Abstract
Education is one institutional arena in which women professionals comprise a majority of adult computer users. Using data from a national survey of schools, it was found that women comprise two-thirds of the “primary” computer-using teachers (PCUTs) in elementary schools, and the proportion of women in this role in secondary schools is nearly the same as the proportion of women among secondary school teachers as a whole. Elementary schools whose primary computer-using teacher was a woman used their computer more for programming instruction and less as a drill-and-practice tool than where a man was the PCUT. Microcomputers were used for more hours of the day and with more positive consequences at elementary schools whose PCUT was a woman. In contrast, at the secondary level, schools with men PCUTs had more extensive programs of microcomputer use in nearly every aspect measured.
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References
Becker, H. J. How schools use microcomputers: Results from a national survey. In M. Chen & W. J. Paisley (Eds.), Children and microcomputers: Research on the newest medium. Beverly Hills, Calif.: Sage, 1985.
National Center for Education Statistics. Digest of education statistics 1982. (NCES Publication 82-407). Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1982.
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Becker, H.J. Men and women as computer-using teachers. Sex Roles 13, 137–148 (1985). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00287906
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00287906