Many educators are confused about gender equity. Is it still a problem? Is it more about political correctness than about educational effectiveness? Until 1980, Ivy League schools such as Columbia University did not even admit women. Today, the majority of college students are women. Perhaps we should declare victory and move on. I have done two papers before for two of my classes about gender differences in mathematics looking at it as a broader issue. That issue is the role of women and girls in our world. In this paper, I will discuss gender equity in the use of computers and Internet and how can we achieve it.

Sanders (1985) listed a number of factors that she said were at the basis of the computer gender gap between boys and girls. Those factors are:

1- The chicken and egg pattern: Girls consider computers unfeminine because they see mostly boys using them.

2- Girls stay out of the computer room because their girlfriends are not there-an important social dynamics.

3- Schools often make computers available for optional use on a first come, first served basis, and boys in their enthusiasm for the machines aggressively capture the opportunities.

4- Most girls find Logo an interesting computer language, but most schools teach BASIC.

5- One student to each computer- the usual school arrangement-does not meet girls need for social interaction.

The great change in education in recent years is the technology explosion. With the majority of U.S. schools now connected to the Internet, a new gender gap appears in this area. Boys are more wired in to this revolution than girls. Knupfer (1998) realized that boys enter school with more computer experience than girls do, and girls know it. Girls, according to Knupfer, rate themselves significantly lower than boys on computer skills. Stereotyping is a main reason for that. Girls are more likely to enroll in world processing and clerical courses, whereas boys are more likely to enroll in advanced computer science and computer design classes. Both print and Internet resources continue to promote sex stereotyping, with males portrayed in powerful and prestigious technological positions.

Sanders & Stone (1986) noticed that the computer gender gap does exist even in computer stores and computer trade fairs. They have attended a computer show where 90% of the visitors and vendors were men and teenage boys. According to them, the majority of computer magazine subscribers, the purchasers of computer hardware and software, and the people who appear in the computer advertisement on Television and in magazines is males. In addition, this gap appears at work places, where women are outnumbered two to one as programmers and higher level computer jobs. The only computer job in which women are well represented is that of world processing secretary which is a low status and low paying occupation. Do still see this now in 1999? In most cases, yes.

The authors of the Feminism Net located at http://www.feminism.net also address this issue. The net provide more cyberspace for female net users to bring issues of women rights and encourage more discussions concerning these issues on the Internet. In their home page, they stated that: " Statistics tell us that women represent a significantly low percentage of Internet users than men. Although a low proportion of female users may not be purposively caused by policies of system operators, women do have less oportunity to access Internet information". They provide mailing lists, gopher service, and a user-friendly environment for females.

In their book, Women on Line: Gender and Social Reality in Cyberspace, Lynn Cherny & Elizabeth Weise also talked about this issue. I could not find the book, but I got some information about it from their homepage. Some of their questions are:

1- Does gender ever really disappear on the net, in the absence of physical and social status cues? The net has been claimed to be a place where hierarchical differences disappear. However, the authors are concerned about mail domination in newsgroups and they are looking forward to have women only spaces on the net. In the book, they gave examples of women only areas on the Internet with cheaper rates, and how they improved over time?

2- Do women feel alienated by being a minority on the Internet? Or is the gender ratio not an intrusive fact on the net? Statistics from public on line services show a gender disparity of between 60% male to 40% female and 96% male to 4% female. Such statistics do not reflect accurate numbers, since many couples share accounts with the account listed in the male name. Are women borrowing other people technology or do they feel a sense of ownership?

Now, looking at what all those researchers said and other people are saying about the issue of gender gap in the use of computers and Internet, what should we do about it? Raising awareness about the inequalities surrounding girls and computers is not enough. We really need to work actively work on changing them. Parents, teachers, school counselors, and other caring adults all have a role to play in this process. It is hard to imagine why any one would intentionally tell a young girl that computer skills are not necessary, the boys are better at computers than girls, or that we should not care that the vast majority of computer scientists and engineers are men. Here are some straightforward practical ways in which we can work to shape a new image of computing for our daughters at home, at school, and, as they get older, at work.

