Home PublicationsL&LIssuesVolume 26 (1998-1999) February (No. 5)

Awakening the Tech Bug in Girls By Catherine Fiore

“Women hold up half the sky.” By the year 2000, this old proverb will be economically true. Women will compose half the workforce. If we are to continue as an economically strong nation, then we must maximize the use all of our resources—including everyone in the workforce. Education will be the primary force for preparing this new group.

Technology skills are the keys that girls will need to open doors to successful careers in the next century. A gender gap in computer use and interest, however, seems to begin at the middle school level and widens as the girls become older. Gender differences are more evident in advanced than in introductory courses. Far more than girls, boys have strikingly positive attitudes toward computers, finding them more enjoyable, important, and friendly (Lavin & Gordon, 1989). Gender differences have been documented in both computer use and access. Girls tend to view the computer as a tool—that is, as a means to accomplish a task such as word processing. Boys see computers as playful recreational toys. Girls tend to develop social skills sooner, so they do not turn to computers as silent friends like some boys.

To prevent the disenfranchisement of girls from technology and related careers, technology must be changed to meet girls’ needs. Several psychological, social, attitudinal, and environmental factors contribute to the current conditions and are of concern because girls have less access to engaging educational and entertaining software and high-level technology classes, as well as fewer educational environments and role models that will awaken their interest in technology. This lack of stimulation will affect their educational opportunities and career choices. Educators and software developers, however, can make a difference. They can make technology interesting for girls by using content and services that are based on girls’ classroom and computer learning and playing styles.

First, this article discusses the role that software plays in increasing girls’ use of and interest in technology—that is, the technology bug inside them. Then it describes how educators can ensure that girls have adequate educational opportunities and role models.

Software for Girls: What Needs to Be Included

Boys and girls learn and play differently. Educators, software developers, policy makers, and parents must understand these basic differences so that software and educational environments will capture girls’ interest. If we are going to do so, then we must move beyond issues of equal access and literacy. There’s a prevailing belief that it’s easier to design software for boys—and that boys won’t accept things designed for girls, although girls will accept programs designed for boys. We must move forward and provide content and services that will entice girls to use technology. If girls are given something that engages them, they will flock to it.

The need for well-designed games for females, who have qualitatively different expectations and satisfactions from today’s computer games, presents a challenge: How do we produce software and services that are engaging to girls? Answer: By including specific design and content elements based on girls’ learning and playing styles in software programs. Here I present the 10 most important design and content issues and elements (Fiore, 1998): (1) low frustration levels; (2) story lines that appeal to girls; (3) celebration of girls; (4) collaboration rather than competition; (5) challenging and complex activities; (6) exploration and lack of closure; (7) graphics; (8) rich, reality-based visuals and audio; (9) personal exploration; and (10) interactive communication.

Low Frustration Levels

Girls are frustrated by disk swapping, computers that freeze, sounds that are too loud or too soft, voices that talk at them without stopping, and trying to find things in programs. They are also frustrated if there is not enough variety in games, objects to manipulate, characters, and clothes to dress them.

Orly’s Draw-A-Story by Brøder-bund, however, addresses some of these frustrations. With her Jamaican accent, Orly engages the user with her nurturing, encouraging, and mentoring tone and nature. Easy-to-use paint and drawing tools offer an amazing number of possibilities (see Figure 1).

Story Lines that Appeal to Girls

A game without rules? No winners or losers? No shoot-’em-up action? It’s unheard of. But girls are far less interested in male-dominated story lines. Adventure, friendship, and being creative are as exciting to girls as action games are to boys.

Girls seek adventures that bring complex social interaction, private reflection, and the ability to design their own creations into a safe and comfortable environment in which they can explore and create. They also like vicarious experiences of adventures and other activities. When they’ve been asked what they want, their suggestions have included bungee jumping, traveling, shopping, making conference calls with friends, designing rooms and homes, and designing clothing, especially when they can see themselves in their creations. For example, one scenario might be “virtual shopping”—wandering through a mall and trying on different outfits with different hairstyles and makeup.

