Dr Neil Anderson a Senior Lecturer at James Cook University, Australia wrote :

“..there is nothing optional about involvement in IT – it is an imperative in VET (Vocational Education and Training). Despite the growing importance of IT, women continue to be under-represented in this critical area in both education and employment..”

He goes on to state that :

“Computer texts and materials in Australian schools were found to contain a heavy bias towards males who were often depicted in positions of power in relation to computing as opposed to passive roles assigned to girls and women..”

Many studies have found that girls often undervalue their own abilities in computer science. A common misconception has been males are inherrently better then females in computer science.

Dr Anderson wrote :

“A meta-analysis of over 100 studies by Burgo (1993) indicated that male and female students had comparable results on post-instructional tests. Kirkpatrick and Cuban (1998) found that boys and girls had very similar achievement scores when they had experienced a similar amount of time and types of computer experiences. Durnell, Glissov and Siann (1995) found in their Scottish study that girls and women, despite some initial hesitation, became very pragmatic and confident users of computers with experience. “

Also :

“.. Another important factor in schools has been the physical dominance of males students who often see computers and technology as an exclusive male domain and use various means of harassment to effectively exclude girls from computer use, especially during times where teacher supervision is less. This is evident in computer use out of regular class lessons such as lunch time library computer use where girls are often made to feel unwelcome or physically outmanoeuvred when trying to gain computer access.”