ICT related education ICT professionals

Kathy Kikis-Papadakis FORTH/IACM

April 10, CERI/OECD, Paris contribution to the Millennium Project

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Scope: •  Why do girls not choose ICT

related education and profession •  Let’s reflect on other field i.e.

Mathematics

•  Are there any differences between the OECD countries?

•  Can not tell but if we take a socio-cultural orientation we might be able to see such differences

•  What kind of approaches and efforts do we need to get more girls to choose this kind of education?

•  Look into girl’s engagement in/with mathematics, from a family, school and individual perspectives

•  What are the contributions from policy makers and schools (like school management, teachers)?

•  School systems’ parameters need to be discussed

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Structure:  Why do girls not choose ICT related education and

profession?   Interplay between ICT education and IT choices of

careers   Implication of pupils out of school activities on

choices of careers in relation to ICT   Norms – How are careers chosen in general: Roles

and Prerequisites  Are there any differences between the OECD

countries?   Societal levels parameters

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Structure:  What kind of approaches and efforts do we need to

get more girls to choose this kind of education?   What influences choices of careers   Why do we see differentiation preferences in career

choices

 What are the contributions from policy makers and schools (like school management, teachers)?   The case of Greece   Results from PREMA

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Interplay between ICT education & IT choices of careers  What is the scope of ICT in education?

*As this is not an explicit process there is complexity in its monitoring

  What abilities have we defined to be developed through ICT in education?

  Clarity of our conceptual framework on the outcomes we want from education in relation to ICT  What type of (cognitive) skills does ICT engagement in

school learning enhance?  Operational →  Integration →  Transformational →

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  National Curricula make the claim that ICT in education develops the ability to   explore info on a variety of ICT tools   communicate info with a variety of tools   collaborate supported by ICT tools   obtain appropriate information   use games or simulations to explore the effect of effect of changing inputs to the

simulation or game   create a model to test an idea or solve well defined problems   use modelling techniques to test predictions and discover patterns and

relationships, by exploring, evaluating and developing models and changing their rules and values

  use digital technology where the input modifies outputs in a variety of modalities   share their views and experiences of ICT, considering the range of its uses and

talking about its significance to individuals, communities and society and also be independent and discriminating when using ICT

  know how technology may develop and what future uses they may make of technology

Research (i.e. I-Curriculum) suggests that schools promote MAINLY Operational type of skills.

Q.: is school engagement with ICT a sufficient condition to reflect on school ICT and choices of careers

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Why do girls not choose ICT related education and profession

Interplay between ICT education and IT choices of careers

 Have we established a direct relationship?  Does a specific type of usage suggest professional

engagement?

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Indications: what girls do

  reproduction of gender roles and activities

what boys do

  stronger indication on professional engagement with ICT

Is there dualism? Seems so   Is it natural?   Is it reproduced? If so through the institutions of schooling?

  Look into teaching practices   Look into the class climate   Look into conversations on/for ICT

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Implications of pupils out of school activity on choices of careers in relation to ICT

Here have the “what” but not the “why”   Implications for meta-analysis type research and validation of research indications in diverse socio-cultural settings   epistemonological concerns   interrelation of depth and width and refocusing

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Implications of pupils out of school activity on choices of careers in relation to ICT

 Might that “why be in   Norms and practices in making children boys and girls

(child rearing dualism)   The nature and relation of girls to mathematics and in

the Nature of mathematics   Relation between societal context(s) and uses of

technology

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Implications of pupils out of school activity on choices of careers in relation to ICT

  Norms in raising children from a gendered perspective   Is there a universal pattern   Are the existing patterns changing

If so what are the role models exhibited by these patterns   what are their consequences on choices of careers but mainly in

shaping one’s identity   what are restrictive factors to choices of careers: Social

dispositions   what is the role of schooling: transformational or maintenance

based?

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Implications of pupils out of school activity on choices of careers in relation to ICT

 Teachers perceptions of boys and girls learning maths   Poland

  Spain

  Greece

• girls are reluctant to ask for explanations • girls generally are more afraid to solve tasks on the blackboard in front of a class • girls have less developed mathematical-logical intelligence than boys • girls are more diligent and motivated to obtain high scores • all teachers consider women as more diligent and more careful over detail • many girls try to simply memorize topics in order to pass them while boys • more frequently make efforts to understand issues and look for practical • applications. • girls are more motivated to get high marks than are boys, and girls compare • their grades more than do boys • girls are tidier and more steadfast in their studies, and so get better results • some teachers say boys are faster understanding mathematics, more creative, • and they believe it is innate • some also believe that girls are more ‘people focused’. • girls are more ‘instrumental’ and learn what they have to learn and are more focused on getting good grades • boys demand more attention (in terms of behavior in class, thus teachers tend to focus on boys more than on girls) • some teachers say that girls give up more easily than boys when they face challenges, others that girls are more persistent • girls ask fewer questions; when they have difficulties, they are more likely to try to resolve problems by discussing the issues amongst themselves than by asking the teacher (some teachers report exactly the opposite observation!)