The girls in my study (Fiore, 1998) seem to have the highest levels of excitement when a software program incorporates their own work—drawings, words, or stories—into a story or play. This gives their own work a bigger-than-life feeling. For example:

Celebration of Girls

Girls don’t like stereotypes of themselves, clothing wardrobes that are all skirts and light colors, and games that are limited to “typical” girl stuff. They want sports activities, helicopter games, and racing games; main characters that offer the choice of being a boy or a girl; and girl characters who are active and even ruthless.

So far, software for girls shows the characters in dresses instead of such other typical clothing as pants, sweat clothes, and shorts. Other options, however, are being used. For example:

Collaboration Rather than Competition

The research (Groppe, 1997; Huff, Fleming, & Cooper, 1992; Miller, Chaika, & Groppe, 1989) clearly shows that girls prefer to work together rather than compete against one another, which is what most games promote. Girls prefer covert competition, intricate narratives, and group efforts that are based on complex social hierarchies. Girls are more interested in competing against themselves: They set their own goals and then try to better them. Girls are perfectionists; that’s their competitive spirit.

Purple Moon’s new Rockett’s Adventure Maker make it possible for users to take collaboration one step further than in other software because users can create endless adventures by creating what happens, what kids say, what characters are like, as well as the backgrounds, props, and accessories.

Most software for girls has activities that require them to create or design clothes, plays, and pictures that are based in the social studies or the language arts. For example:

No math or science themes, however, have yet been developed for girls.

Challenging and Complex Activities

Although girls want activities that challenge them, they do not view “winning” as a necessary objective. They place priority on having fun and getting supportive feedback. Rather than trying to win in rule-based, die-and-start-over scenarios, girls prefer to determine their own success by controlling thought-provoking and complex plots and designing their own creations. In my own research, participants wanted to design cars, places, and dolls. Action, lightning speed, and destroying opponents didn’t appeal to girls as much as making friends with engrossing characters in narrative worlds that are enhanced by audio and graphics. Purple Moon’s friendship adventures, for example, are not games: They are immersive entertainment experiences that resonate at a deep level and reflect what’s happening in the lives of girls 8- to 12-years-old.

Exploration and Lack of Closure

Girls don’t need to reach closure before moving onto another game or part of a game. They seem to prefer moving freely among environments without completing or winning games. Girls want freedom to roam, change activities, and explore. They want to be able to do this easily, knowing the general objectives and time involved for various activities. Understanding the general guidelines allows them to explore more freely (Figure 4).

Quit functions are available in most programs, but girls often want to stop in the middle of a scenario or plot and are frustrated when they cannot return to the exact spot they left. They also want to know the length of each scenario (in hours or days), the objectives of games, how to find things easily with icons, and how to get out of situations easily. Current programs do not have these capabilities.

Graphics

To create graphics that are more appealing to girls, designers should (1) include pictures of people, plants, and animals; (2) make these pictures relatively large and detailed; (3) include peaceful and “friendly” scenes; and (4) include a variety of colors other than the primaries (Figure 5). To create graphics that appeal to boys, designers should (1) show figures in action, (2) include male characters, (3) include vehicles or machines, (4) include elements of implied suspense or danger, and (5) provide opportunities to move or animate objects (Jakobsdottir, Krey, & Sales, 1994).

Rich, Reality-Based Visuals and Audio

Girls highly value the quality of an environment’s visual and audio design—its music, its visual atmosphere, and its voice quality. They often find the computeresque drones commonly heard in video games extremely annoying. The richer the environment, the more it appeals to girls. Girls want characters, clothing, colors, voices, comments, and scenery to look real, even three-dimensional (Figure 6). And they want the characters to act real. They want characters to talk the way they themselves talk, not the way adults talk—“That’s a really cool drawing,” not “How lovely.”

