Computers and Girls
The girls in this sixth grade class
in East Palo Alto, California, all have
the same access to computers as
boys. But researchers say, by the
time they get to high school, they
are victims of what the researchers
call a major new gender gap in
technology.
Janice Weinman of the American
Association of University Woman
says, "Girls tend to be less
comfortable than boys with the
computer. They use it more for word
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processing rather than for problem solving, rather than to discover new ways in which to understand
information."
After re-examining a thousand studies, the American Association of University women researchers
found that girls make up only a small percentage of students in computer science classes. Girls
consistently rate themselves significantly lower than boys in their ability and confidence in using
computers. And they use computers less often than boys outside the classroom.
The instructor of this computer lab says he's already noticed some differences. Charles Cheadle of
Cesar Chavez School says, "Boys are not so afraid they might do something that will harm the
computer, whereas girls are afraid they might break it somehow."
Six years ago, the software company Purple Moon noticed that girls' computer usage was falling
behind boys. Karen Gould says, "The number one reason girls told us they don't like computer games
is not because they're too violent, or too competitive. Girls just said they're incredibly boring."
Purple Moon says it found what girls want, characters they can relate to and story lines relative to
what's going on in their own lives. Karen Gould of Purple Moon Software says, "What we definitely
found from girls is there is no intrinsic reason why they wouldn't want to play on a computer; it was just
a content thing."
1. they
2. he
3. they
4, it
5. they
The sponsor of the study says it all boils down to this, the technology gender gap that separates the
girls from the boys must be closed if women are to compete effectively with men in the 21st century.
A) Say who or what the underlined words
in the text ref to.
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From a news story by CNN San Francisco Reporter Don Knapp (October 13, 1998)
B) Match the words on the left with their
antonyms on the right.
1. major
2. small
3. lower
4. outside
5. falling
6. boring
a. increasing
b. inside
c. exciting
d. big
e. minor
f. higher