Want More Women In IT? Drop the Geek

Submitted by Mastodon on Thu, 2015-09-10 18:17

Article here. Excerpt:

'Two studies done by the University of Washington show that one potential impediment to girls becoming IT pros is the "geek" stereotype of the IT pro, especially in the classroom.

A study conducted at the University of Washington and published in the Journal of Educational Psychology in August showed that girls might actually choose not to take introductory computer classes because the rooms in which they are conducted might be too "geeky." For the study, 269 14- to 18-year-olds were shown photos of two classrooms. One room had Star Trek and videogame posters on the walls and other "geeky" decor. The other had posters of art and landscapes on the walls and live plants in the room. Other than the decor, the rooms were identical.'

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... stereotypical derision of IT people (mostly men) that's doing it? And it's those same IT ppl being falsely blamed for a "shortage" of females in IT all this time?

So in fact the real victims here are men in IT, or so it seems.

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Submitted by Matt on Fri, 2015-09-11 15:21