Girls and Computing

Abstract

Much research conducted between 1977 and 1990 document the existence of a technological gender gap (Canada & Brusca, 1991) which has been studied extensively throughout the 1990s. This article provides an overview of research related to a specific segment of the digital gender divide: young girls and computing. This background, described as different waves of research, is followed by a discussion regarding the remedial actions aimed at making more young girls computer users, and implicitly also inspiring more women to study computer science. This latter aim is related to the women in computing problem, concerned with the lack of women in computer science, which is often seen as a consequence of the girls and computing problem.