Women and Information Technology – Research on Underrepresentation (The MIT Press) - Softcover

Cohoon, J; Aspray, William

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0262533073 ISBN 13: 9780262533072

Publisher: MIT Press, 2008

Synopsis

Computing remains a heavily male-dominated field even after twenty-five years of extensive efforts to promote female participation. The contributors to Women and Information Technology look at reasons for the persistent gender imbalance in computing and explore some strategies intended to reverse the downward trend. The studies included are rigorous social science investigations; they rely on empirical evidence-not rhetoric, hunches, folk wisdom, or off-the-cuff speculation about supposed innate differences between men and women. Taking advantage of the recent surge in research in this area, the editors present the latest findings of both qualitative and quantitative studies. Each section begins with an overview of the literature on current research in the field, followed by individual studies. The first section investigates the relationship between gender and information technology among preteens and adolescents, with each study considering what could lead girls' interest in computing to diverge from boys'; the second section, on higher education, includes a nationwide study of computing programs and a cross-national comparison of computing education; the final section, on pathways into the IT workforce, considers both traditional and nontraditional paths to computing careers.

About this title

Review

This work provides valuable insight into why women are not choosing to pursue education and careers in information technology.

--Choice

Synopsis

Computing remains a heavily male-dominated field even after twenty-five years of extensive efforts to promote female participation. The contributors to "Women and Information Technology" look at reasons for the persistent gender imbalance in computing and explore some strategies intended to reverse the down-ward trend. The studies included are rigorous social science investigations; they rely on empirical evidence - not rhetoric, hunches, or folk wisdom.Taking advantage of the recent surge in research in this area, the editors present the latest findings of both qualitative and quantitative studies. Each section begins with an overview of the literature on current research in the field, followed by individual studies.

The first section investigates the relationship between gender and information technology among preteens and adolescents, with each study considering what could lead girls' interest in computing to diverge from boys'; the second section, on higher education, includes a nationwide study of computing programs and a cross-national comparison of computing education; the final section, on pathways into the IT workforce, considers both traditional and nontraditional paths to computing careers.

About this edition

• Publisher: MIT Press
• Publication date: 2008
• ISBN 10: 0262533073
• ISBN 13: 9780262533072
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 520