Google Report: TV Teaches Girls Not To Like Computer Science

Google Proves That TV Teaches Girls to Not Like Computer Science

Girls are less likely to consider a career portrayed as the haven for geeky boys.

Emily DeRuy | November 17, 2015

A new Google re­port that in­cludes sur­veys of par­ents and stu­dents con­duc­ted by Gal­lup sug­gests that ste­reo­types per­petu­ated by TV and movies foster mis­lead­ing per­cep­tions about who is cap­able of pur­su­ing com­puter sci­ence.
Gendered ste­reo­types furthered by tele­vi­sion and film por­tray­als of com­puter sci­ence as nerdy or for boys only seem to have real-world im­pact. Most stu­dents sur­veyed re­port see­ing primar­ily White char­ac­ters en­ga­ging in com­puter sci­ence, while a sig­ni­fic­ant num­ber also see Asi­an char­ac­ters. However, just 7 per­cent of stu­dents say they see Black or Latino com­puter-sci­ence char­ac­ters most of the time. The lack of di­versity on shows that young people watch also feeds in­to a lack of con­fid­ence among young people who don’t see them­selves re­flec­ted in those por­tray­als.

Source: http://services.google.com/fh/files/misc/images-of-computer-science-report.pdf

<more at http://www.nationaljournal.com/next-america/workforce/google-proves-that-tv-teaches-girls-not-like-computer-science; related links: http://services.google.com/fh/files/misc/images-of-computer-science-report.pdf (Images of Computer Science: Perceptions Among Students, Parents and
Educators in the U.S.) and http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/curriculum/2015/11/girls_less_confident_computer_science_than_boys_google.html (Google Study: Girls Less Confident About Computer Science Abilities Than Boys. November 17, 2015)>