Children talking about computers : a discourse analysis perspective on gender issues in information technolgy

Abstract

This thesis is concerned with gender differences in children's responses to information technology. From primary school onwards girls participate less in computing activities than boys. For researchers attempting to understand these differences one important focus of interest has been children's attitudes towards computers. The vast m^ority of studies in this area have employed a questionnaire based methodology. However, while this research suggests that there are small but persistent differences in girls and boys attitudes towards computers, it goes little way to helping us understand these differences. This thesis adopted a discursive perspective to address the question of gender differences in response to IT. The analysis is based on a small set of in depth interviews in which 13-14 year olds were asked about their experiences with computers in school and at home. The aim of the analysis was to make explicit some of the rhetorical strategies available to the children for reasoning about their experiences with information technology, and to explore how (if at all) gender mediated these understandings. Although the small number of participants in this study make it difficult to draw any firm conclusions, the analysis suggests that girls and boys responses to computers may be differentiated, not in terms of their overall attitude towards computers, but in terms of their enthusiasm for and participation in different computing activities. The analysis also explored how the children themselves negotiated the significance and meaning of gender in the context of computer technology. The participants drew on the idea that boys were far more Sequent and enthusiastic computer game players than girls, and characterised girls and boys preferences for computer games as polarised along traditional gender lines. However, there was strong resistance to the idea that there were any comparable differences in girls and boys interactions with computers in school. Overall, the analysis suggests that the significance of gender varies across different contexts of computer use. Future research should focus on the way gender mediates children's responses to different kinds of computing activities. Such research should differentiate, not only between the use of computers for games and the use of computers for school, but also between the different activities within these two contexts.

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