AWE POLICY
GIRLS AND INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGIES
Rationale
Girls and women are under-represented in professional Information and Communication
Technologies (ICT) careers and studies. The Australian Computer Society states that, “Information
Technology is one of the fastest growing industries in Australia today, yet only about 20% of the
people who work in the ICT industries are women”.1
It is particularly important for women teachers to realise the benefits of ICT for themselves and for
the students they teach and that ICT is necessary to live, work and participate in society.
Advancements in ICT are transforming society. While ICT is an essential tool for most occupations
in the 21st century, it is also important that all societal groups including women guide how
technology impacts on society. Teachers, in particular, will need to continue to develop ICT
competencies and a critical awareness of the role ICT plays in education.
As technology progresses, the nature of work in the ICT industry evolves and changes. It is
important that girls and women have the opportunity to participate in these emerging jobs of the
future so that they can benefit in terms of financial security and work satisfaction. Women
represent a massive untapped resource and pool of talent for the ICT sector. If girls and women
are to be equipped for living and learning, the gender imbalance needs to be addressed.
Prominent U.S. researchers, Dr Allan Fisher and Dr Jane Margolis state, “The underrepresentation of women among the creators of information technology has serious
consequences, not only for those women whose potential goes unrealized, but also for a society
increasingly shaped by that technology.” 2
Many students, teachers, parents and community members are unaware that there is an underrepresentation of women in ICT careers and studies. Raising awareness is an important first step
to solving the problem.
Partnerships among schools, TAFEs, universities, women working in the ICT industry,
professional associations, education systems and other government agencies are an essential
ingredient to increasing the number of young women choosing to study and work with ICT.
The Association of Women Educators (AWE) encourages education systems and schools to take
action to employ strategies that redress the gender imbalance in ICT.
Background
Across all sectors of the economy, there were 355,600 ICT professionals in Australia in November
2004. Figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics reveal that women comprise only 20 per
cent of ICT employees and only 25 per cent of ICT university students. Female participation in ICT
studies is decreasing from year to year.3
ICT is not a career path that many women aspire to. Conversations with many successful women
in the ICT industry reveal that they did not actually pursue a career in ICT, they just fell into it. Girls
and young women will continue to be under-represented in ICT careers and studies until it
becomes the first study choice for girls.
The barriers which prevent women and girls from participating in ICT need to be identified and
creative solutions developed to encourage them to study ICT and work in ICT-related professions.
Girls’ perceptions and attitudes to study and careers in ICT are identified as strong factors in their
low participation rates. The Australian Computer Society identifies that girls have the following
perceptions about ICT careers and studies:
 It would be a boring job
 ICT attracts nerds
 You have to be good at Maths
 It is too technical. 1

In reality, ICT is a fully human discipline that is about solving problems for people. The British
Computer Society reports that industries seeking to attain a competitive edge seek employees
with skills in “communication, networking, teamwork, sensitivity, balance and the ability to analyse
vast amounts of data and apply creative and lateral thinking”.4
Attitudes and career knowledge of teachers, career counsellors and parents also contribute to
girls’ low participation rates.
Shashaani (1993) concluded that gender differences were influenced by socialisation and
achievement and closely associated with teacher and parental expectations about the capacities
and competencies of girls and boys.8
Research argues that attitudes towards computers and ICT are shaped early in primary school
and are influenced by peer, teacher and parental attitudes. Students’ interest in computers is
linked to the amount of encouragement they receive from parents, teachers, school career
counsellors and peers. A study of primary school children aged 7 and 9 found that ‘there is little
difference between girls and boys in their appreciation of the importance of computers and in their
individual performance on specific computer tasks’. Yet gender stereotypes are perpetuated
regardless of ability.5
Studies in the 1990s indicated that boys tended to use computers more often in school, to make
use of computer labs, and to dominate computers when available in co-ed classrooms.5
Girls are also under-represented in ICT clubs and extra-curricular activities. Studies in the 1990s
indicated that boys tended to use computers more often in school, to make use of computer labs
and to dominate computers when available in co-ed classrooms. In secondary schools, girls are
less likely than boys to voluntarily use an ICT for an action research project, or for lunchtime or
free choice activities.5
Although the teaching profession has a higher proportion of women than men, ICT specialty
teachers are more likely to be male. Teachers are among the first ICT role models for students.
Research shows that teachers’ attitudes towards
ICT are influential and that teachers can play an integral role in recruiting girls for ICT. Girls lack
strong female ICT role models. Girls are also affected by teachers’ expectations. If girls are not
generally seen to be as competent with ICT as boys, this reinforces negative self-perceptions.5
A study conducted by the Commonwealth Department of Education, Training and Youth Affairs
noted that there is a marked gender difference in teachers’ ICT skill
levels. It stated that women teachers, especially those over 50 years of age and those in primary
schools, are falling behind in both basic and advanced skills.6
Ethnicity, race and socio-economic status are also related to low participation and attainment rates
in ICT. When gender and one of more of these factors are combined, there tends to be a
cumulative affect.5
Defining ICT
Many definitions for ICT exist. In a broad sense ICT careers can be understood in terms of work
that involves creating, storing, exchanging or using information through the use of electronic
technologies. They include roles such as designing and developing software and hardware
systems, providing technical support for computer and related systems; creating and managing
network systems and databases.
In a report to DEST, Professor Ron Toomey stated:
Information and communication technology (ICT) generally relates to those technologies
that are used for accessing, gathering, manipulating and presenting or communicating
information. The technologies could include hardware (eg computers and other devices);
software applications; and connectivity (eg access to the Internet, local networking
infrastructure, videoconferencing). What is most significant about ICT is the increasing
convergence of computer-based, multimedia and communications technologies and the
rapid rate of change that characterises both the technologies and their use. 7
Objectives of Policy
The objectives of this policy are:
 To raise awareness of the under-representation of women and girls in ICT careers and
studies;
 To raise awareness of the changing face of the ICT culture and to debunk the myths which
limit girls’ and young women’s thinking about ICT careers;
 To raise awareness of the range of careers in the ICT industry;
 To raise awareness with women teachers of the importance of being an ICT role model;
 To advocate for more ICT professional development for women teachers;
 To promote programs in schools that will encourage girls to undertake studies in ICT;
 To encourage partnerships among education systems, schools, women's groups and other
community groups to work to increase the number of girls working and studying in ICT
fields;
 To foster socially just and inclusive practices in the use of ICT in schools.
Principles
The principles underpinning this policy are:
All students have the right to:
 develop at school the knowledge, skills and attitudes to function successfully in life beyond
school;
 access current and emerging opportunities in further education, training and work;
 secure rewarding and worthwhile employment;
 education that redresses gendered patterns of participation in all curriculum areas. 
Roles and Responsibilities
AWE advocates that Education and Training authorities, Government Departments and
Universities:
 Develop and promote policy and guidelines to improve gender equity in participation in ICT
in schools, TAFES, universities and other training institutions;
 Ensure that professional development, training and appropriate resources are available to
support all teachers to encourage and assist girls and young women to engage with ICT
across the curriculum;
 Ensure that professional development and training for teachers is delivered within a
schooling context;
 Examine structural practices to identify and eliminate any gender bias in post-secondary
education;
 Develop links with partners to cooperatively employ strategies to encourage and assist girls
and young women to pursue ICT-related careers and studies;
 Track and monitor participation rates in ICT specialty subjects;
 Recruit women as ICT specialist teachers;
 Provide equitable access to ICT infrastructure in schools;
 Undertake research that critically analyses the ways in which ICT is accessed and utilised
by both boys and girls;
 Work in partnership with other stakeholding groups;
 Provide technical support for school programs.

