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Pool halls, chips, and war games: women in the culture of computing

Authors:

Jacquelynne S. EcclesAuthors Info & Claims

ACM SIGCSE Bulletin, Volume 34, Issue 2

Pages 159 - 164

https://doi.org/10.1145/543812.543850

Published: 01 June 2002 Publication History

Abstract

Computers are becoming ubiquitous in our society and they offer superb opportunities for people in jobs and everyday life. But there is a noticeable sex difference in use of computers among children. This article asks why computers are more attractive to boys than to girls and offers a cultural framework for explaining the apparent sex differences. Although the data are fragmentary, the world of computing seems to be more consistent with male adolescent culture than with feminine values and goals. Furthermore, both arcade and educational software is designed with boys in mind. These observations lead us to speculate that computing is neither inherently difficult nor uninteresting to girls, but rather that computer games and other software might have to be designed differently for girls. Programs to help teachers instill computer efficacy in all children also need to be developed.

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Wynarczyk P(2015)ReferencesInnovating Women: Contributions to Technological Advancement10.1108/S2040-7246(2010)0000001015(209-232)Online publication date: 8-Mar-2015
https://doi.org/10.1108/S2040-7246(2010)0000001015
Martin L(2015)Chapter 5 Analysing routes to starting and growing science, engineering and technology ventures: Perceptions of female entrepreneursInnovating Women: Contributions to Technological Advancement10.1108/S2040-7246(2010)0000001010(77-97)Online publication date: 8-Mar-2015
https://doi.org/10.1108/S2040-7246(2010)0000001010
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Information

Published In

cover image ACM SIGCSE Bulletin

ACM SIGCSE Bulletin Volume 34, Issue 2

Women and Computing

June 2002

176 pages

ISSN:0097-8418

DOI:10.1145/543812

Issue’s Table of Contents

Copyright © 2002 Authors.

Publisher

Association for Computing Machinery

New York, NY, United States

Publication History

Published: 01 June 2002

Published in SIGCSE Volume 34, Issue 2

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Cited By

Wynarczyk P(2015)ReferencesInnovating Women: Contributions to Technological Advancement10.1108/S2040-7246(2010)0000001015(209-232)Online publication date: 8-Mar-2015
https://doi.org/10.1108/S2040-7246(2010)0000001015
Martin L(2015)Chapter 5 Analysing routes to starting and growing science, engineering and technology ventures: Perceptions of female entrepreneursInnovating Women: Contributions to Technological Advancement10.1108/S2040-7246(2010)0000001010(77-97)Online publication date: 8-Mar-2015
https://doi.org/10.1108/S2040-7246(2010)0000001010
Martin LWright LBeaven ZMatlay H(2015)An unusual job for a woman? Female entrepreneurs in scientific, engineering and technology sectorsInternational Journal of Entrepreneurial Behavior & Research10.1108/IJEBR-08-2011-009521:4(539-556)Online publication date: Jun-2015
https://doi.org/10.1108/IJEBR-08-2011-0095
Qiu KBuechley LBaafi EDubow WHourcade JSawhney NReardon E(2013)A curriculum for teaching computer science through computational textilesProceedings of the 12th International Conference on Interaction Design and Children10.1145/2485760.2485787(20-27)Online publication date: 24-Jun-2013
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/2485760.2485787
McGovern ATrytten D(2013)Making in-class competitions desirable for marginalized groups2013 IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference (FIE)10.1109/FIE.2013.6684917(704-706)Online publication date: Oct-2013
https://doi.org/10.1109/FIE.2013.6684917
Ortiz J(2011)Knowing the GameBusiness, Technological, and Social Dimensions of Computer Games10.4018/978-1-60960-567-4.ch018(293-311)Online publication date: 2011
https://doi.org/10.4018/978-1-60960-567-4.ch018
Sweedyk ECortina TWalker EKing LMusicant D(2011)Women build games, seriouslyProceedings of the 42nd ACM technical symposium on Computer science education10.1145/1953163.1953218(171-176)Online publication date: 9-Mar-2011
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/1953163.1953218
Tapia AEl-Nasr MYucel IZupko JMaldonado E(2007)Building Virtual SpacesVirtuality and Virtualization10.1007/978-0-387-73025-7_22(317-334)Online publication date: 2007
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-73025-7_22
Ladd B(2006)The curse of Monkey IslandJournal of Computing Sciences in Colleges10.5555/1127442.112746421:6(162-174)Online publication date: 1-Jun-2006
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Ziemek TOlano MSéquin C(2006)Two-D or not Two-DProceedings of the 2006 symposium on Interactive 3D graphics and games10.1145/1111411.1111444(183-190)Online publication date: 14-Mar-2006
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