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Implications of pupils out of school activity on choices of careers in relation to ICT

  Student perceptions of boys and girls learning maths   Greece

  Spain

• girls study more • girls try to be good in all subjects • girls care more about school • girls are more systematic in their work • boys make much more noise • boys are more willing to volunteer answers, and to solve problems on the board • teachers have to “gain boys’ attention” - in contrast with girls whose attention is taken for granted • when a more challenging question is posed it is usually answered by boys.

• girls are more competitive about grades • girls work harder • girls are more interested in humanities and arts subjects that give them contact with people.

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Implications of pupils out of school activity on choices of careers in relation to ICT

  Social shaping of Technology

  gender relations

  gender meanings

  gender identities

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What kind of approaches and efforts do we need to get girls to choose this kind of education?

  Extrapolating from mathematics the claim can be made that we have to define gender sensitiveness to learning and working with ICT and related areas of studies

  Enhance gender sensitive teaching approaches in mathematics

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What kind of approaches and efforts do we need to get girls to choose this kind of education?

 The attribution from STEM education and occupation is disproportional high for women in general

 The problem at hand seems to require analysis of triangular perspective

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What kind of approaches and efforts do we need to get girls to choose this kind of education?

  Individual Factors   Expectancy for success   Interest   Work family benefits*   Academic preparation

  Family Factors:   Parental perception of

their children’s ability and expectations for success

  Parent’s Education   School Factors:

  Teacher’s attitudes and behaviors

  Peers   School characteristics

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What kind of approaches and efforts do we need to get girls to choose this kind of education?

 What influences choices of careers:   range of factors interference

change

“And it ought to be remembered that there is nothing more difficult to take in hand, more perilous to conduct, or make uncertain in its success, than to take the lead in the introduction of a new order of things.”

Nicollo Macjiavelli, The Prince, c. 1505

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What kind of approaches and efforts do we need to get girls to choose this kind of education?

 Why do we see differentiation in preferences in career choices?   Diversity in trajectories

 Natural  Constructed

 Ask women in IT professions why and how they enter into this field

get indicators and test these in educational settings

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What are the contributions from policy makers and schools  A proposal

  Gender sensitive awareness development schemes engaging  Parents  School actors

Non-interventive interventions

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What are the contributions from policy makers and schools   The case of Greece

  An example of resistance from policy makers.   Results from PREMA

  Guidelines on helping teachers to identify on gender differences (mathematics) and reflect on how this can be reduced in classroom practices

  There are very big differences between countries in the extent to which mathematics is viewed as being a male subject. There were big differences between the most traditional country (Poland) and the most progressive country (England). There were differences in:   raising political awareness of differences in attainment and career choices

between males and females   beliefs in ‘essential differences’ between men and women, for example, in

the ways ‘their brains work’   political campaigns against feminism   parental pressure towards or away from ‘suitable’ academic subjects, or

support for students’ own choices and autonomy   supportive or unsupportive employment legislation regarding the rights of

parents (usually women) to child care, flexible working hours, and the like.   there were big national differences in the perceived influences of parents,

other students, cultural influences such as the acceptability of a ‘career woman’.

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What are the contributions from policy makers and schools

  Current concerns of the PREMA Group How can girls (and boys) be motivated to STEM?

  What individual (including academic performance), family and school characteristics are related to pupils attainment of a STEM major at the undergraduate level, compared to attainment of a degree in different fields?

  What are young women’s trajectories towards or away from STEM, and what individual, family and school characteristics are related to these trajectories?

  How can the triangulation of pupil-parent-school function in “harmony” in support of STEM?

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What are the contributions from policy makers and schools   Expert Group

  Renate Siemenska, Un. Of Warsaw, PL   Heather Mendick, UK   Yvette Solomon, UK   Jim Ridway, UK   Annemarie van Langen, NL

  Other Indicative Readings on STEM   Xiaolei Wang (National Institute of Statistical sciences, USA)   K.C. Cheung (Hong Kong)

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Thank you…