)
Computer Club for Girls: the problem with seeing girls as the problem.
Gender and Education, 25 (4), .
(doi:10.1080/09540253.2013.772712).
Abstract
This paper presents findings from an evaluation of the Computer Clubs for Girls, an initiative originally delivered in the South East of England, designed to encourage more girls to take up information technology (IT) courses and careers. By targeting girls aged 10–14, the club aimed to provide members with a ‘gender relevant’ experience of IT, tackling issues of access, confidence and negative attitudes about IT. The evaluation, conducted over four years, included the collection of quantitative and qualitative data from members and non-members of the clubs. It included a longitudinal component in order to assess the longer-term impacts of the club. The findings support the critical view that initiatives based on assumptions about the relationship between girls and IT misinterpret ‘the problem’ about female under-representation in IT, and are unlikely to have a significant or sustained impact on what remains an occupational and subject area divided by gender typing. The paper argues for an approach which challenges the social and cultural discourses that maintain this gender divide.
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Accepted/In Press date: 7 September 2012
e-pub ahead of print date: 11 April 2013
Published date: 2013
Keywords:
gender stereotypes, information technology, policy initiative, computer clubs
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 351501
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/351501
ISSN: 0954-0253
PURE UUID: f884b9ef-1f5f-43df-be57-6b1f0769fb0f
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Date deposited: 23 Apr 2013 11:36
Last modified: 14 Mar 2024 13:40
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Contributors
Author:
Alison Fuller
Author:
Jill Turbin
Author:
Brenda Johnston
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