Personal Exploration

Girls want to explore their own personal feelings, see how different clothes and hairstyles look on them, find out how their problems might be solved, and understand how their boyfriends or girlfriends might react to them in different situations. The role-playing associated with a variety of careers is especially interesting to girls. They like scenarios in which they might find their “dream match” by entering personality traits and finding out which ones would be compatible.

Purple Moon’s products, in particular, enable role-playing of social and relationship themes and creating adventures (Figure 7).

Interactive Communication

I advocate a software or online environment revolving around communication with software characters or other people in other locations to stir excitement for technology in girls. The interactive communication experience would include visual and audio effects and the ability to be in another place, time, or space and create or experience a game, talk show, story, picture, or adventure together.

Girls do not like characters who talk at them. They want interaction—to be able to make decisions and to respond. They enjoy conversing with software characters—if the conversations are realistic and the language is supportive and encouraging. For example, Orly’s Draw-A-Story uses encouraging statements to keep users interested (Fiore, 1998). When a user follows instructions and draws an ugly cat, Orly says, “Oh, look at that! It’s nice and ugly.” When the user is done, Orly tells her, “Man, this is the ugliest cat I have ever seen. You sure can draw ugly good!” And as the user completes a drawing of a troll house, the grumpy old troll peeks out the door and says, “What are you drawing?” “Can’t you draw faster than that?” and “What are you doing out there?” When the drawing is finished, Orly says, “Now, I’ve got to say that is the unusualest, coolest troll house I have ever seen.” The user’s drawing is then used to create a village of troll houses that are identical to the users’ creation.

Summary

These 10 guidelines can help software developers create programs that girls enjoy. They also can help educators find software that will interest girls in technology. Web sites that are successful in holding girls’ interest in using technology have these same characteristics.

Of course, educators must do more than just choose appropriate software: They must ensure that access is equitable in their classrooms, schools, and districts. They also need to provide role models for girls: Women who demonstrate that girls can be successful using technology—and that technology can be fun.

Educational Opportunities for Girls

Middle school girls seem to enjoy technology education and are confident in their abilities, but still most of them do not continue with this education in high school. Despite the many grant-funded projects in the United States that have sought to advance gender equity, classroom teachers remain astonishingly unaware of the issue and the concepts that might best address it.

So what can we do? By following 18 steps, educators can go a long way toward making a difference for girls: (1) become aware of stereotyped attitudes and biases, (2) discuss choices of technological careers, (3) discuss economic realities, (4) encourage the few, (5) hire more female technology teachers to serve as role models, (6) change strategies, (7) rethink competition, (8) change scheduling, (9) provide more information to those who have influence, (10) provide role models for girls in technology education, (11) write grants, (12) build collaborations, (13) embed equity within a whole approach, (14) encourage new visions, (15) begin early, (16) be patient, (17) include both females and males, and (18) disseminate and build on what we know.

Become Aware of Stereotyped Attitudes and Biases

Girls still tend to be less confident than boys in their abilities to use computers, and both sexes still perceive computers predominantly as the domain of males. Because many students develop their attitudes about computers in schools, it is important that computer tasks and software meet students’ learning needs and show students how computers can be used to solve problems, help decision making, and achieve important and relevant goals. Obviously, computers are gender-neutral, yet in their use, they sometimes reinforce gender.

Discuss Choices of Technological Careers

Lack of knowledge about technological careers and firmly held stereotypes about “appropriate” careers for women constitute a major difference in attitude between girls who choose to take technology education and those who do not. Many students have no real resource that can inform them of their career choices and help them make reasonable plans for continued education and training after high school.

Discuss Economic Realities

Girls seem unaware of the possibilities of and limitations on salary and promotion for women in traditional careers—and, indeed, girls are often far less concerned with economic realities than are boys. For this reason, teachers must make the connection between school and work clearer. Even more important, girls must overcome stereotypes about what are appropriate careers for women. Videos and other materials can be used to show students how the skills they are learning are actually used in the workplace and how women contribute to technological fields.

All students need to learn the economic consequences of choosing specific careers and the relative salary and promotion prospects they can expect for different occupations. In particular, though, girls should be able to compare earnings and relative salaries they can expect for both traditional female jobs and those in technology.