AWE advocates that schools:
 Promote the importance for girls to engage with ICT to teachers, students and parents/care
givers;
 Encourage school-based girls and ICT initiatives;
 Address equity issues in subject selection;
 Implement inclusive teaching and learning practices which recognise differences in
preferred learning styles;
 Implement strategies to ensure equitable access to ICT hardware, software and
infrastructure;
 Support staff to engage in professional learning opportunities aimed at increasing girls’
participation with ICT;
 Increase girls’ awareness of career and study opportunities in ICT;
 Provide opportunities to critically analyse perceptions surrounding work in the ICT industry;
 Provide equitable and appropriate access to ICT resources;
 Provide adequate technical ICT support.
Strategic directions for AWE
The Association of Women Educators will:
 Advocate to Ministers for Education to develop a girls and ICT strategy;
 Advocate to federal and state/territory Offices for Women to focus on girls/women and ICT;
 Continue to promote awareness of girls and ICT issues in Redress;
 Conduct branch seminars to raise awareness of the girls and ICT issues;
 Conduct training sessions for women teachers to increase their skills in the use of ICT
across the curriculum;
 Conduct professional development for teachers that combines ICT skills and gender equity
issues;
 Seek funding for and conduct events or programs designed to increase awareness of girls
and ICT issues. Target audiences for these programs will include students, teachers and
parents/care givers;
 Seek funding for a national girls and ICT strategy for AWE;
 Work in partnership with other groups such as women in technology groups to develop a
coordinated approach to girls and ICT;
 Identify and target good practices in schools and publicise these through the AWE website,
Redress, email lists, etc;
 Provide examples, resources and linkages on the AWE website.

References

1
Australian Computer Society. Myths about women in in ICT Retrieved November 9, 2005 from
https://www.acs.org.au/ictcareers/people/women.htm
2 Margolis, J., Fisher, A. (2002). Unlocking the Clubhouse: women in computing. Massachusetts Institute of
Technology.
3 Department of Communication, Information Technology and the Arts (2005), Overview paper for breakout groups .
Retrieved November 9, 2005 from
http://www.dcita.gov.au/ict/events_and_forums/participation_summit/breakout_groups/overview_paper
4 British Computer Society (BCS). (2004). BCS thought leadership debate December 14, 2004: Women in IT report.
Retrieved July 7, 2005 from http://www.bcs.org/BCS/News/ThoughtLeadership/pastdebates/womeninit
5 Deakin Centre for Education and Change, Institute of Koorie Education Deakin University, Institute of Disability
Studies Deakin University (2003). Effective use of information and communication technology (ICT) to enhance
learning for disadvantaged schools students Retrieved November 9, 2005 from
http://www.dest.gov.au/archive/schools/publications/2003/ICT/ICTreport.pdf
http://www.dest.gov.au/sectors/school_education/publications_resources/profiles/archives/real_tim
e_computers_change_schooling.htm
7
Stoomey, R. Schooling Issues Digest No 2: Information and Communication Technology for Teaching and Learning
Australian Government Department of Education, Science and Training Retrieved November 9, 2005 from
http://www.dest.gov.au/sectors/school_education/publications_resources/schooling_issues_digest/schooling_issues_
digest_technology.htm
8 Shashaani, Lili. 1993. Gender-Based Differences in Attitudes Toward Computers.
Computers & Education 20:169-81.