Gender Issues

Lack of coherency and sequencing is evident . . . .

RE: COMPUTER CLASSES AND GENDER
Interesting anecdote from Jake, regarding the computer classes: “Half the guys at college are useless, "Look, it's not working!" "Why won't it work?" And they start whacking it, and there's this little button that says 'on'. [laughs] Sorry, I'm just sick of people that don't know how to . . . I've had like half the computer room - and like the girls have sussed it out, no problem! The guys are sitting there - "this thing's not working", they're starting to whack the screen, getting really abusive. And I say, "there is an on button on the screen", "Oh really?"

Contrasting anecdote from Joe, regarding the computer classes: R – “would you say that the boys are better at using computers?” J – “Yeah I find that's true because in class, I frequently see the girls asking more questions when we're in the computer room and I don't know if that's wrong or right, but yeah, that's what I feel they are.” R – “So they're asking more for help.” J – “Yeah, more for help. I mean there are guys who are, but more of girls are which I see, ask for help, and yeah. Some girls find it really easy and get through but the majority don't, yep.” So do the boys not ask for help, and the girls do? Therefore, the boys don’t know what they’re doing, or they do know what they’re doing, so they don’t need help?

Male teachers
From Lisa: R – “So in your experience, people who you've thought were good on the computer, have they been males or females?” L – “Um, yeah, mainly males I guess. Yeah, cause they're mainly just male teachers, there's no female IT teachers or anything. Yeah, I've never thought of that [smiles].” R – “So why do you think that is? That most of the IT teachers are males?” L – “I think they have more interest in it really. Like getting right down into the hardware or something. Yeah.” R – “Does that interest you - hardware?” L – “Not really [laughs].”
Chris’ teachers at primary school were female expert computer users.

Numbers in computer classes
From Tom: R – “In your computer classes, are they mostly boys?” T – “Yeah, there's like one girl in my computer class.” Year 12
From Chris: “Girls are more interested in computers, cause in my computing class, you can do a tally of, and you'll find that the majority of people in there are actually girls.” Year 9

RE: GENDER AND INTEREST IN COMPUTERS
Interest/Motivation
From Tom: “Girls don't like computers I guess.”
From Tim: “If they [girls] wanted to [be experts at computers], they could.”
From Tim: “Probably more games out there that appeal to boys than girls as well, yeah.”
From Jake: “I don't think it can be done on sex. I think a girl could be awesome at computers, like, it's not really the sex thing, it's whatever happens, like it's if you pick it up or not.”
From Anne: R – “Well, some people think that boys are the usual computer experts, not girls. So what do you think about that?” A – “I think they're probably right because there are some jobs that . . . well girls are mostly fashion designers and boys are mostly builders, and that with computing, people seem to be guys, but there's more and more girls going into it.”

Age
Both Joe and Jake think that with girls, it is an age thing, i.e. that when girls get older, they will realize the importance of computer skills/literacy. Jake referred to the notion that girls think there will always be somebody else to do it so they do not bother to learn any of the fun or technical ‘stuff’.
From Joe: “I just feel that girls don't show as much interest towards computers as boys. Because like you see a guy just willingly wanting to use a computer and then, a girl, I've rarely seen them like willingly wanting to actually use a computer, and yeah, that's what I've seen. But at the end of schooling life, I think all girls and boys will be equal. And they can use computers and all that, but it's just the interest thing, they don't show the correct interest into using computers.” And later: “if they [girls] do show interest, I reckon they could be like guys as well.” Lastly, “the majority of girls . . . in three or four years, they'll start showing interest and they'll come up with the boys.”

Time
From Tim: “Probably is more boys than girls that play games and go on the internet.”

Habitus of boys (regarding ‘some people say that boys are the usual computer experts, not girls)
From Lisa: “guys probably just get more attention than girls do. Cause girls probably just stand back a bit while guys let their ego go [giggles], really. I dunno. They always seem to get the limelight.”
From Charli: “I think it's just because boys are like, they talk about it more, but like girls sort of go on and do more private things, like me, how I'll go on[line] and post a poem and stuff - it's not something that I want everyone to know about, but boys will be like geeks and talk about all their new games and all that sort of stuff. I think that it's just because boys talk about it more and so they're sort of notorious for it”.
From Anne: “girls may choose other things, some guys sit on their laptop every day 24/7, while girls like to do more, and get out more, that's what's different.”

Giving Help
From Chris: “once I'd learned all my skills, I was actually told to go out and teach a few people, and I mostly focused on girls because I knew that they weren't learning that much on computers.”

NB: Jake had seen many female technicians operating as computer experts.