Encourage the Few

Only a small number of girls will be pathfinders and challenge the stereotypes about nontraditional careers for women. Among the reasons that girls felt discouraged from taking technology education were (1) a reluctance to take classes in which they would be vastly outnumbered by boys, (2) discomfort with an image of themselves in nontraditional jobs, (3) lack of confidence in their abilities, and (4) concerns about the reactions of friends and family. If support groups were organized for girls in technology education, the few who want to pursue the field might feel more encouraged.

Hire More Female Technology Teachers to Serve as Role Models

Schools must put a high priority on hiring more female technology teachers. These women can be important role models for girls who are interested in technology, and they can more directly change attitudes for both girls and boys about careers for females in technological fields.

Change Strategies

Strategies such as curricular revisions and laboratory reorganizations can help attract more girls to technology classes. Teachers may need to attend training sessions or obtain new materials, but ultimately they must be aware that girls have differing interests and be willing and able to make the learning environment and subject of technology attractive to girls. Images of women working in technological jobs and products made by female students might be displayed in classrooms, for example. Offering a broader and more nontraditional range of projects to work on also may attract more girls. The principles of technology can be learned just as well from building a house as from building a bridge.

Rethink Competition

Consider the effects of different kinds of competitions. For instance, should you use group or individual projects? Individual grades or group grades? Do you need guidelines and ground rules on acceptable behavior for both boys and girls to ensure that girls play an equal role in the classroom and are not forced to take stereotyped roles? How can you make sure boys do not take over?

Change Scheduling

Try to maximize the number of girls in a particular technology education class. Girls are reluctant to take classes where they may be one of only a few girls. Try to increase the number of girls in a certain section so as to combine as many girls as possible in a certain technology education class. If there are more than four or five girls in a class, other girls will feel more comfortable about signing up for the class (Silverman & Pritchare, 1996).

Provide More Information to Those Who Have Influence

Guidance counselors provide considerable information to students about the electives that are available and how those choices might fit with the various career options that students might be examining. Girls can be encouraged to consider technology education, particularly if they are not sure whether they want to attend college or if they have expressed an interest in engineering or a technological career. Teachers might consider a forum in which girls who are taking technology education would talk with prospective students who are considering what electives to choose.

Because stereotypes still remain about appropriate subjects and careers for women, schools must provide better information to all students about their options for technological careers and the role women can and do play in such occupations. Teachers and guidance counselors can help students connect what they do in class with the world of work. Research results clearly show that girls are not well informed about what is available in high school technology education classes before they have to choose their electives. Because they have less experience with technology outside of school and must fight stereotypes, girls need encouragement from their teachers and guidance counselors and more detailed information about what is available.

Provide Role Models for Girls in Technology Education

In both middle school and high school, girls need to meet and talk with successful women who work in technological fields. Evidence strongly suggests that all adolescence girls are subject to private or public silencing of their voices, a loss of a sense of authority about what they know from experience, and a tendency to idealize relationships (Silverman & Pritchare, 1996).

Write Grants

One of the educational goals in the United States is to be first in the world in mathematics and science achievement by the year 2000 (National Educational Goals Panel, 1991). Local and national womens’ associations and the National Science Foundation are great places to start.

Build Collaborations

Talk with other people about the relationships they see between equal education and the economy. Involve new parties. Create new social partnerships by bringing new people to the table to imagine the future.

Embed Equity Within a Whole Approach

Build an infrastructure that will surround your ideal. Patches don’t work. Confront “isms” head on. Deal with racism, sexism, bias, and stereotyping in a straightforward manner. If we don’t do this, we allow barriers to be created that will guarantee failure. Look through the lens of equality. Focus on equity and excellence will follow. It’s not just nice, it’s essential. Well-done equity projects lead the way and bring good ideas to everyone.

Encourage New Visions

Equity raises the level of expectations for both girls and boys—and also teachers—and capitalizes on human potential. Take advantage of this fact.

