Factors Influencing Girls' Choice of Information Technology Careers

Adya, Monica; Kaiser, Kate M.

doi:10.4018/9781591408154.ch044

Cited by 6 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 7 publications

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“…Based on a search of relevant literature and an empirical study, a model of Girls' ICT Study and Career Choices (see Figure 1) was developed. The model captures the many factors that influence Australian girls' ICT study and career choices and uses similar groupings to those suggested in Adya and Kaiser's (2006) seminal paper. However, Clayton's research indicated other influential factors that were not included in the early determinants of Adya and Kaiser, such as socio-economic status involving family and ICT access issues.…”

Section: E T H O Dmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…According to Adya & Kaiser (2006), early parental involvement in a child's career planning has been found to have a clear positive bearing on the choice of ICT as a career. Furthermore, Dryler (1998) stated that children often make vocational and occupational choices in the same area as their parents and that highly educated parents promoted gender-atypical occupations more than less educated, or working-class, parents.…”

Section: Familymentioning

confidence: 99%

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Now I know what ICT can do for me!

Clayton

Beekhuyzen

Nielsen

2012

Information Systems Journal

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The under‐representation of women entering into information and communication technology (ICT) programmes is a long‐standing problem. While ICT continues to be increasingly accepted and integrated into everyday life, gender stereotypes prevail in ICT turning female students away from ICT as an occupation. Based on existing literature on factors influencing girls' career choices and on an empirical qualitative study in three schools in Australia, a conceptualisation of the influence of middle‐school experiences on girls' ICT study and career choices is presented. This conceptualisation is used as a guide to evaluate a recent intervention programme aimed at promoting ICT study and work opportunities to middle‐school girls. A number of recommendations for future programmes are provided, highlighting the need to study how subcultures that support ICT career choices develop and are supported in Australian schools.

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Section: E T H O Dmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Familymentioning

confidence: 99%

Now I know what ICT can do for me!

Clayton

Beekhuyzen

Nielsen

2012

Information Systems Journal

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“…There are many factors that contribute to this declining interest in information and communication technology (ICT) educational and vocational pathways including cultural, social, structural, and individual factors (Adya & Kaiser, 2006). Adya and Kaiser's original model (2006) has been extended in the recent doctoral dissertation by Clayton (2007), this paper's second author.…”

Section: Background Literaturementioning

confidence: 99%

Perceptions of ICT Careers in German Schools: An Exploratory Study

et al. 2009

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This paper reports on an exploratory investigation of the perceptions of information and communication technology (ICT) as a field of study and work in German secondary schools. A total of 160 students from five secondary schools in Lower Saxony participated in the study in February 2007, and four teachers of the students were interviewed. The investigation is part of the research carried out by the authors within the Griffith University Women in Information Technology (WinIT) project, which has been studying the problem of low female participation since 1995. In this paper we discuss German school students' (male and female) and their teachers' views of ICT, its use at school and home, their influences in using technology, and their ideas about working with technology in the future. We drew on the challenges faced and opportunities available to teachers in the study to put this in context. We found that many senior secondary students have not decided what they want to do when they finish school, suggesting that the environment is ripe for them to receive relevant and useful information that may help them to choose to study tertiary ICT courses. By dispelling negative ICT perceptions and allowing students to make an informed choice as to whether to take up a career in ICT, we can hopefully encourage more students into this ever-growing and exciting industry.

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“…gender, psychosocial attributes) also matter (Adya and Kaiser 2006). Even when individual girls and women do decide to enter engineering for their own reasons in spite of these barriers, the laboratory environment often has a male-dominated atmosphere, which creates the vicious cycle of the image problem (Beddoes 2012, Powell et al 2009, Sørensen 1992, Sanders 1995.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The lack of appeal of engineering and technology to girls and young women has caused problems at the entry point. It has been argued that girls' choice of specialisation as well as careers is greatly influenced by social, structural and personal factors (Adya and Kaiser 2006). Social factors include gender biases and stereotypes towards certain career paths amongst friends, family and media, while structural factors encompass the school types people attended (co-ed vs.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Paving the way and passing the torch: mentors’ motivation and experience of supporting women in optical engineering

Kodate

2014

European Journal of Engineering Education

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The phenomenon of women's underrepresentation in engineering is well known. However, the slow progress in achieving better gender equality here compared with other domains has accentuated the 'numbers' issue, while the quality aspects have been largely ignored. This study aims to shed light on both these aspects via the lens of mentors, who are at the coalface of guiding female engineers through their education and subsequent careers. Based on data collected from 25 mentors (8 men and 17 women from 8 countries), the paper explores their experiences of being mentors, as well as their views on recommended actions for nurturing female engineers. The findings reveal that the primary motivation for becoming a mentor was personal for men and women. Many mentors from countries with relatively lower female labour participation rates perceive their roles as guarantors of their mentees' successful future career paths, and a similar trend can be found in mentors in academia. The study underscores the need for invigorating mentors' roles in order to secure a more equitable future for engineering education.

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Factors Influencing Girls' Choice of Information Technology Careers

Cited by 6 publications

References 7 publications

Now I know what ICT can do for me!

Now I know what ICT can do for me!

Perceptions of ICT Careers in German Schools: An Exploratory Study

Paving the way and passing the torch: mentors’ motivation and experience of supporting women in optical engineering

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