| Abstract: | Gender gap in IT may begin as early as middle school. Throughout junior high school, senior high school, college and university, female students express a decreasing interest in advanced computer classes, reducing their future career opportunities in IT related fields. Like women in many other countries, women in Taiwan generally select their school majors and careers according to traditional stereotypical sex-roles. Only 33% of female graduates of college and university have degrees in science and technology.
Many researchers have recommended female role models in computing to adolescent girls to promote their motivation in computer learning and computer-related career development. Researchers have also emphasized the significance of providing information about the various educational and career paths in technology fields. However, basic information about working in high technology arena is lacking, as are female mentors in IT.
Women’s supporting groups in Taiwan have accomplished significant milestones in promoting women’s rights in many sectors. However, the research and general discussion of women in IT are still surprisingly restricted. No website or organization concerning women in IT currently exists in Taiwan.
This study thus constructed and evaluated an IT role model website developed based on the role modeling theory for women and adolescent girls in Taiwan. This website not only introduces Taiwan’s female role models in IT to women and adolescent girls, but also provides women in IT professions with an online platform to share and exchange their working experience. This website was designed and developed to achieve the following goals:
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to introduce women in IT professions, such as programmers, system analysts, computer technicians, project managers, professors, and computer teachers in different school levels;
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to help women and adolescent girls in Taiwan to better understand careers in IT, and properly motivate them to pursue professional growth in IT related fields;
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to provide computer teachers in schools with web-based teaching material that can be easily integrated into their computer curriculum; and
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to provide women in IT an online platform to share and exchange working experiences.
Content analysis, online surveys, in-depth interviews, system development and formative evaluation were utilized to construct and assess this website. Teachers and students ranging from junior high to university female students were invited to participate the formative evaluation. We have completed the data collection for a summative evaluation of the website. We are now classifying and analyzing the data to provide a better understanding about how this website affect public’s eyes about female’s learning and career development in IT fields. |