Begin Early

Equity in parenting and early childhood is essential. Begin introducing young girls to various technologies such as electronic toys and gadgets, software, and toys that require manipulation and design (e.g., Lego kits, design software, and Lincoln Logs). Have your young girls work with you when you are creating, fixing, or just exploring the day-to-day tasks of living.

Be Patient

The devastating effects of generations of gender bias cannot be undone immediately. Begin with small steps and learn to recognize the differences in how girls and boys learn and play. Small steps make it okay for girls to use technology differently than boys as well as to have different interests in software. Girls have many different toys than boys. Girls learn and play differently.

Include Both Females and Males

As we encourage women and girls to grow and expand their options, we need to develop similar efforts to help males both support these changes and expand and realize their own potential.

Disseminate and Build on What We Know

The mainstream educational media occasionally run articles on gender equity, but the issue is hardly a top priority. Furthermore, professional education associations rarely feature major speeches on gender equity, and when a workshop on the topic is given, most of those who attend already are convinced of the issue’s importance and are doing something about it.

I see three main reasons why all of the effort thus far has had little effect. For one, most of the workshops are quick fixes, lasting just an hour or two. Activities designed to create awareness of gender inequities may be essential, but teachers have developed sexist attitudes and beliefs over a lifetime—just like anyone else. A short one- or two-hour session is not enough to change this. Second, most workshops stop with an awareness of the problem and pass lightly over solutions. With-out solutions, there can be no progress. Finally, classroom teachers have many professional agendas that compete for their attention.

Conclusion

Albert Einstein (as cited in Jukes et al., 1998) said, “The world we have created is a product of our thinking. It cannot be changed without changing our thinking” (p. v). A survey of the literature indicates that, in general, teachers and schools are not yet integrating newer computer applications into the curriculum and that gender differences in computer use and attitude exist (Kiesler, Sproull, & Eccles, 1985; Thompson, Simonson, & Hargrave, 1992; Whiteside, 1992). Reports (American Association of University Women [AAUW], 1992; Thompson et al.) indicate that girls are shortchanged in the public school system, especially in the areas of math, science, and technology, and that sex and gender equity issues are still not well understood by many educators. These researchers also suggest that inservice training on equity issues can both increase awareness and provide specific tools for achieving a more equitable education environment. The National Coalition for Women and Girls in Education (AAUW) has repeatedly noted that the National Education Goals cannot be met without specific attention to girls, and they have stated that educators’ attention must be directed to those specific design and content elements in software that are based on the specific learning and playing styles of girls and of boys. Researchers (Kay, 1992; Proctor & Burnett, 1996) argue for a qualitative, contextual, developmental approach to acquire a more precise understanding of how behaviors associated with computer attitude, aptitude, and use emerge.

“Usually starting around the middle school years and puberty, girls start to get a message that computing is for boys” (DeBare, 1996). By creating and choosing software that is appropriate for girls and will hold girls interest, education and business have taken a big step in the direction of assuring girls that computers are for them. Then educators must follow-up by creating learning experiences that will ensure that girls continue to learn to use the technology.

Catherine Fiore, cfiore@pepperdine.edu

References

American Association of University Women. (1992). How schools shortchange girls: A study of major findings on girls and education. Washington, DC: AAUW and Education Foundation and Wesley College Center for Research on Women.

DeBare, I. (1996). Computer classes lack key feature: Girl’s faces. Logged on or left out, part 5: Women in the computer industry. Sacramento Bee [Online serial]. Available: www.sacbee.com/news/projects/women/wcmain.html.

Fiore, C. (1998). Design and content elements present in current girl-software programs that girls identify as engaging. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Pepperdine University, Culver City, CA.

Groppe, L. (1997). Girl talk [Online document].

Huff, C., Fleming, J., & Cooper, J. (1992). Gender differences in human-computer interaction. In C. D. Martin & E. Murchie-Beyma (Eds.), In search of gender-free paradigms for computer science education (pp. 26-40). Eugene, OR: International Society for Technology in Education.

