With technology rapidly changing as fast as we blink our eyes, it is important for people to learn as much as possible about the computer world if they want to maintain a decent lifestyle because the world we live in revolving around those technologies. As McKee points out, “most jobs now require intelligence and technical skill” (1). Each year, there is something either added or modified to computers, which forces people to learn computer literacy at a steady pace. While some love computers, others despise them. When comparing people’s attitudes towards computers, statistics show a gender gap that proves most females’ attitudes are drastically different from the attitudes of males. Several studies prove that women not only lack an interest in technology, but they also chose not to enroll in computer classes. Since computers and technology play an enormous role in the world today, more technology professionals are needed. It is extremely important for more women to become knowledgeable in these areas. Swain and Harvey argue, “This technology gender gap is affecting half our population and causing it to be unprepared to contribute to the demands of a high-tech twenty-first century” (17). While this may not seem like a serious issue to some, it is an issue that will ultimately lead to a bigger problem if not handled immediately. So why are there so few women in the technology field? To answer that question, I must first find out why are there so few women in the technology and computer classes, considering that this atmosphere is the most common place where the interest for computers is born.
The purpose of my research is to examine the shortage of females in the technology field. I will also research reasons why females chose not to take computer classes. I will support my theory with several examples from various studies. Furthermore, I will give several strategies that can be beneficial to female students and possibly increase the number of females in future computer classes. By the end of my research, the goal of encouraging young women who are interested in the technology field to pursue technology and succeed in the computer classes and world. This research will help me attempt to motivate other female students to at least gain more confidence and enough courage to learn more about the technological world we live in today.
REASONS FEMALES MAY AVOID COMPUTERS AND TECH CLASSES
During the Great Depression, many economic institutions failed. President FDR opted to forego economic ideas such as the market’s self-regulation. The national government was traditionally limited in it...
“Improving women’s access to technology has the potential to spur their economic advancement and stimulate broader economic growth. Regrettably, technology has been underused in unlocking women’s economic opportunities. The gender divide is evident in both traditional and modern technologies.” (Gill, Brooks, McDougall, Patel, & Kes, 2010, p. 2). More specifically, technological developments including adding machines, typewriters, addressograph machines, office communication systems, and automated telephones, changed the stigma of women working solely at home to finding paid labor outside of their homes. On the domestic front, a rise of technological developments in household appliances and better-quality energy in the 1920s, allowed housework to become less time consuming and gave women more time to find paid labor outside of their homes (Lorance, n.d., para. 1). This essay
South, S. J. & Spitze, G. (1986). Determinants of divorce over the marital life course. American Sociological Review, 51(4), 583-590.
Gordon, Rachel A., Benjamin B. Lahey, Eriko Kawai, Rolf Loeber & Magda Stouthamer-Loeber, and David P. Farrington. 2004. "Antisocial Behaviour and Youth Gang Membership: Selection and Socialization." Criminology 42:55-87.
Currently, Kaiser Permanente, a nonprofit organization has already begun to implement the practice of electronic medical records. Kaiser Permanente patients have the privilege of sharing their medical history with each medical provider seen during their Kaiser membership. Depending on the level and type of information needed, every healthcare professional patients have encounters with within their geographical region will have access to notes, prescriptions, procedures, and diagnostic tests at the click of a mouse, to effectively and proficiently render care. All medical documentation provided to Kaiser Permanente from othe...
. "The Origins Of Modern Divorce." Family Process 46.1 (2007): 7-13. Academic Search Complete. Web. 16 Apr. 2014.
Every year approximately 2.4 million marriages occur.Out of those,2.1 millionwill file for divorce in the United States. These marriage and divorce rates have significantly increased since the years past(Coltrane and Adams, 364).According to Schoen, in the 1950’s, 15 out of 1,000 marriages ended in divorce.In the 1970’s, the rates of divorcedoubled,increasing to 40 per 1,000 marriages. Currently, the rate of marriages resulting in divorce remains the same. Most marriages are ending within seven years ofthemarriage for multiple different reasons. Sociologists haveestablisheddivorce as a social problem from the rise in divorcerates due to the early year of marriages (2006).
A professor at MIT, by the name of Sherry Turkle writes about the negative effects technology has had on our society. She begins by introducing her experience at MIT during the primitive times of the computer, a time when most faculty did not see the necessity for a personal computer. Sherry’s article is eloquently written through logical, chronological structure. She goes on to illustrate the unforeseen transformation the computer has brought upon our inner personal relationships. The article’s argument is strongly supported by Sherry’s high credibility as an author, being the founder and director of the MIT Initiative on Technology and Self as well as a professor and researcher in that field
Though being exposed to technologies like computers from an early age may have given us the ability to do things more efficiently, technology has also made us less dependent on ourselves. Claudia Wallis, editor for Time, in her article makes known in The Multitasking Generation, “That level of multiprocessing and interpersonal connectivity is now so commonplace that it’s easy to forget how quickly it came about. Fifteen years ago, most home computers weren’t even linked to the Internet” (63). There are many things that students are able to do on their computer that their parents aren't even aware of or that the parents couldn’t do themselves. My parents always tell of how looking through the library’s card catalog and searching for the books they needed only to find out that they have been taken out. Computers have allowed us to do many things faster for example, write much faster than a typewriter or pen and paper and correct typing errors without starting over. The computers and technology we now have makes it easier to almost anything and with technology so easily at your fingertips it o...
In early American history, society believed that women did not have a place in education and high-level learning. They were told not to bother their brains with such advanced thinking. Middle and upper class women learned to read and write, but their education ended there. A woman’s place was said to be in the home, cooking, sewing, and taking care of the children. In the case of upper class women, their “to-do” list was cut even shorter with the servants present to do the work.
Born in the eighties, I entered a world of big hair and bad style. In the technological realm there were tape players, VCR’s, and fresh on the market: personal computers. Apple was domination the computer scene with their introduction of the Lisa computer. But not for long, soon computer technology would jump to unimaginable heights. As I grew up the technology around me would continue to grow and advance – quite rapidly I might add.
Mariani, M. "Computers and Career Guidance: Ride the Rising Tide." Occupational Outlook Quarterly 39, no. 4 (Winter 1995-1996): 16-27.
Gangs are a hindrance to youth reaching their future goals in life. Gangs draw in youth that are usually looking for something in life such as family, love or acceptance. Parents and youth alike should be well educated on the drawbacks of gangs. Educated youth will come to the realization that joining a gang will lead to corruption and a life of unmet goals. With the concerted effort of the community alongside with law enforcement gang influence will be eradicated from local neighborhoods leading to young people being less likely to join gangs. This work against gangs will result in the maturation of uncorrupt youth that will have the opportunity and be able to reach their future goals.
Computers have been in the schools since the 1960s, but they were not used in the same capacity as they are used today. The use of computers is still expanding, and the future of education is very exciting when the full extent of this revolutionary phenomena is realized. In the 1960s computers were not widespread and most people who were educated during this decade hardly remember them at all. In the 1970s computers became smaller and less expensive, but the schools still did not use them much throughout most of the decade. By the end of the seventies, computer use in the schools started to increase. Students began to have hands-on experience.
These days being computer literate is more important than it ever has been in the last few years that computers have been around. Almost everything is becoming computer reliant and there are several businesses that have embraced technology. Computer literacy isn’t something that you can easily escape, and honestly you shouldn’t try to. Humans are all about adapting and computers are just one more thing we all have to learn to adapt to. Unfortunately, everyone doesn’t understand that so it’s vital to understand the importance of being computer literate.