Technical boys and creative girls: the career aspirations of digitally skilled youths

Abstract

School of education, university of roehampton, london, uK ABSTRACT Digital technology is increasingly central to our lives, particularly among young people. However, there remains a concern from government and businesses of a digital skills gap because many youths, especially girls, tend to be consumers rather than creators of technology. Drawing on 32 semi-structured interviews with digitally skilled teenagers (aged 13-19), this article investigates their digital career aspirations and examines how identities and discourses of gender can interact with the type of digital careers that are of interest to these youths. While it was found that digitally skilled young people still articulate traditional gendered discourses of digital competence, especially around technical abilities, the growing importance of creativity as a career pathway into digital technology is highlighted. Implications of the findings are discussed in relation to the new computing curriculum in England, which prioritises technical computing skills, and the discontinuation of Information and Communications Technology (ICT), which facilitates a broader usage of software and digital productivity.

Science capital or STEM capital? Exploring relationships between science capital and technology, engineering, and maths aspirations and attitudes among young people aged 17/18

“…It has been noted that there is relatively little research on young people's technology/computing attitudes and career aspirations (Wong & Kemp, ) and while there is a growing body of research on factors shaping aspirations and attitudes in engineering and maths, this is largely focused on students in higher education (Godwin et al, ; Marra, Rodgers, Shen, & Bogue, ; Min, Zhang, Long, Anderson, & Ohland, ). Research on maths aspirations and attitudes is also growing at both the secondary (Black et al, ; Brown, Brown, & Bibby, ; Kleanthous & Williams, ) and postsecondary levels (e.g., Hernandez‐Martinez et al, ).…”

“…As discussed next, our own work has drawn attention to the explanatory power of the concept of science capital with regard to understanding a young person's likelihood of aspiring to continue with science post‐16/18 (see also Cooper & Berry, with regards specifically to students' aspirations to study biology, chemistry, physics and earth sciences). While the ideas have been picked up and applied to understanding young people's choice of studying mathematics at degree level (e.g., Black & Herndandez‐Martinez, ; Choudry, Williams, & Black, ; Williams & Choudry, ), young people's engineering aspirations (Moote et al, ; IMechE, ; Royal Academy of Engineering, ) and technology career aspirations (e.g., Wong & Kemp, ), a comparative analysis of the potential relationship between science capital and young people's aspirations and attitudes with regards to technology, engineering, and mathematics has not been specifically empirically explored to date. Through this article, we contribute to addressing this gap; our analyses indicate that the concept of “STEM capital” can help explain why some students are more likely than others to continue with STEM and can be used to understand, and inform efforts to increase and diversify, aspirations and participation across all STEM disciplines.…”

Boys’ gaming identities and opportunities for learning

“…Traditionally gaming cultures have supported the formation of affinity groups based on mainstream understandings of masculinity and social identity of gamers (Gilje and Silseth 2019). Reductive and normative gender differences in who plays games begin to emerge in the early years of school, and speculatively may contribute to the digital skills gap that manifests post-schooling (Wong and Kemp 2018).…”

Tackling the digital and engineering skills shortage: Understanding young people and their career aspirations

“…Some science careers have been shown to be 'unthinkable' for young girls, because perceptions of science careers as clever and geeky are not compatible with the girls' ideas of their own femininity or sense of themselves as learners [27]. Exploring digital technology aspirations among digitally-skilled youth, researchers found children were influenced by traditional gendered discourses, with girls rejecting technical digital pathways in favor of creative ones [28]. Children from groups currently under-represented in STEM areas are less likely to see STEM pathways as for 'people like me' [29], and therefore identity and aspiration building in this area is more challenging [30].…”