Jakobsdottir, S., Krey, C., & Sales, G. (1994). Computer graphics: Preferences by gender in grades 2, 4, and 6. Journal of Educational Review, 8(2), 91-100.

Jukes, I., Dosaj, A., Matheson, A., McKae, B., Holmes, L., McKae, W., & Armstrong, S. (1998). NetSavvy: Information literacy for the communication age. Miami, FL: NetSavvy Group.

Kay, R. (1992). Understanding gender differences in computer attitudes, aptitudes, and use: An invitation to build theory. Journal of Research on Computing in Education, 25(2), 159-171.

Kiesler, S., Sproull, L., & Eccles, J. (1985). Pool halls, chips and war games: Women in the culture of computing. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 4, 451-462.

Lavin, T., & Gordon, C. (1989). Effects of gender and computer experiences on attitudes toward computers. Journal of Educational Computing Research, 5(1), 69-88.

Miller, L., Chaika M., & Groppe, L. (1996, April). Girls’ preferences in software design: Insights from a focus group. Interpersonal Computing and Technology: An Electronic Journal for the 21st Century [Online serial], 4(2). Available: www.helsinki.fi/science/optek/1996/n2/miller.txt.

National Educational Goals Panel. (1991). The National Education Goals report, 1991: Building a nation of learners. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.

Proctor, R., & Burnett, P. (1996). Computer attitude and classroom computers. Computers in the Schools, 12(3), 33-41.

Silverman, S., & Pritchare, A.. (1996). Building their future: Girls and technology education in Connecticut. Journal of Technology Education [Online serial], 7(2).

Thompson, A., Simonson, M., & Hargrave, C. (1992). Educational technology: A review of the research. Washington, DC: Association for Educational Communications and Technology.

Whiteside, C. (1992). Developing sex equity awareness in computer literacy courses. In M. Wilson (Ed.), Options for girls: A door to the future (pp. 251-257). Austin, TX: Pro Ed and Foundation for Women’s Resources.

Awakening the Tech Bug in Girls

By Catherine Fiore

Visit Catherine Fiore’s Web page of
current girls' software and Web sites at http://www.EDsOasis.org/Treasure/Girls.html

Resources

Orly's Draw-A-Story
Ages: 5-13
Publisher: Broderbund, PO Box 6125, Novato, CA 94948; 800.474.8840 www.broderbund.com
Platform: Windows/Macintosh CD-ROM
Cost: $29.95

The American Girls Premiere
Ages: 5-12
Publisher: The Learning Company, cust_serv@learningco.com, 800.685.6322 or 617.761.3000, www.thelearningco.com
Platform: Windows/Macintosh CD-ROM
Cost: $35.00

Crayola Magic Wardrobe
Ages: 6-12
Publisher: IBM, 888.411.1WEB, www.pc.ibm.com/
Platform: Windows/Macintosh CD-ROM
Cost: $19.95

Barbie Magic Fairy Tales: Barbie as Rapunzel
Ages: 4+
Publisher: Mattel Media, www.mattelmedia.com
Platform: Macintosh/Windows CD-ROM
Cost: $29.95

Secret Paths
Ages: 8-14
Publisher: Purple Moon, 888.2PURPLE, feedback@purple-moon.com, www.purple-moon.com
Platform: Macintosh/Windows CD-ROM
Cost: $29.00

Rockett's Tricky Decision
Ages: 8-14
Publisher: Purple Moon, 888.2PURPLE, feedback@purple-moon.com, www.purple-moon.com
Platform: Macintosh/Windows CD-ROM
Cost: $29.00

The software industry is releasing increasing numbers of programs aimed at girls. Currently more than 70 such programs are on the market, almost double what was available one year ago. Visit Catherine Fiore's Girls, Girls, Girls page (www.EDsOasis.org/Treasure/Girls.html) at ED's Oasis for descriptions of these software packages and of Web sites for girls.

Copyright © 1999, ISTE (International Society for Technology in Education). All rights reserved.