Issues in gender ICTs and education Assuring gender

Issues in gender, ICTs and education Assuring gender equality in the knowledge society Nancy Hafkin, Ph. D. – Inductee, Internet Society Hall of Fame, 2012 International Scientific Colloquium on ICTs in Education: Balance sheet, current issues and future perspectives Montreal, 3 -4 May 2012

Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) are essential for knowledge society, and. . . ICTs are the sine qua non tool of the knowledge society

Cinderella. . . • Works in the basement of the knowledge society (if she works in it at all) – Has little opportunity to reap its benefits. – Waits for "her prince" to decide the benefits she will receive.

While Cyberella is. . . • Fluent in the uses of technology • Comfortable using & designing computers, technology, communication equipment, software, working in virtual spaces • Devises innovative uses for technologies • Finds information and knowledge to improve her life and expand choices • Active knowledge creator and disseminator • More than a user, designs information and knowledge systems to improve all aspects of her life.

The leaky pipeline in S&T education • There are fewer girls and women in science and technology education at each successive educational (and employment) level • Gender gap widens ascending the educational ladder • More girls now in secondary and tertiary education, but few in S&T, especially computer science

The women can’t do science debate • Are males innately better at science (and ICT? ) than females? • Brought to the fore by Lawrence Summers, Harvard (2005) • Said to be partly due to possible innate shortcomings in math • • • Elizabeth Spelke: no basic early differences in number skills between girls and boys Anything that emerges later is socially determined Conclusion: girls can learn to use ICTs as well as boys

Some reasons why. . . Girls’ lack of comfort or interest in S&T Even where teenage girls use computers and the Internet at similar rates to boys, the are five times less likely to consider a technologyrelated career. Attitudes about what is appropriate for girls It is harder/less common to combine computer-assisted learning with subjects in which girls’ tend to be more interested

Learner confidence • Boys tend to dominate computerrelated tasks and discussions in class • Girls tend to have more anxiety about computers than boys, but • Girls tend to underestimate their technology skills (while boys tend to overestimate them) • Girls’ comfort level with computers increases with experience • Males frequently denigrate the technological skills of females • Given economic and practical realities of poor countries, sometimes girls overcome traditional barriers to study in these fields

Interest in computers • Girls often have less interest in computers (and, sometimes, math and science) than boys • Age factors: as girls grow older, they tend to decline in interest in computers • Gender bias in technology comes from teachers, parents, the media, association of computer culture with males • Boys tend to have more positive feelings about computers than girls • Computer/video games are marketed to boys; playing these games as children increases their comfort with computers • Class factors also impact: parents with higher socio-economic status and education give more encouragement about computers to girls

Learning styles • Girls tend to prefer collaborative work (group work) on computers, while boys prefer to work individually and competitively • Boys tend to like technology for its own sake, whereas girls are more interested in its applications • Different gender-based learning styles need to be taken into account • Much research has been done on whether girls tend to achieve more on computers in single-sex settings • no definitive findings have emerged

Role Models • Girls’ interest & success in these fields is constrained by lack of female role models, particularly teachers • However, girls do well with mentors of either sex • Male teachers tend to use computers as learning tools more frequently than women teachers • Girls/women tend to continue in computer science when their teachers (of either sex) have positive attitudes toward women students

• Unflattering images of women geeks • Software – tends to be designed with boys, men as the default • Teachers bias – both male and female teachers often exhibit bias against girls’ studying and using computers or favor boys, treat them differently in class

Access • Girls often have limited (and less than boys) access to computers, in schools, at home and in public places • Small numbers of computers in schools tend to disadvantage girls if no “fair use” policies are in place • Girls experience problems with physical safety in going to computer labs/cybercafés at night

Gender issues in pre-service teacher education • Very little research has been done on gender and technology differences in preservice teacher education in ICT

Mobile phones and social media • Overcome social place disadvantage of computers • Increasing availability of broadband, smartphones increases information availability • Girls tend to be more active on social media than boys (girls tending to excel in communication) • But, Internet and social media frequently portray negative and dangerous (pornography, stalking, trafficking) images of women – Other phenomena, such as bullying, victimize women – Such images call for schools to teach critical thinking • Social media have positive aspects for education (group study)

Mobile for development • Mobile education • delivery of educational services through a mobile phone, frequently through an application • Or, use of a mobile phone for education, such as teaching literacy and numeracy • m. Education for development deals with both formal and non-formal education • Targets illiterate and literate • Controversy about whether it distracts formal learners and makes teachers redundant

m. Education: bringing formal education to more girls in developing countries • Social, economic and cultural reasons often impede the ability of girls in developing countries to attend school – This limits their opportunity to develop the capabilities to lead the lives that they have reason to value (Sen, 1999). – Limits personal and societal benefits in a knowledge society • Many reasons limit girls’ ability/mobility to attend school – School fees, uniforms, preference for boys’ education, lack of sanitary products, safety in travelling to/from school, cost of boarding, dangers of living with relatives/domestic servitude • Blended learning is one possible response to girls’ realizing the education and mobility capabilities – Mobile phones especially becoming nearly ubiquitous in developing countries

External factors in m. Education for girls Possible constraints: • Mobile phones can strain interpersonal gender relations • Women can suffer invasions of private or domestic violence for using a phone • Language of content more daunting to girls/women than men/boys • Are those who need it most least likely to have access (i. e. poor out-of-school girls in rural areas of Africa)? Hope for success: • Especially useful when girls are out of school for cost and cultural reasons

A successful project: Jokko Initiative in Senegal • Teaches literacy in local language, where written materials largely unavailable • Affordable handsets chosen with large lettering digital displays • Mobile Phone for Literacy and Empowerment curriculum development (150 hours) • Digital literacy included (including SMS) • 80% of participants women • Spill over effect to neighboring communities • Success in development of language and literacy skills

Jokko mobile phone education initiative – Senegal: 3 mo. results Near doubling of participants who had used a mobile phone Eight-fold increase in participants who could send or receive SMS Eight-fold increase in those who could read phone messages Averaging nine messages sent per week

Outcomes/impact • No consensus that either girls or boys have better outcomes from computer-assisted learning. • Girls, however, do seem to gain more in selfesteem than boys from successful computer use q. The larger issue: How can the formal education system remove the barriers that interfere with girls’ and women’s access to and success in technology?

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