Internetworkers: http://www.ibiblio.org/internetworkers/

["Joanna Wolfe (919)677-0977" <wolfe AT oup-usa.org>]

Serena's post about architects made me think about 
an article that I had read in my Information Week
Daily (yes, there is actual, useful and interesting
information among the drivel and ads) on 4/12/00.

I've enclosed the link and the article below about
why girls are opting out of IT.  My favorite quote
from the article is where the study concludes that
girls perceive those {IT] jobs as anti-social 
and solitary.

Hope you enjoy the article.

Regards,

Joanna

Joanna Wolfe
Technical Support Manager
Oxford University Press, USA
2001 Evans Road
Cary, NC 27513
v: (919) 677-0977 ext. 5242
f: (919) 677-2654
c: (919) 244-7696
e: wolfe AT oup-usa.org
w: www.oup-usa.org

http://www.informationweek.com/story/IWK20000421S0002
Girls Don't Feel Left Out--They're Opting Out of IT

A recent study by the American Association of University
WomenEducational Foundation determined that girls
consider IT careersuninspiring, computer programming
tedious and dull, and video games redundant and violent.
Oh, dear. 

"There's valid concern about what will happen in 10 to 20
years-- these ideas exacerbate the IT labor shortage," says
Pamela Haag, the association's director of research. "Here
we are importing workers, and we have this untapped pool of
talent, simply because they have outdated ideas about IT
jobs." 

The study concluded that women receive less than 28% of
the nation's computer-science bachelor's degrees, and that
number is dropping over time. Women account for only 9% of
engineering- related bachelor's degrees, and roughly 20% of
the IT workforce are women. 

"They aren't concerned or scared of technology," Haag adds.
Girls have no problem using technology, such as E-mail and
the Internet, they just have no desire to create or design
technology." They perceive those jobs as anti-social and
solitary, and that's nothing positive to lure them into that
career field." 

Included in the study were ideas for changing girls'
perceptions: train teachers to be tech-savvy and educate girls
early on to be designers and producers instead of just users
and create gender- neutral software.

-- Elisabeth Goodridge