| The Secrets to Increasing Females in Technology. |
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| Technology Teacher; Oct2006, Vol. 66 Issue 2, p22-24, 3p |
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REVIEW
In our society, man is known for their technologically challenging jobs. Women are not. Are women at fault for the fact that they are “technologically” challenged in this society or is society to blame for this lack of gender in the field? In The Secrets to Increasing Females in Technology, it is believed that women are treated in a biased manner right from the start. Females are not to blame for this problem, rather societal influences that are currently taking place.
President Bush's announcement of the American Competitiveness Initiative brought forth the idea that the future holds many more technological positions. Schools have now begun engineering and technology classes. That is right where the gender bias begins.
According to Betty Shanahan, parents are one group of people to blame. Many parents will tell their young boys that talent and hard work are equivalent. Young girls are told that hard work is more important than any math skills they might need.
Later on in life, this is one factor that is believed to be the cause of women dropping out of engineering and technology undergraduate programs. Professors make jokes about one woman in a class full of men. This treatment can lead women to believe that they do not belong in a men’s environment. In addition, if girls and boys work in a group together, girls usually receive the tasks of typing up the report or taking notes. Girls seem to “hang back” a bit whereas boys jump up to do the job that will impress the teacher. Teachers can combat this gender role assignment by giving the assumed jobs to the opposite gender. These societal rules do not serve our future well but maybe they will change
COMMENTARY/OPINION
I definitely agree that our society is not helping the “digital divide” in terms of gender. I have had many experiences where jobs have been assigned to me that am somewhat administrative or secretarial. The challenging jobs seem to always go to guys. In addition, I was always told it was okay to fail math or receive low grades. One professor in college changed that for me. I had to take quantitative statistics for my undergraduate degree. My professor made the environment safe and secure. There was no such thing as a dumb question. I ended up with a B+ in a math class. It was then that I realized I had been faulted by society. My parents and my teachers always told me it was okay to fail. Would my life have been different if they hadn’t told me that? However, I still enjoy typing the reports and taking the notes. Neatness counts and I would never present a project that wasn’t aesthetically pleasing. I hate to say that content comes second for me, but it does.
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