Recently Danah Boyd, researcher and fellow at the BerkmanCenter for Internet Safety, blogged on "gender gap in perception of computer science" which cited a recent study about the perception girls have about careers in computer science. The big stat that stood out to me was when asked about computer science as a career choice "only 9% of girls rates it 'very good' and 17% as 'good'."
Yikes!
This reminded me of April's blog a few weeks ago entitled Tech Girls , which also addressed the gender gap in computer related fields. As a father of a daughter and someone who works with technology, this alarms me. Some (like Bill Gates) believe computing is the new literacy for the 21st century. How might the perception of computer-related careers be impacting our current female students standing in a 21st century global economy? How do you change these perceptions?
It is a complex issue that I don't have an answer for. But I do think this first-grade classroom has a great video to start the conversation. This was the winner of the K-5 category for the Interwrite TeacherTube Makeover Contest.
If you haven't seen it yet it is worth a look.
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