Parents' Help:

Be aware of inequitable patterns of computer use. Consider setting up the computer in a room that is easily accessible to the entire family, such as a family room. Avoid putting it in one child's room. Make the computer area as inviting and friendly as possible. Make sure that computer time is distributed equitably among the family members. If necessary, establish a schedule that guarantees everyone time at the keyboard. Give top priority to schoolwork, followed by fun time for everyone.

Encourage exploration. Let your daughter explore by herself any new computer game or software. Do not insist upon guiding her. She will be able to navigate through its features and activities. Your role is to choose carefully from the beginnings the right software or game and then stay closer to answer any questions.

Involve your daughter in software purchase. Once you have decided the kind of software you want to buy, you should have some selections and let your daughter choose. Take her with you to the store, show her the programs you are considering and describe them to her. Look for ones that have male and female characters in the lead, and programs that offer a variety of different activities or points of entry, such as a question and answer mode.

Be familiar with the computer games your children play. It is a very good idea to play with your kids their own games until the advance levels. Choose educational and less violent games.

Be a positive role model. If daughters saw their mothers using computers a lot for both work and fun, then they will be encouraged to do so.

Ask your daughter for help. Ask your daughter to explain to you how to set an email account or how to search for a topic on the Internet. The more you ask the better she will fell about herself and her abilities.

Take your daughter to work. When appropriate, show her how you use your computer at the job. Bring her to the office on a weekend and let her type a letter to a friend or work on a paper for school. Let her play a computer game or send an email to a friend.

Introduce your daughter to technical women. Parents can introduce their daughters to a friend or a relative whose job is in a computer-related field. Ask your friend to explain to your daughter the fun and the challenging aspects of the job. Also, let your daughters ask them about what courses should they take at school to help them with computer skills.

Look for fun and cool activities that adolescent girls will enjoy. Introduce your daughters to some new software designed just for them. Take them to a national organization for women whose jobs involve the World Wide Web.

Spend time with your daughter exploring the web. Help her to locate sites devoted to subjects or hobbies she is interested in. Show her some of the sites for teenage girls.

Set up an email account and investigate chat areas. Establish clear guidelines for using chat areas. Explain good and bad sites. Educate your kinds about the danger online.
 
 

School's Help:

Encourage girls to take the highest level math and science courses available to them in school. These courses will help girls to develop their critical thinking and problem solving skills that are vital to many professions.

Provide girls with extra help in advance math and science classes. When girls need to improve their abilities in these classes, teachers and parents should help them to do so. Private tutoring or after school tutoring sessions are good ways to help girls in this matter.

Find out about the computer activities at your daughter's school. Is there a computer club? Do girls participate? Encourage school administrators to form girls' computer club.

Investigate the type of educational software available at your daughter's school. Talk to the computer instructor about stocking a variety of educational software for both girls and boys.

Watch out for the inequalities in the classroom. Do not make your classroom another male or female domination area. Call both boys and girls equally to do activities in the classroom.

Make sure all students benefit from the computer use. Teachers should be careful that a few students are not allowed to monopolize the computer. Establishing a schedule that gives every child an opportunity to use the computer is an excellent idea.

Highlight the accomplishments of women. The media is full of pictures and stories about men and their contribution to the field of computing. But many girls have never heard about Lady Ada Byron, the first computer programmer, or several other excellent and notable women in the computer science field.
 
 

Cherny, L. & Weise, E. (1993). Women On Line: Gender and Social Reality in

Cyberspace. [On-line]. Available:

http://www.cyberwerks.com/jacking.in/women.online.htm

Club Girls Tech. [on-line]. Available: http://www.girltech.com

Cyber Girl. [On-line]. Available: http://www.cybergirl.com

Furger, R.(1998). Does Jane Compute?: Preserving Our Daughters’ Place in the Cyber

Revolution. New York: Warner Books, Inc.

Knupfer, N.N. (1998, winter). Gender Divisions Across technology advertisements and

The World wide Web: Implications for Educational equity. Theory into Practice,

37(1), 54-63.

Sanders, J.S. & Stone, A. (1986). The Neuter Computer: Computers for Girls and boys.

New York: Neal-Schuman Publishers, Inc.

The Feminism Net. [On-line]. Available: http://www.feminism.net.