A scholarly examination of the problem of gender inequity in the information age. It begins with an analysis of how girls develop computer anxiety in the early school years and explores psychological factors to highlight some of the underlying reasons why the current gender inequalities exist. The psychological factors proposed underlie girls' and women's failure to realize their full computing potential. Divided into five areas, the text: discusses computer anxiety and the conditions that cause it; looks at how the social context of the computing environment in classrooms influence girls' and boys' experience with computers; suggests that one of the major causes of computer anxiety rests in the expectancies that society holds about gender and computer use and presents the results of basic psychological research to show that when people hold expectancies about authors they act in ways that actually bring about the expected behaviours, thoughts and feelings; discusses some of the nefarious consequences of societal stereotypes in the context of stereotype threat; and examines potential solutions to the gender gap in science and technology.
The volume's overall theme suggests that the promise of computers is very real, but it will be an unfulfilled promise if there is no recognition of the serious inequities that exist between males and females in the ability to profit from the computer. The authors offer suggestions on how to restructure education to reduce or alleviate girls' computer anxiety. In addition, they hope to stimulate social scientists and educators to research this topic