Volume 1
Issue 1
16 March 1998
Gender
Inequalities in Education
The
Gender Gap in the Computing Field
Whitmore
High School: A Case Study of Computer Usage
Computer
Projects for Mother and Daughter
Expanding
Your Horizons in Math and Science
Computers
and Technology: Differences In Gender
Gender
Bias In Educational Software
Educational
Software For Girls
- Purple Moon: Thanks but No Thanks for Rockett's New School
- Girl Tech - Not Girl Friendly Enough
- Her Interactive
- Broderbund - Classroom Software Done Right
Computers
In the Classroom: What is the Effect on the Gender
Gap?
A study of children's perceptions of gender in software which uses purposely 'androgynous' humanoid figures found that children overwhelmingly identified these figures as male. Evidence shows that "gender conditioning begins at a very young age and is reinforced through the toys purchased and the nature of play." (Bradshaw) It is not sufficient, therefore, to simply place "genderless" creatures in educational software in order to remove gender biases; because of enculturated notions of gender, children continue to perceive these gender-neutral characters as male. The effect is that, "even where well-intentioned, software may also carry gendered meaning." (Bradshaw)These results are important because "the overwhelming male identifications at the initial stage may make it more difficult for girls to identify directly with the images on the screen" which may contribute to "the complex process whereby from an early age girls learn that computers are associated with maleness." (Bradshaw)
The same study found, however, that young children's perceptions (the children in the study were between 5 and 6 years old) can be influenced by an adult working with the child, so that it may be possible to "change their initial male-as-norm responses." (Bradshaw)
Software designers must understand the way children view gender and work to develop software which subverts gender stereotypes (perhaps, as suggested by the study, through the use of humor). The study also suggests that designers "draw on the already existing theoretically sophisticated literature from art practitioners who have confronted the issue of deconstructing gendered images" to create images that girls will relate to on the screen. (Bradshaw) Only when the way children actually view on-screen images is addressed will they begin to view software as gender-neutral.
